David Krumholtz, IRS Agent

Ron Howard has cast David Krumholtz as the lead in his new Internal Revenue Service workplace comedy, and I think it's a great call. He was one of the most underrated and best parts of 10 Things I Hate About You, which may be the defining teen movie of my generation. He's been very loose and funny in a whole bunch of small roles in the the Frat Pack comedies, including the Harold & Kumar franchise, Superbad, I Love You Man, and Walk Hard, and he's also very good in Joss Whedon's Serenity. And of course he's been wonderful as one of the anchors on Numb3rs.

So he's got a good, funny pedigree. But I think Krumholtz is a good choice for this role for another reason. As I've written before, shows about government employees tend to set them up as deluded bumblers or superheroic law enforcement officers. Krumholtz tends to be neither: he comes across as smart and competent, even if he's kind of goofy. I like the idea of a federal employee on television who comes across as accessible, relateable and intelligent is a good idea, especially at a time when two-thirds of Americans are describing themselves as "dissatisfied" or "angry" with the federal government.