Show looking to cast several new characters

After ending its first season as the highest-rated new drama on TV, NBC's "Heroes" won't be standing pat when it returns in the fall.

Though the show won't go back into production for another couple of months, it's already putting feelers out for several new characters who will pop up on the show next season. Most of them are said to be recurring roles and not cast regulars, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Also at NBC, one of the lead roles in the midseason comedy "The IT Crowd" is being recast.

The possible "Heroes" include an attractive Latina and an Irish mobster, according to casting breakdowns obtained by the HR. The show is also searching for an actor to play Claire's (Hayden Panettiere) boyfriend and for an African-American woman who was a surrogate for Niki's (Ali Larter) son Micah (Noah Gray-Cabey).

Just how those characters will fit into the show's story is anyone's guess at the moment. The final scene of Monday's finale started "Volume Two" of "Heroes" (titled "Generations") and found Hiro (Masi Oka) transported back in time to Japan, circa 1671.

The midseason comedy "The IT Crowd," meanwhile, has decided to recast Jessica St. Clair's role. She played the tech-averse new boss to a pair of underappreciated IT workers (Joel McHale, Richard Ayoade) at a large company.