The sophomore slump is one of the saddest sights in television.

On one level, it’s only natural that a show that comes out hot, racks up the buzz, grabs viewers, and hurtles to a first-season finale for the ages is going to have a hard time living up to the hype. Even if every individual aspect of the show is every bit as good as the first season, the freshness is gone and the formula will inevitably feel stale.

Much better, really, to have a good-but-not-great first season, then come on strong in future years. “The Office” springs to mind, but “Seinfeld” might be an even better example. “House” is a third contender.

Building an audience and enthusiasm slowly creates a stronger bond with fans and, because the writers take their time finding their collective voice, the quality of the scripts is more consistent.

But some shows just blow up right off the bat. Whatchya gonna do, turn fans away?

You can tell this is pointing like an arrow at “Heroes,” can’t you?

Networks shoot pilots fully expecting that many will never even see the light of day, much less become a hit. Great shows never catch on, lousy shows last for years.

Consider “Pushing Daisies,” one of this season’s few bright spots — a smart, funny, offbeat show that’s managed to win both critical acclaim and healthy audiences. Of course, it’s a show from Brian Fuller, creator of “Wonderfalls,” a smart, funny, offbeat show that lasted all of a dozen episodes for Fox back in 2004.

Why did one show fly and one falter? Who knows?

So “Heroes” came along, a fun, colorful comic book of a show. Audiences loved it. Critics loved it. It was the rock around which NBC was going to rebuild its shrunken empire.

In the bright lights of all the adulation, it was hard to see the cracks in the foundation: Thin characters, repetitive plots, endless toe-tapping time killers to keep the mystery alive. It’s no wonder the second season landed like a lead balloon.

And it’s not that the sophomore year of “Heroes” hasn’t had a handful of bright spots. In an episode that was otherwise Example A of what the show has gotten wrong this season, this week’s last-minute reveal that the big bad guy was none other than Hiro’s erstwhile buddy from medieval Japan was a genuine surprise. It very nearly made the endless, boring time-travel digression worth it.

Still, you’d have to be a pretty loyal fan to have confidence that all of this is building to anything worthwhile.

It’s like “24”: The plot is identical every season. The only reason fans stick with it is, 1. To see how ridiculous things will get (hello, cougar!). And, 2. To see the bad guy. Gregory Itzin’s amazing turn as slimeball President Charles Logan saved Kiefer Sutherland and company from utter irrelevancy.

A great villain can pump up any show. Even a mega-hit like “CSI” got a boost from The Miniature Killer. And Ryan’s promotion to corporate is juicing up “The Office.”

So, if Hiro’s buddy Adam turns out to be delightfully creepy, fans will come streaming back to “Heroes” — all of this assuming the writer’s strike doesn’t put the kibosh on anything more scripted than “Deal Or No Deal,” of course.

If, on the other hand, Adam is just a red herring to keep the wheels turning, à la Linderman, then “Heroes” is going to go down as a one-season wonder that dragged on for years.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0275 or awineke@gazette.com

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