It's already time for Dean Cain and Kevin Sorbo to play self-aware parodies of themselves

By Sean O'Neal | October 10, 2011 | 8:38pm

Aux Features Newswire

Entertainment Weekly claims that ABC’s upcoming, Krysten Ritter-starring comedy Apartment 23 has “already garnered buzz for star James Van Der Beek’s comedic portrayal of himself”—which is true, though probably not as much buzz as it garnered for its original title, Don’t Trust The Bitch In Apartment 23, when it was one of several “bitches” that ABC flirted with before sobering up. But sure, James From The Beek’s cultural-cred-renewing portrayal of a slightly fictionalized version of himself is sure to be one of the reasons to tune in, because he will probably make a dirty Dawson’s Creek joke within, say, the first two minutes of his screen time, and he's been storing them up for a while.

And while he won't begin that reinvention until midseason, already a couple of other former small-screen idols want some of that same, self-effacing action: EW reports that both Hercules star Kevin Sorbo and Lois And Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman’s Dean Cain will also turn up as themselves in separate episodes, with Sorbo playing a reluctant wedding date and Cain playing Van Der Beek’s rival. So, having already ditched the “bitch” angle, perhaps the show could just go ahead and evolve into a comedy about an apartment building that houses nothing but former ’90s TV stars? Ian Ziering could be the angry super who’s always yelling at the tenants about not flushing stuff down the toilets! Or he could also be on this show!