Fox is calling in the big guns, sitcom-wise, to keep its new Rob Riggle-starring comedy 48 Hours ‘Til Monday from going the way of so many Rob Riggle-starring projects of the past. Apparently operating on the assumption that Riggle’s natural pilot-killing radiation can be blocked with a protective ring of successful sitcom stars, the network has brought Sarah Chalke in to star alongside Riggle and the already cast Jane Curtin. Chalke will play Kelly Bishop, wife of Riggle’s flustered father figure Charlie. Kelly is adjusting to life as a stay-at-home mom after quitting her job as a TV news producer.
Chalke established her situation comedy bona fides with nearly a decade of distinguished service on Scrubs, as well as 70 episodes as the Conner family’s eldest daughter, rebellious shape-changer Becky, on Roseanne. In fact, along with her recurring roles on How I Met Your Mother, Cougar Town, and, most recently, Backstrom, Chalke has been on TV more or less constantly for the last 15 years, making her, essentially, the anti-Rob Riggle. We can only hope 48 Hours showrunner Charlie Grandy is wise enough to minimize contact between the two, lest their Riggle and anti-Riggle particles collide, annihilating everyone on set except Jane Curtin, who will deliver a perfectly timed joke about the explosion, because Jane Curtin is a professional.