NBC Recasts Two Pilots

Tue Mar 30, 2004 04:13 AM ET

By Nellie Andreeva

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Michael Landes is replacing Eric Christian Olsen as the male lead in NBC’s untitled comedy starring Alyson Hannigan.

The "American Pie" alumna plays an ex-nerd whose life is disrupted when her anti-Establishment brother (Landes) re-enters her life.

Landes, who got his break in "The Wonder Years," recently starred in "Hart’s War" and "Final Destination 2." Olsen starred in "Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd."

In other NBC comedy pilot recasting news, Khary Payton has been tapped to replace Chester Gregory II in "D.O.T.s," a project set in the world of meter maids.

Elsewhere in the pilot casting world:

 Michael Rispoli is in negotiations to star in ABC’s comedy pilot "The Furst Family," which centers on a blue-collar family Rispoli would head with Laurie Metcalf.

 Eddie Kaye Thomas ("American Pie") has been tapped as the male lead in NBC’s comedy pilot "Weekends," which centers on a Generation X Orange County couple (Thomas, Caitlin Mowrey) with a baby.

 Richard Kind has joined the cast of CBS’ untitled Aisha Tyler comedy pilot, which centers on a single New York woman (Tyler) who enters the corporate world. Kind ("Spin City") will play her boss at the corporation.

 Kerr Smith ("Dawson’s Creek") leads the cast of UPN’s drama "Silver Lake," with Hedy Burress, Sandra Bernhard, Stephanie Faracy and William Russ also cast in the project.

"Silver Lake" is a dramedy about an L.A. record store owner (Smith) who communicates with the dead. Burress ("Valentine") will play the man’s twin sister. Faracy (CBS’ "Charlie Lawrence") and Russ (NBC’s "Mister Sterling") will play the twosome’s parents. Bernhard will play a psychic.

 Martin Donovan, Alexander Gould, Matt Czuchry and Jessica Chastain have been cast in the WB Network’s drama "Dark Shadows," a remake of the original Gothic soap about the Collinses, a wealthy Maine family under a vampire curse.

Gould and Donovan will play the family’s sons. Chastain will play a member of the Stoddard family who gets bitten by a vampire. Gould voiced Nemo in "Finding Nemo."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter