No Heroics review

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A couple years ago, ABC tried to bring in another British comedy to the US when they cast Freddy Prinze Jr in the remake of the UK comedy No Heroics. I hadn’t seen the show, since it hasn’t been released in the US, but, thanks to a friend of a friend, I was able to view all 6 episodes recently. And let me tell you that I’m so glad that it wasn’t able to be redone in the US. Part of the fun of the show is the swearing, drinking and sex talk that makes up most of the dialogue and I truly doubt that ABC (or any other major network) would leave that in. It stars a bunch of people that you’ve probably never heard of if you don’t watch UK television and is (in Warren Ellis’ words) “funnier than a comedy show about bloody superheroes has any right to be”. So, let’s talk about “No Heroics”.

First of all, loyal blog readers will realize that the show is very, very similar to a small-press comic from a decade ago named Hero Happy Hour (my review) in that the majority of the show revolves around superheroes talking in a superhero only bar run by an ex-super hero. I doubt the creator of the TV show had ever heard of the comic (I’m pretty sure the only people who’ve heard of the comic are me and the creators), so it’s not a rip-off of the comic. But they do go on around the same topics.

The core of the show is five superheros. The Hotness (controls fire), Electroclash (can talk to electronics), She-Force (3rd strongest female in the world) and TimeBomb (can see 60 seconds into the future) are four friends that hang out together at the bar. Also there is Excelsor (flight, superstrength, etc.) who is the most popular and well-known superhero currently and also a bit of a douchebag. Electroclash used to date The Hotness and she was briefly in a superhero team with She-Force (Lady Trouble). A lot of the show revolves around our heroes sitting in the bar, drinking and complaining. There are occasional forays out of the bar for reasons and they usually end badly.

Some of the funnier storylines were:

  • She-Force and Electroclash going to a Lady Trouble fan club meeting (all young men mostly dressed like the two women) which is topped off with a full size cardboard cutout with a hole in an unfortunate locations (the fan swears its for looking through).
  • TimeBomb taking a job to protect the most obnoxious young prince ever with his power paying off wonderfully when he’s fired
  • She-Force having dating issues including flirting with a Merman (who tastes like fish when she kisses him), flirting with a Cape Hater and dirty talk in prison with a villain she put in jail
  • Electroclash pretending to still be dating The Hotness to piss off her parents
  • A superhero therapy group that TimeBomb goes to because he feels depressed.
  • The Hotness getting a tip on a crime, but having to take the bus over to the crime scene (and flirting badly on the way).

There are also some wonderful secondary characters including the bar owner (and ex-superhero) Norse Dave and the bar bouncer Thunder Monkey. Thunder Monkey’s power is the ability to summon his monkeys. But since they are currently housed 2 hours away, it’s takes a while for them to get there.

The show is an amazing mixture of sex jokes, hero jokes and just plain fun. The show title comes from the bar rules which include no costumes and no heroics in the bar. It’s really funny, but I’ve seen that some people aren’t into the type of humor the show provides. Overall, it’s a really enjoyable show that isn’t easy for American audiences to see (I hear that Direct TV has the US rights, but I don’t know where/when to view it on Direct TV). But, if you get the chance, you should check it out.