'Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23' could clean up

Chloe's a scam artist who figures she has the perfect con: Act so crazy that her roommates leave without their deposit or assorted other valuables. The pervert in the apartment next door, Eli

(Michael Blaiklock), hastens their departure. But nice, wholesome June can't say she wasn't warned. Robin (Liza Lapira) down the hall warns her: "Don't trust the b---- in apartment 23."

Too late. June's already moved into apartment 23. At least Chloe has an unusual friend -- James Van Der Beek, formerly of "Dawson's Creek," playing himself.

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Will his faith be rewarded? The answer's a bit complicated. Wednesday night's pilot is tentative and unsure of itself. The show, along with this hard sell of a premise, feels more like a misfit than a highly polished sitcom with reliable laugh lines.

But next week's episode is a sharp departure -- and one for the better. As the preening I-used-to-be-a-contender TV hunk, Van Der Beek is an inspired casting move. Hounded by "Dawson's Creek" fans who want him to recite some cherished bit of Dawson Leery dialogue, he just wants to be taken seriously (as an interpreter of Shakespeare, no less). Walker and Ritter, likewise, have plenty of vitality and charm. Raunchy and at times genuinely funny, "Apartment 23" is jam-packed with promise -- and inconsistencies.