Jerry O'Connell may look harmless enough. But could he be TV's newest grim reaper, aka 2010's answer to Ted "Jump the Shark" McGinley?

According to the Hollywood Reporter, O'Connell has inked his name to the new NBC pilot 'Rex Is Not Your Lawyer,' opposite 'Doctor Who' actor David Tennant. O'Connell will replace 'Heroes' star Sendhil Ramamurthy, who is departing due to scheduling issues (hope for 'Heroes' fans, we wonder?)

O'Connell -- who has stacked several shuttered TV projects, including 'Do Not Disturb,' 'Carpoolers' and 'Crossing Jordan' -- will play the ambitious and affable best friend and colleague of Tennant's character Rex Alexander, a Chicago lawyer who encourages his clients to defend themselves after he has panic attacks. O'Connell will also reportedly be hung up on Rex's fiance, played by Abigail Spencer.

First 'Heroes' lost its creative edge. Then it lost its ratings lead. Now, it looks like it may be losing its voice.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, 'Heroes' stalwart Sendhil Ramamurthy has been tapped to co-star in the upcoming NBC pilot 'Rex Is Not Your Lawyer'. Ramamurthy, who has played ethically challenged geneticist Mohinder Suresh on 'Heroes' since the show's inception, often provides the voiceover narration at the beginning of each episode and has been a key player in most plot lines over the past four seasons.

With season 4 of 'Heroes' now managing less than a third of its peak numbers (last week's episode drew a paltry 5.17 million viewers, compared to 16.97 for the season 2 premiere), however, the writing may finally be on the wall for the niche hit. Ramamurthy, who will play a friendly rival to David Tennant's title character on 'Rex,' will likely leave 'Heroes' if 'Rex' gets picked up for a full season, similar to the way 'Lost' favorite Elizabeth Mitchell jumped over to 'V' when that series got the greenlight. Whether or not his character would go out with as a big a bang, of course, is hard to predict.

Casting continues apace for NBC's legal drama pilot, 'Rex is Not Your Lawyer.'

It's already been announced that David Tennant of 'Doctor Who' fame will be making his American television debut as Rex Alexander, a Chicago lawyer who begins suffering from panic attacks and attempts to compensate by coaching his clients to represent themselves. The role was apparently very difficult to cast, with NBC searching for a leading man for several months until Tennant came in and nailed it.

Now The Hollywood Reporter reports that Abigail Spencer has been cast in the key role of Lindsey Steers, a hotshot up-and-coming lawyer at Rex's firm -- and his fiancee. Madcap complications will most assuredly ensue.

The Doctor is about to get a new companion: George Bluth, Sr.

OK, not exactly, but The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Jeffrey Tambor has signed on to join David Tennant in 'Rex Is Not Your Lawyer', a new pilot being produced for NBC.

Tambor, of course, is best known for his role as incarcerated patriarch George Bluth, Sr. on the late, lamented cult classic 'Arrested Development' ...

I'll give NBC credit for trying. The fourth place network just keeps throwing what they can at the wall hoping they can get something ... anything ... to stick. Everybody knows that legal dramas work, but thankfully, this isn't yet another Law & Order spin-off. Unless it's Law & Order: Do It Yourself.

Rex Is Not Your Lawyer is a dramedy about an anxiety-filled lawyer who pushes his clients to represent themselves in court because he just can't handle it. NBC has given a pilot order to Rex Is Not Your Lawyer, which could just as easily be them wanting to know how the hell the creators are going to make this work.

Rex is a project from the winners of Bravo's 2005 competition series Situation: Comedy: actor Andrew Leeds and novelist David Lampson. The fact that it's an hour-long series means it's probably going to take its legal side at least somewhat seriously, marrying comedy and legality much the same as Boston Legal and Ally McBeal have done.