At NBC, there'll be a Doctor in the house: David Tennant

I'm sure there was someone happier to be in front of a Comic-Con audience than the outgoing Doctor of "Doctor Who," David Tennant. The smiley, wiry Tennant and the equally delighted creator of the current incarnation of the "DW" franchise, Russell T Davies, couldn't have been more thankful for the support from American fans of their BBC endeavor.

Tennant was saying goodbye to the role he owned in seasons 2 through 4 and ongoing specials, and was fresh off a well-received turn as Hamlet for London's Royal Shakespeare Company over the summer.

Another project was ahead of him, and now we know what that is: a pilot for lowly NBC, titled "Rex Is Not Your Lawyer." The Hollywood Reporter. says Tennant will play the titular Rex, a Chicago lawyer who starts having panic attacks and coaches his clients to represent themselves. David Semel (Heroes, Life) will direct the pilot.

Sounds a little like a cross between "Monk" and "The Sopranos," but if anyone can pull it off, it's Tennant. The only thing that makes me nervous: Will he have to go with an American accent?

Next week, I'm going to see Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig, an Aussie and a Brit, trying to pull off Chicago accents. I'm hoping it's not too painful an experience.

And I'm hoping David Tennant can be a Chicagoan by way of his native Scotland.

Meantime, catch his final frames as the Doctor in "The Waters of Mars" on BBC America Dec. 19.