TV Guide is reporting that NBC will cut the length of Heroes' fourth season from 25 episodes to 18 or 20. The reason appears to be a desire to keep the quality high, but NBC also have fewer primetime hours to fill now that Jay Leno has a 10pm chat show slot. As TV Guide mention, this is another example of a US network realizing that fewer episodes are actually of benefit in the longterm -- perhaps inspired by the success of cable shows like Mad Men, Breaking Bad and Dexter (that all have 12/13-episode seasons.) On network television, Lost reached an agreement with ABC to only produce 16 episodes each year, and new series Harper's Island is airing with a built-in 13-episode plan.
