There has been a lot of talk lately about what can be done to fix Heroes , as the consensus grows that the show is suffering through some big creative problems. Complaints abound about the often sloppy writing, as the motivations become murkier and increasingly hard to swallow, with too many twists done for their own sake, and not as a believable action on the part of a character. The audience dissatisfaction seems to be reflected in the ratings for the series, with a 21% drop in total viewers from where the show was a year ago.

The troubles the show is going through finally had a major result on the creative side this week, with the news that two of the main Heroes writer/producers, Jeph Loeb and Jesse Alexander, had been let go from the series. According to Variety, series creator Tim Kring is said to be working to, "get back to the show's comicbookish good vs. evil themes and to emphasize character development more than plot twists."

There's no word yet on who, if anyone, might replace Loeb and Alexander, who were said to help guide the writers room while Kring dealt with many of the other issues a show as large and technically intense as Heroes call for. But if NBC and Kring are on the lookout, IGN offers the following candidates: Six writer/producers who could bring back the kind of focus and strong storylines Heroes needs to become the great show it once was and could be again.

Note: I've tried to be (partially) realistic here, and not pick guys like JJ Abrams, Joss Whedon, Ron Moore or Eric Kripke who are clearly way too busy with shows or other projects of their own to join Heroes… though in a couple of cases, I did stretch the possibilities to include a couple of folks who would need an extra bit of coaxing.

Jeffrey Bell

Previous Credits Include: The X-Files, Angel, Alias

Bell got his start in the later years of The X-Files, crafting stories about everything from a person whose emotions control the local weather to a man who is turning into metal. He then really upped his game on Joss Whedon's Angel, which he joined in the third season, writing several key episodes of the increasingly serialized and compelling series. By Season 5, Bell was serving as showrunner, and co-wrote (with Whedon) the fantastic Angel series finale.

Bell then moved to Alias, for that show's final two years. That once-great series had undergone some huge missteps by that point, before Bell arrived. But still, he showed his talent at creating stories that were fun and also gave insight into the characters, such as "Ice," which stood out as possibly the best ever episode of Alias to focus on Michael Vaughn, and certainly was a highlight of an otherwise unremarkable period on the series.

With The X-Files, Angel and Alias, Bell has proven time and again he can deliver the goods when it comes to genre TV, while also offering the strong characterization Heroes so often lacks. And those three series also had periods where they were heavily serialized and others were they were more stand alone – something Heroes needs to create a better balance between, since they seem so remiss at doing any episodes that take a break from messily conceived ongoing plots in order to focus more on just a couple of characters. But if you're looking for serialization, Bell's certainly your man, since he not only worked on the incredibly tightly woven fourth season of Angel, but also Day Break, which told a fast moving storyline over its 13 episode run.

Bell is currently working on CBS's Harper's Island as the showrunner, meaning he's not exactly the most available candidate on this list. But considering Harper's is a serialized murder mystery series on a network where procedurals rule, I wouldn't hold my breath for its success. NBC already has an investment in Heroes, and Bell has already shown he can jump on a show that's been running for awhile and fit right in.