



The creator of ITV’s new superhero comedy series No Heroics insists he lacks the superpower needed to align the stars in his favor.

Yet Drew Pearce’s six-episode exploration of real-world superheroes who battle very human ennui arrived on U.K. screens this summer just as The Dark Knight was setting new box office records and the late Heath Ledger and comeback player of the year Robert Downey Jr. were making superhero roles safe for Academy Award chatter.

It was all just a happy coincidence for Pearce, the writer/show-runner of previous U.K. shows Lip Service and Damage Control.

"I’ve been a longtime comics nerd, and this is an idea I’ve looked forward to doing for a long time now," Pearce told Wired.com from London. "I had no way of knowing [No Heroics] would come to TV while The Dark Knight was becoming The Godfather: Part II of superhero movies."

No Heroics (trailer embedded) features a collection of super-powered neurotics battling life in the everyday world. Marked by the same dry, existential humor that drove The Office (with enough of the surreal playfulness of Spaced), there should be enough laughs in each episode for nerds and non-geeks alike.

Nicholas Burns plays The Hotness, a Human Torch wannabe desperate for the fame and fortune he thinks he deserves. Rebekah Staton portrays She-Force — the marriage-crazed, third-strongest woman in the world. James Lance is Timebomb, a self-destructive dysfunctional who can see 60 seconds into his ever-bleak future. And Patrick Baladi rips it up as Excelsior, the ultra-powerful Superman-style hero of the group who allowed his powers to turn him into a raging jackass.

"We were so lucky to get this cast," Pearce said. "And I think we’re only scratching the surface of these characters so far."

Baladi is best known to U.S. TV viewers as Neil Godwin, the Ricky Gervais-cast interloper who muscles in on David Brent’s turf on the second season of the U.K. version of The Office. His Excelsior (below) is a bleak treat that Pearce uses sparingly because of his overwhelming rottenness.

"Writing Excelsior is so much fun because I myself can’t believe what comes out of his mouth," Pearce said.

As for his own nerd credentials, Pearce is a comics devotee with knowledge of Marvel and DC Comics traditions stretching back decades. But, viewers don’t have to be hard-core comic book geeks to enjoy No Heroics‘ six-episode run. The show’s dubious heroes are flawed people first and trading card stars a distant second.

The meager six-episode story arc is commonplace in cash-strapped British TV comedy, whether a show is on a BBC network or ITV. While Pearce considered producing just six episodes a blessing at first, the short run became a disappointment as it wrapped.

"Starting out on a new series — writing, producing, casting — makes six episodes seem like so much work," Pearce said. "But when we finished those six, I realized we were just getting started with these characters and their stories."

Pearce, his cast and crew are waiting to hear whether they will be back for a second series of No Heroics. The show is pulling down strong reviews and ratings overseas — generating enough buzz to make another run likely. Meanwhile, Pearce travels back and forth from London to Los Angeles as talks continue on whether No Heroics will get a shot on U.S. TV. Pearce hinted that all signs point up, up and away, but he honored the entertainment industry’s long-standing tradition of maintaining silence until the deal is done. You never want to jinx anything.

For now, American viewers are finding No Heroics episodes on the usual suspects of dastardly and disreputable online sites.

"I think we caught a wave with No Heroics, and I hope we come back for another series," Pearce said. "After a friend of mine saw [No Heroics], he said it was ‘The funny Watchmen.’ I almost kissed him full on the mouth to be mentioned in the same breath as [the Alan Moore masterpiece]. It’d be interesting to see what American audiences make of it."

Image courtesy ITV

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