'Heroes: Origins' is first strike casualty

Fears of a strike by members of the Writers Guild of America have resulted in NBC placing an indefinite hold on production of its midseason Heroes spinoff Heroes: Origins.

The strike could get underway on Friday morning and would at first impact live programming such as Comedy Central's Daily Show and Colbert Report. However, it is understood that NBC Universal entertainment co-chairmen Ben Silverman and Marc Graboff pulled Origins' six episodes from the network's production slate - effectively killing the project's prospects for airing in the 2007-08 season - due to the potential wider financial implications of a prolonged strike.

Production on the six episodes had yet to begin.