NBC's The Cape vs. ABC's No Ordinary Family

NBC have ordered superhero drama The Cape to pilot. The script revolves around ex-cop Vince Faraday (ER's David Lyons), who's framed for a murder he didn't commit and forced to become a "masked hero" to clear his name. Summer Glau (Sarah Connor Chronicles, Dollhouse) has been cast as Orwell, an intrepid blogger/reporter who investigates the city's many corrupt cops and politicians. I can't help thinking that NBC are essentially looking for something to replace Heroes with (if its days are indeed numbered), and The Cape certainly sounds like a cheaper alternative because the superheroes won't have expensive super powers.

The Cape is the creation of Tom Wheeler (who's currently writing Shrek spin-off Puss In Boots), and its pilot will be directed by Simon West (Con Air, Tomb Raider), who's beginning to rival David Nutter as television's go-to guy for TV pilots. You can read a lukewarm review of the Pilot script here.

But that's possibly not the only new superhero drama we could be seeing next year. ABC are also piloting superhero series No Ordinary Family, which sounds like a live-action version of The Incredibles. The premise finds a normal American family developing extraordinary powers: Michael Chiklis (The Shield, Fantastic Four) will star as Jim, the dad who works as a police sketch artist; Julie Benz (Dexter) is playing his wife Stephanie, who has super-speed; Autumn Reeser (The OC) stars as Stephanie's lab assistant; Romany Malco (Weeds) is playing George St. Cloud, Jim's old college buddy; and Christina Chang (24) is Yvonne Cho, a cop who works with Jim down at the precinct.

No Ordinary Family is the brainchild of Greg Berlanti (Everwood, Dirty Sexy Money), who's also now involved with writing The Green Lantern movie and, possibly, The Flash.