20 Years Ago Today, An Original Superhero Series Dominated In Its Premiere (& It Still Has the Best Tagline)

It has been 20 years since an original superhero television series premiered on NBC and became a massive hit thanks to its simple yet effective tagline. In 2006, the idea of big superhero shows was not the norm for television. In the past, there were big hits like Batman in the 1960s, The Incredible Hulk and Wonder Woman in the 1970s, and several cartoons in the 1990s. However, this was still a few years away from the Arrowverse, which launched on The CW, and Marvel bringing shows like Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD to ABC. However, most shows of this sort in the early 2000s were mostly supernatural in flavor. That all changed in 2006 with a series that became a monster hit from the day it premiered.

On September 25, 2006, Heroes premiered with the episode “Genesis,” and it drew an incredible 14.1 million viewers for the first episode and held on to those viewers throughout the first season. The entire series was an original story idea by Tim Kring that introduced young people with superhuman powers who have to stop a catastrophic future with only one warning to base their mission on: “Save the cheerleader, save the world.”

Heroes Built Anticipation With One Tagline

Heroes was a unique show because it built anticipation with one tagline, and the show brought in over 14 million viewers for the premiere without any major stars involved. The show smartly opened its premiere with the main characters discovering they have superpowers at the same time and figuring out more about their powers and what they plan to do with them. The main characters introduced in this episode included Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere), Isaac Mendez (Santiago Cabrera), Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka), Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia), and Niki Sanders (Ali Larter).

Interestingly, the entire “Save the cheerleader, save the world” quote was used to sell the series, but it was never said in the show until the fifth episode, “Hiros.” By that time, viewers had gotten to know high school cheerleader Claire, whose power was to regenerate and heal from any injury. If it was her presumed death that would lead to the apocalypse that Hiro was seeing, that laid out the entire plotline for the series, and it kept audiences coming back for more. It was the best storyline since Lost premiered and one that sucked in audiences until the show went off the rails later in its run.

The second season kept the high numbers for its premiere, with 16.97 million viewers, but the numbers began to drop throughout the season. By the third season, the average viewers were below 10 million, dropping as low as 6.11 million for its lowest episode, and then the final season collapsed, with the series finale bringing in only 4.41 million viewers. While the ending of Heroes was disappointing, the premiere 20 years ago and its first season remain captivating television.

Heroes‘ Exciting Storyline Also Led to Its Downfall

“Save the cheerleader, save the world” was a hugely successful tagline, and the viral marketing from it is what led people to check out the first season. That first season was so good that the tagline brought people in, and the plot kept them going for at least the first two seasons. However, the viral marketing from the tagline also led to disappointment when the actual storyline had to deal with that premise. The entire tagline made it sound like the heroes of the show had to save the cheerleader to prevent the apocalypse. However, the Season 1 finale threw a wrench into that premise.

Saving Claire (the cheerleader) did not stop the main threat of the apocalypse. That is because the main threat was Sylar (Zachary Quinto), the actual antagonist of Heroes. He was a superpowered serial killer who targeted other superhumans because he could steal their powers when he killed them. He was the main villain in Season 1 and a recurring antagonist after that. The saving of the cheerleader was important, but only in a roundabout manner.

The heroes saving Claire from Sylar meant that he couldn’t steal her regenerative powers, which made it easier to beat him in the end. So, saving her did save the world from Sylar, but it isn’t what stopped the apocalypse. That was, instead, a sacrifice by Peter Petrelli exploding and his brother Nathan flying him away. Because Heroes promised something in its viral marketing and barely paid it off, Heroes ended up having one of the biggest drops in quality in television history in subsequent seasons. However, that doesn’t discount how great the first season was, and it remains one of the best original superhero seasons of the 2000s.

What are your memories of Heroes and its first season? Let us know your favorite moments from the series in the comments below.