For exclusive on-set videos and hot features on the new TV season, check out BuddyTV's Fall 2008 Preview.

Network: NBC

Premiere: Thursday, October 13, 10pm

Cast: Christian Slater, Madchen Amick, Mike O'Malley, Saffron Burrows, Alfre Woodard

Premise: Christian Slater stars as Henry Spivey, a family man leading a typical and perhaps a bit boring middle class life.  Christian Slater also stars as Edward Albright, a secret agent who speaks over a dozen languages, can run a four-minute mile and is a trained killer.  My Own Worst Enemy will show what happens when a man's dual lives start leaking into each other. 

My Own Worst Enemy is most notable for its lead, Christian Slater.  Once an up and coming movie star, Slater never really gained much traction in the film world, constantly showing great potential but never able to string together a series of hits.  Early comparisons to Jack Nicholson surely did not help Slater in etching out a niche, and he eventually lost his ability to even gain a leading role in any sort of high-profile film.  Slater, in my mind, hit his peak with the Quentin Tarantino penned, Tony Scott directed True Romance, one of the nineties' most unheralded masterpieces.  Slater instantly becomes one of the best actors on television with his casting on My Own Worst Enemy.  The question is whether the material is there to allow Slater a second life to his career. 

My Own Worst Enemy is yet another take on the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide tale, with a little True Lies/Mr. and Mrs. Smith thrown in for good measure.  The premise is solid.  It's high-concept, but the kind of thing that could translate well to both mythology and one-off episodes, and could easily lead to a long-lasting series.  NBC favorite Jason Smilovich has the show running duties on My Own Worst Enemy, and one has to believe that Smilovich is running out of chances to preside over a successful TV series.  His last three shows (Karen Sisco, Kidnapped, and Bionic Woman) were received OK by critics, but they all have one thing in common: utter failure in the ratings.  My Own Worst Enemy appears to be more accessible than those other three.  However, NBC thought Bionic Woman was a slam dunk.  Instead, it was received with resounding indifference.

Slater will be buffered by an interesting set of co-stars.  Saffron Burrows and Alfre Woodard are veteran actresses who will not be drowned out by Slater's movie star presence.  Mike O'Malley, he of crappy sitcom past, is an interesting casting choice for a drama.  Expect O'Malley to be shoe-horned into the role of comic relief. 

-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of NBC)