Powerless Anticipation and Speculation: Crisis on Actuarial Table 9

[Meredith Quill]

Anticipate and Speculate Here!

[MarkHB]

NBC has ordered a pilot for the show, which is described:
 
 

Powerless, [written by A to Z‘s Ben Queen,] is described as The Office, with superheroes. Powerless is a workplace comedy set at one of the worst insurance companies in America set in the DC universe. The show is about the reality of working life for a normal, powerless person in a world of superheroes and villains. The focus of the series is on the ordinary, “power-less” folk working at the insurance company.

 
First casting announcement: Vanessa Hudgens.

Hudgens will play Emily Locke, a claims adjuster who loves her job because she gets to help people, but who is increasingly exasperated by the disruptive antics of the various Super Heroes that proliferate in her city.

 

Should it snag a series order in May, Powerless would mark the High School Musical grad’s first full-time TV gig.

[MarkHB]

More casting news...

 

 

 

Community‘s Danny Pudi and Firefly‘s Alan Tudyk have joined the DC Comics-infused sitcom pilot as series regulars...

Christina Kirk (A to Z, Manhattan) has also been added to the cast....

 

Pudi will play Teddy, best friend and co-worker to Hudgens’ Emily (Vanessa Hudgens). He spends his days creating time-wasting pranks as a way to make their office, the “least Super place on earth,” just a little less “unsuper.”

 

Tudyk, meanwhile, portrays Del, Emily’s new boss in the claims department. Del has just been promoted — not through any merit of his own, but because he’s the owner’s son. A self-proclaimed “rich, over-educated globetrotting wastrel,” Del is a power-mad disastrous dictator of a boss.

 

Lastly, Kirk is set for the role of Jackie, a massive superhero fan who works as Del’s assistant.

[The Crazed Spruce]

Okay, I was interested because the premise reminds me a lot of Damage Control, but Danny Pudi and Alan Tudyk? Sign me up!

[Trini]

Our First Glimpses of the Superheroic Silliness of DC's New 'Office With Capes' Comedy
Somebody got some peeks at the filming of the pilot.

... Firstly, this show is already surpassing The Flash in the level of “wait, what, they’re seriously doing that character!?” hilarity already, which is saying something, considering The Flash counts Gorilla Grodd and King Shark as supporting characters. That’s kind of great, actually, because it means there’s a chance for some of the most obscure and goofy comics characters in DC’s long history now have a chance to show up on a TV series that is befitting of their cheesiness....

[MarkHB]

This show has been ordered to series.  There are a couple of photos at the link.

[MarkHB]

Slightly longer version of the Official Description.  Also, NBC is holding Powerless for midseason.
 

Quote

 

In the first comedy series set in the universe of DC Comics, Vanessa Hudgens ("Grease Live," "High School Musical") plays Emily, a spunky young insurance adjuster specializing in regular-people coverage against damage caused by the crime-fighting superheroes. It's when she stands up to one of these larger-than-life figures (after an epic battle messes with her commute) that she accidentally becomes a cult "hero" in her own right ... even if it's just to her group of lovably quirky co-workers. Now, while she navigates her normal, everyday life against an explosive backdrop, Emily might just discover that being a hero doesn't always require superpowers.

The cast includes Vanessa Hudgens, Alan Tudyk, Danny Pudi and Christina Kirk.

Ben Queen serves as writer and executive producer. Director Michael Patrick Jann (pilot) also executive produces. "Powerless" is produced by Warner Bros. Television and based on the characters from DC Comics.

 

NBC Universal is making the live stream of their Upfront available at https://together.nbcuni.com ; registration and login required (I didn't register, so I don't know if there's a fee).

[MarkHB]

Here's the trailer!

(Removed since it was pulled from Youtube)

[Lokiberry]

That actually looks better than I thought.

[MarkHB]

Here's another look at the trailer:

[legaleagle53]

That looks really cute.  I just may have to give it a try.

[MarkHB]

It turns out that Marc McClure (Jimmy Olsen in the Chris Reeve Superman films, as well as the Supergirl movie) will have a recurring role in Powerless!

[MarkHB]

Alan Tudyk talked about the show (or lack thereof) at New York Comic-Con.

Quote

"It was always a mid-season replacement, so you have to have something fail for us to live," he told the New York audience. "Sort of like something that feeds off its host and lays its eggs in there and once the eggs hatch, it kills that TV show...somebody has to die for us to succeed."

[MarkHB]

Actual official promo for the New! Improved! Powerless

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDnO2cvBbnA

(Linked as embed is failing for me)

[Trini]

Hmmm... yeah, that's completely different than the initial announcement. THis looks like it might be a little too "zany" too succeed. Not that zany can't succeed, but it's needs more than that.

[Trini]

Catching up on this (didn't realize we were already up to 4 episodes!); some of it's predictable, but I'm still getting some laughs. Still not really sold on Emily/Hudgens, although she's doing decently. However, it's the side characters that are the bright spots for me; especially Tudyk and Pudi. So far I think they've been fairly clever with how they're using DC comics lore and characters.