'The Greatest American Hero' Reboot News: 'New Girl' Star Hannah Simone Cast as Female Lead
"New Girl" star Hannah Simone landed the lead role for the reboot of "The Greatest American Hero."
ABC announced on Monday that its female-led reboot has landed its superhero in the 37-year-old British-born Canadian actress, who plays Jess' best friend Cece Parekh in the hit comedy series "New Girl."
Simone will play 30-year-old Meera, an Indian-American tequila and karaoke enthusiast who has tried but failed many times to find a purpose in her life — something her family does not approve of. Her life takes a 180-degree turn, however, when aliens arrive and give her a super suit, ultimately putting her in charge of taking care of the entire planet.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Despite the powers she received with the suit though, she remains to be as careless as she usually is, making her world-saving mission a bit doubtful.
The original "The Greatest American Hero" ran for three seasons in 1981 to 1983 and was led by a mail protagonist, Ralph Hinkley, played by William Katt. He was a normal school teacher until he met aliens on a field trip. They gave him a suit as well as powers he could neither understand nor control, and worse, he lost the instructions that came with the super suit. To save the world, he received help from FBI agent Bill Maxwell (Robert Culp) and attorney Pam Davidson (Connie Sellecca).
It popularized the song "Believe It or Not," sung by Joey Scarbury, which peaked at number 2 at the charts.
The series revival received a pilot order from ABC last week. Unlike its predecessor, which enjoyed one-hour airtime per episode, the reboot will only have 30 minutes.
The pilot and the prospective series will be run by executive producer Nahnatchka Khan ("Fresh Off the Boat"), and will be written by Rachna Fruchbom (also of "Fresh Off the Boat").
Also tasked to executive produce are Mandy Summers and Tawnia McKiernan, the daughter of producer Stephen J. Cannell, who produced the original series.
