Actor Josh Gad, best known for his role on the Fox comedy “Back to You,” has joined ABC’s comedy pilot “No Heroics” as a recurring, says The Hollywood Reporter.

“No Heroics” revolves around four B-list superheroes living in regular society.

Gad will play their former classmate from Superhero College, Horse Force, who can summon horses and works at a bar where the group hangs out.

Gad joins a cast that includes Freddie Prinze Jr. Eliza Coupe, Arielle Kebbel and Paul Campbell.

Freddie Prinze Jr. will star in the American version of No Heroics, along with Paul Campbell, Eliza Coupe and Arielle Kebbel. Apparently they are changing the names of the heroes and their powers, since Campbell will play Chillout, “a Canadian-born superhero who can freeze small objects”, while FPJ’s character is Ultimatum, an “egotistical Alpha male who has all the women and fame and money a guy could want”.

British comedy writer and show-runner Drew Pearce is heading to America to work on the pilot.  “I have high hopes for it right now,” Pearce told Wired.com. “I am moving to Los Angeles on the Feb. 22 for three months to run the show.”
Pearce confirmed that the ABC show will be set in the same world as ITV’s production.
“Everyone seems to be excited about the all-new script and characters,” he added. “So, we’re keeping fingers crossed.”

Nicholas Burns was born in Derbyshire , England and trained at The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

He is well known for his role as wannabe urban cool man Nathan Barley in the Channel 4 sitcom of the same name, and also for his portrayal of put-upon Martin Weedon in the BAFTA nominated sitcom Benidorm. Nick was one of six leads in two series of the BBC sketch show Man Stroke Woman.

He has also appeared in TV comedies Roman’s Empire, The IT Crowd, The Mighty Boosh, Fear of Fanny, Never Better and the upcoming Monday Monday and Mister Eleven.

Other TV credits include dramas Miss Marple, Cambridge Spies and A Touch of Frost.

His theatre credits include Shakespeare’s comedy The Taming of the Shrew at the Nottingham Playhouse, Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, Much Ado About Nothing at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield and Arcadia at the Bristol Old Vic.

Tell us about your character. Read the rest of this entry »

James Lance is a British actor, trained at The Sylvia Young Theatre School.

James has recently completed two independent British films due for general release later this year; Bronson directed by the acclaimed Danish director, Nicholas Winding Refyns and starring Tom Hardy, as well as City Rats starring Danny Dyer and Tamar Hussan. James has also had starring roles in The Search for John Gissing, Late Night Shopping and Sofia Coppola’s Oscar winning film, Marie Antoinette starring Kirstin Dunst.

He has acted alongside Robert Carlyle for the BBC’s Last Enemy and played Joanna Lumley’s son in Sensitive Skin. James also appeared in Channel 4’s The Book Group.

Currently he is reprising his role as Jesus in ITV2’s Katy Brand’s Big Ass Show, filming Boy Meets Girl with Martin Freeman and starring in a second series of ITV1’s Moving Wallpaper.

James also played the part of Matt in the Channel 4 hit drama Teachers, appeared in Saxondale, Channel 4’s sketch show Smack the Pony, I’m Alan Partridge and Spaced.

Tell us about your character. Read the rest of this entry »

Patrick Baladi is from Birmingham and trained as an actor at the Central School of Speech and Drama.

Patrick was David Brent’s adversary Neil Godwin, in the award winning BBC sitcom The Office. He has a number of TV credits to his name, most recently the provocative BBC series Mistresses, BAFTA nominated medical drama Bodies and the part of Dodi Al-Fayed in the 2007 docudrama Diana: Last Days of a Princess. Patrick has also appeared in Party Animals.

Patrick has also appeared in various films including the romantic comedy Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason and action comedy drama High Heels and Low Lifes.

He is no stranger to the stage and has a long list of theatre performances to his name. Patrick has appeared in Royal Shakespeare Company productions such as Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing, and most recently Purgatorio at the Arcola Theatre, London .

Tell us about your character. Read the rest of this entry »

Claire Keelan plays Electroclash aka Sarah in ITV2’s brand new sit-com No Heroics, Sarah has the ability to control machines with her voice.

She is best known for her role as Claire Ashcroft in Channel 4’s cult sitcom Nathan Barley.

Claire starred in the comedy TV film Perfect Day which proved so successful it paved the way for a prequel, Perfect Day: The Millennium and also a sequel Perfect Day: The Funeral. Claire’s other TV credits include Sorted, the BBC drama from Danny Brocklehurst, as well as the sitcom How Not To Live Your Life and long running ITV drama, The Bill.

She has had roles in several films, including the British comedy A Cock and Bull Story starring actor and comedian Steve Coogan and most recently the thriller, Hush.

Tell us about your character. Read the rest of this entry »

Rebekah Staton trained at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). She plays the begrudging superhero She-Force, aka Jenny, in ITV2’s sitcom No Heroics.

Rebekah’s first great role came almost immediately after leaving drama school when she landed the part of Liz, the stroppy receptionist in the BBC’s acclaimed State of Play. More recently Rebekah has been in two series of Pulling for BBC Three, playing the lead role of Louise. In 2006 she starred in ITV’s acclaimed one-off drama Mysterious Creatures, alongside Brenda Blethyn and Timothy Spall; also that year she starred as a regular in the award-winning Outlaws for BBC Three. Other TV credits include the cult drama Doctor Who, BAFTA nominated drama Rome and British dramas Life Begins, The Amazing Mrs Pritchard and Jane Eyre. She has just finished filming Tess of the D’Urbervilles which will be aired later this year.

She has appeared in Stephen Fry’s directional debut, the comedy drama Bright Young Things, as well as Happy-Go-Lucky, a comedy directed by Mike Leigh.

Rebekah has played a number of roles on stage including Lady Mary in Chasing The Golden Sun and Mercy Lewis in The Crucible. She has also appeared in Playing With Fire at The Royal National Theatre and The 11th Capitol at The Royal Court Theatre.

Tell us about your character. Read the rest of this entry »

Drew Pearce is the writer and creator of No Heroics – ITV2’s first ever sitcom commission. For the last five years Drew has created and produced many noted and popular television series. He was Executive Producer of BBC3’s cult hit High Spirits with Shirley Ghostman and wrote and directed E4’s The Musical Storytellers Ginger And Black. No Heroics has allowed Drew to further indulge an enduring passion for vintage comic books – as well as, of course, writing.

The series is directed by Ben Gregor. With a background in Japanese and skateboarding, Ben has won various directing awards for both short films and commercials, such as Blake’s Junction 7, Virgin Mobile, 118 118 and Amnesty International. Ben is currently filming a pilot for BBC 3 starring Tallulah Riley. Additional material for No Heroics has been provided through the combined talents of Daniel Peak (I’m With Stupid) and Jon Brown (After You’ve Gone).

Production Designer Dick Lunn completes the look of the series, with the entire backdrop alluding cleverly to the very comic books that Drew and his team have turned to for inspiration. Dick started his career in the Art Department working on productions like Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge and has since Art Directed numerous productions including Channel 4’s Black Books and The IT Crowd, as well as Britcom film Hot Fuzz. As production designer his credits include series two of Spaced and Man Stroke Woman.

No Heroics was always going to be a fabulous challenge for a costume designer and Annie Hardinge (Hot Fuzz, The Mighty Boosh) has more than met her brief, to jump between the ordinary and the out-of-the ordinary with a stunning range of arresting superhero uniforms.

Finally, Tiger Aspect’s Head of Comedy Sophie Clarke-Jervoise is Executive Producer. Sophie’s impressive list of credits includes The Catherine Tate Show for the BBC, ITV1’s Benidorm, The Smoking Room and Coupling.

US Tv Network ABC is preparing a pilot of No Heroics

ABC Studios is producing the project, which is based on the 6-month-old Tiger Aspect/ITV2 comedy of the same name. Drew Pearce, who created the British show, will write and executive produce the American take, along with American writer Jeff Greenstein (”Friends”).

TV Week

Now this could the hotness, or very painful indeed!

ITV2 has commissioned Tiger Aspect to make No Heroics, an exclusive comedy sitcom featuring a stellar Britcom cast including Patrick Baladi (The Office, Mistresses, Party Animals, Bodies), Nicholas Burns (Benidorm, Nathan Barley, Man Stroke Woman, Roman’s Empire), James Lance (Moving Wallpaper, Teachers, Smack The Pony, Spaced), Claire Keelan (Sorted, Nathan Barley) and Rebekah Staton (Pulling, Mysterious Creatures, State of Play).

The six-part series is brand new for 2008 and sees a group of British off-duty superheroes living their day to day life, which for supposed saviours of the world is actually rather normal – as they just can’t be arsed. Instead this group of b-listers would rather get drunk in their local superheroes-only pub, The Fortress, and commiserate at their lack of superiority.

Welcome to the No Heroics gang:

The Hotness aka Alex (Nicholas Burns). Alex controls heat and is desperate to be famous for saving the world (or at least someone), but somehow Excelsor always manages to save the day before him.

Electroclash aka Sarah (Claire Keelan). Sarah can control machines with her voice. However she would rather steal a pack of cigarettes from a machine than help the ‘normal’ world with her power. Seen as the most rock ‘n’ roll of the bunch, Sarah is the daughter of famous superheroes and Alex’s on-off love interest.

Timebomb aka Don (James Lance). Don can see sixty seconds into the future. However, these days this homosexual Spaniard only uses his flash force to his friend’s advantage, as he is retired.

She-Force aka Jenny (Rebekah Staton). Jenny has super-strength and is the third strongest woman in the world, but totally despises being a superhero. She would much rather spend her days at her desk, waiting for Mr Right to come along and revels in her everyday guise.

Excelsor aka Devlin (Patrick Baladi). Devlin is the most successful man in costume; he can basically do everything – the Brad Pitt of the superhero world and the bain of Alex’s life.

And let’s not forget Norse Dave, an ex-Falklands superhero and the Fortress landlord. Plus Thundermonkey, the Fortress doorman and the superhero with perhaps the most useless power…

Patrick Baladi said: “If only for this reason, viewers should tune into No Heroics to see James Lance in his padded superhero suit – he looks especially inviting. He left the rest of us looking particularly pitiable, as our simple frames were all we had to fill our costumes.”

Drew Pearce, Creator, Writer and Producer for Tiger Aspect said: “The cast are amazing, the scripts have jokes in them, and we’re looking forward to exposing the seedy underbelly of superheroic life to the ITV2 audience this September.”