Fox Adds Character Actors To MOB DOCTOR – Okay, We’re Listening

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Fox’s upcoming drama Mob Doctor has done less than move the earth down here at the Criminal Complex offices.  Jordana Spiro will play Dr. Grace Devlin, whose brother gets himself in deep with the Chicago mob, and so she must provide off-the-record medical services to the organized crime family members.  It’s not a bad premise, but there’s been very little there to really attract our attention.  Spiro, while easy on the eyes, has done nothing that any of us have ever paid any attention to, the closest being the TBS sitcom My Boys, which I fully intended to watch because Jim Gaffigan had a big role, but I still never did.  So even though she’s shown up on stuff like Dexter and Harry’s Law, Spiro remains an unknown variable.  And a medical drama, even one with a big crime angle, is still a medical drama.

So Fox has been beefing up the supporting cast.  First, they signed William Forsythe to play the mob boss, in a very canny move indeed.  Forsythe has been a major favorite of ours ever since his major supporting role in the greatest movie of all time, 1987′s Raising Arizona.  He’s done astounding work in indie films such as Palookaville and Things To Do in Denver When You’re Dead, not to mention his appearances in Rob Zombie’s films.  He’s got experience playing Chicago mob bosses, appearing as Capone in the ’90s TV version of The Untouchables.  Add in his recent top-notch work on our beloved Boardwalk Empire, and you’ve definitely got out interest, Fox.  But even that might not still be enough, given that Forsythe will do a lotta junk like The Rock and Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo.

So they upped the ante by adding Oz‘s Terry Kinney.  Fair enough, but we all remember how disappointing the later seasons of that show were.  And so did Fox apparently, because in a very wise move on their part, they have added character actor extraordinaire Kevin Corrigan to the show.  Now we’re talking.  Add a guy who can be easily categorized as one of Martin Scorsese’s stable, and you have got my full attention.

Corrigan is one of the best “Oh, that guy!” guys working today.  He played Henry Hill’s wheelchair-bound brother in GoodFellas.  He was DiCaprio’s scumbag cousin in The Departed.  He’s worked plenty as a heavy in a lot of Judd Apatow fare, going back to an extremely memorable performance on an episode of Freaks and Geeks, and up to stellar parts in Superbad and Pineapple Express.  True Romance, Buffalo ’66, the guy’s done it all, even Fringe.

So have we made this clear?  Mob Doctor went from a maybe to a definitely, even if just for the pilot, by merely adding Kevin Corrigan to its cast.  All other TV shows in development, take note.