UPN Casts Pilot Leads

UPN has tapped an Odyssey 5 cast member and a former Caroline In The City regular to star in two of its new drama pilots.

Christopher Gorham, Neil Taggart on the short-lived Showtime series Odyssey 5, will play the lead in Weapon X, Zap2it reported. His character is described as a "geeky National Security Agency technician" who is mistakenly injected with computer chips and becomes a superhero.

Gorham previously starred in Popular and appeared in recurring roles on Felicity and Party of Five. The Weapon X pilot was written by The Chronicle creator Silvio Horta and will be executive produced by Gina Matthews and Grant Scharbo.

UPN has also cast Amy Pietz in Newton, a pilot from The Dead Zone writer Craig Silverstein. The actress will play the mother "in a family which moves into an idyllic suburb to find out that it is in fact a testing ground for futuristic products," according to Backstage.com.

In addition to her regular role in the 90s sitcom Caroline in the City, Pietz played Lt. Sandra Rhodes in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "Bloodlines". She has also guest-starred on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Ally McBeal.

Weapon X and Newton are just two of the six drama pilots ordered by the Enterprise network for the 2003-2004 season. Earlier this week, UPN greenlit its sixth comedy pilot, entitled The Mullet Bros, bringing the network's total number of pilot orders to 12. Trade paper Variety reported the show will centre around two mullet-wearing brothers who run a roofing company.

The original reports can be found at Zap2it, Backstage.com and Variety.

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