They saved the cheerleader, but they couldn’t save their jobs.  Variety reports that NBC fired Jesse Alexander and Jeph Loeb, the co-exec producers of their rating slumped superhero show, Heroes. The shake up comes after declining ratings, inflating budgets and the network’s desire to go into a new creative direction for the series.

The season started with a very strong two hour episode that imporved on a lot of the problems of season 2. Since than though, the plotlines have become confusing, none of the characters are acting like themselves, and ideas have been recycled from the first season (running out of ideas in season 3?).

With most of this season’s episodes already shot, I doubt that we’ll see this have an effect until next season. Hey, at least they didn’t cancel it, right?

After a nine year wait, they are finally making a sequel to The Boondock Saints, THR reports. The first film, which was plagued with production problems caused by the inflating ego of the film’s writer/director Troy Duffy, turned into a cult hit on DVD.

The Boondock Saints focused on fraternal twins, Connor and Murphy MacManus (Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus), who accidentally kill some of the toughest thugs in the Boston underworld and decide to turn into vigilante crusaders against crime. Along the way, they are tracked by FBI agent Paul Smecker, played by a scene stealing Willem Dafoe, and hunted down by vicious criminal known only as Pappa M (Billy Connolly). The film was stylistic with a perfect blend of action, crime, and dark comedy.

Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus, and Billy Connolly are all returning for the sequel, which is currently shooting in Toronto. Joining the cast are Clifton Collins, Julie Benz, David Della Rocco, Bob Marley, Brian Mahoney and David Ferry.

Here is hoping that Troy Duffy cleaned up his act (as chronicled in the documentary Overnight), because I’d love to see more films from him.

Another crazy week comes to an end. Here is some interesting news to keep you busy as you prepare for the new week.

• What is happening with Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson’s TinTin? (THR)

• Roger Ebert describes his little rule book of film reviewing. (Sun-Times)

• Will the online video demand push up prices of the Internet? I Hope not! (NY Times)

• A bunch of new trailers are online: Valkyrie, My Name is Bruce, and Angels & Demons.

Nathan Fillion makes another go at TV with ABC’s light hearted crime drama, Castle. The series focuses on Rick Castle (Fillion), a successful crime and horror novelist who is in a rut after he kills off the main character of his novels. He suddenly gets a reserge of ideas and energy after he is contacted by Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) and is recruited onto the NYPD as a consultant to help catch a copy-cat killer who is murdering people based on scenes from Castle’s novel.

The series is more Moonlighting than Law and Order, with Castle playing by his own rules and Beckett being a by the book detective. Continue reading to watch a preview for the new show. Just a heads up, but the extended clip has a lot of spoilers for the first episode.

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