US sitcom break for Ker

Humphrey Ker has landed his first US acting role, in a sitcom pilot about friends who reassess their lives after surviving a plane crash.

The 2011 Edinburgh Comedy Award winner will star in the NBC comedy Holding Patterns, playing a ‘cautious, often-uptight, over-analytical workaholic’ according to Hollywood industry website Deadline.

Production is set to start in Los Angeles on March 25.

The girlfriend of his character, Griffin, played by Grey’s Anatomy actress Chyler Leigh, ruins his wedding proposal dinner and unintentionally causes the crash.

A 30-minute, multi-camera production, Holding Patterns is written by Justin Spitzer, who wrote 11 episodes of the US version of The Office and is produced by TBD Productions and Universal Television, which also makes The Office, Parks and Recreation and Community.

‘I would absolutely love to move to America,’ Ker said in 2011. ‘It’s such an exciting place from a comedy perspective. I’m a total American-phile. I love American sports, food, TV, culture and people. So yeah, if the opportunity ever arose, I would love to go there.’

Ker won the best newcomer award at the Edinburgh Fringe for his show Dymock Watson: Nazi Smasher!, loosely based on his grandfather’s exploits as a commando during the Second World War. He also performs with The Penny Dreadfuls sketch group, while his TV appearances have included guesting on Have I Got News For You, improv showcase Fast And Loose and Live At The Electric.

He returns to the UK shortly to host a second series of Radio 4’s Sketchorama, which begins recording at the end of the month, and appears in Kevin Eldon’s sketch show, It’s Kevin, which airs on BBC Two next week.

• Deadline has also revealed that Saturday Night Live alumni David Spade and Rachel Harris, a regular in Christopher Guest’s films, will star alongside Sharon Horgan in her US pilot Bad Management.

  Written by Horgan and Holly Walsh, the Pulling star plays the self-centred boss of a luxury goods store in the ABC show,who finds herself challenged by the boss’ son, Tobias Jr. (Spade), when he tries to make the company more youthful and sexy.