Joel McHale in Pilot Soup

Zap2It.com | February 23, 2009

Joel McHale

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Ex-'Buffy' star Marc Blucas also lands a role

Casting for pilots is starting to come fast and furious as filming dates approach. "The Soup" host Joel McHale, former "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" actor Marc Blucas and "Life on Mars" poppa Dean Winters are among the latest to land roles.

McHale has signed on to NBC's comedy "Community," Blucas and Liza Lapira have joined ABC's "See Cate Run" and Winters will star in ABC's "Happy Town." The Alphabet has also added Jaime Ray Newman and Veronica Cartwright to its drama "Eastwick" and Jimmy Wolk to a drama from Daniel Cerone, while NBC has signed Aimee Garcia for "Trauma," according to The Hollywood Reporter.

"Community" will star McHale as a lawyer who's forced to re-enroll at a community college when his degree is deemed invalid. The show will be his second stab at an NBC comedy; he starred in NBC's picked up but never aired "The IT Crowd" a couple seasons back. Anthony and Joe Russo ("Arrested Development," "Carpoolers") have also signed on to direct.

Also at NBC, Garcia ("George Lopez") will play a rookie on an EMT team in "Trauma," a medical drama from writer Dario Scardapane.

"See Cate Run" stars Amy Smart as a young lawyer who's destined to become a presidential candidate. Blucas, whose recent credits include "Meet Dave" and "The Jane Austen Book Club," will play a campaign consultant who sees potential in Cate. Lapira ("21," "NCIS") will play Cate's colleague and roommate.

"Eastwick" is an adaptation of John Updike's "Witches of Eastwick." Newman ("Veronica Mars") will play one of the three women discovering their powers. Cartwright, who co-starred in the 1987 "Witches" feature film, has also been cast.

In "Happy Town," Winters ("Rescue Me," "30 Rock") will play a man whose daughter was kidnapped years ago -- the last serious crime in the titular town until the events of the pilot. The Cerone show, based on the Argentine series "Brothers and Detectives," will star Wolk ("Front of the Class") as a detective whose brilliant 11-year-old brother helps him on cases.