Tim Kring better be making some room on his fireplace mantle, because award season is afoot, and his hit NBC series "Heroes" is already making some gains.

"Heroes" received three nominations from the Television Critics Association, helping NBC be a big winner with critics, even if it wasn't a big winner with viewers this past season.

The show that can be best described as a cross between the X-Men franchise and "The 4400," picked up nominations for Program of the Year, Drama, and New Program of the Year.

It will compete with the likes of Fox's "American Idol," NBC's "Friday Night Lights," Discovery's "Planet Earth," and both "The Wire" and "When the Levees Broke" on HBO for the top program slot. For the Drama category, "Heroes" is up against "Friday Night Lights," ABC's "Lost," and both "The Sopranos" and "The Wire" from HBO.

As far as New Program of the Years, "Heroes" was nominated along with "30 Rock" on NBC, Showtime's "Dexter," "Friday Night Lights" and ABC's "Ugly Betty."

Winners will be selected in July.