Rules Of Engagement’s Adhir Kalyan cast in Fox’s non-Frankenstein Frankenstein series

Fox has begun to fill out the cast for its upcoming drama pilot Frankenstein, beginning with Rules Of Engagement regular Adhir Kalyan as a a brilliant man who reanimates the body of a deceased individual. Those unfamiliar with Fox’s devil-may-care approach toward public domain properties may assume this means that Kalyan will play scientist Victor Frankenstein, who accomplished a similar feat in Mary Shelley’s classic novel. They would be wrong. Instead, Kalyan will play Otto Goodwin, a reclusive Internet billionaire who reanimates the body of Ray Pritchard, a morally corrupt retired cop, with the help of his twin sister, a bio-engineer named Mary. (That discomfort you feel is Fox nudging you in the ribs and asking if you get it.)

In addition to his role on Rules Of Engagement, Kalyan starred on the short-lived sitcom Aliens In America and had a minor part in Paul Blart: Mall Cop, although this will be his first outing as a main cast member on a drama series. It could be short-lived as well, if Fox’s Frankenstein ends up getting swept away in the wash of similar projects currently in development. Still, there are signs that Fox is making sure this series stands out. For example, the last time this story came up, Goodwin and his sister were going to reanimate a morally corrupt FBI agent rather than a morally corrupt cop, so someone at Fox must be paying attention to the details.