Another outrageous drama unfolds

Move over the Wests, here come the Johnsons. But while the Outrageous Fortune mob were famous for their criminal tendencies, the new TV family has a much bigger boast - godlike superpowers.

The Almighty Johnsons, made by the same brains behind the Westie drama, starts filming on Monday.

It stars Keisha Castle-Hughes in her first regular television role, Dean O'Gorman and former Mercy Peak star Tim Balme.

Balme and O'Gorman are the eldest two of the four demigod Johnson brothers, Mike and Anders. Mike descends from the god of skill (so he's unbeatable at board games), while Anders has the gift of the gab as god of poetry.

The other two brothers are Ty (Jared Turner from Go Girls) who is an incarnation of the god of winter and darkness and Axl (Emmett Skilton) whose powers are revealed when he turns 21. Castle-Hughes plays Axl's flatmate.

The 10-part first series received $5.7 million in New Zealand on Air funding and was picked up by TV3 to run in prime time sometime next year.

The Almighty Johnsons is written by Outrageous Fortune creators James Griffin and Rachel Lang and made by South Pacific Pictures.

A TV3 spokesman said although it was by the makers of Outrageous Fortune, The Almighty Johnsons would not be viewed as a replacement. The sixth and final season of Outrageous Fortune starts on TV3 on July 13.

It has moved to the prime-time slot of 8.30pm, having previously run at 9.30pm. Meanwhile a US version of the show, called Scoundrels, started on the ABC network just over a week ago.