I’ve been sad ever since Kristen Bell left Heroes, so its obvious that I’m extremely excited about her small screen return to the Showtime dramedy House of Lies! Screen Actors Guild and Gotham Award winner Don Cheadle plays the lead role of Marty Kaan, a big-money earner at Galweather & Stearn, one of the nation’s largest management consulting firms.

Bell plays the role of Jeannie Van Der Hooven, one of the members of his hot, young team known as The Pod – of big-balling power players alongside Clyde (played by Ben Schwartz) and Doug (Josh Lawson). These white-collar, Ivy League sharks will use anything (or anyone) to get their gullible corporate clients to sign their souls to Galweather and bank millions in oh-so-delicious billable hours.

The cast – top-down from Don Cheadle – are unbelievable, said creator Matthew Carnahan. They have the best chemistry of any group I’ve ever worked with. Let me break it down a little:

Don Cheadle, an acting God (who is fall-down funny, who knew?); Kristen Bell, you have never seen her do anything like this before (and she does it very well); Ben Schwartz and Josh Lawson, if you don’t know these guys, sit back and enjoy; Dawn Olivieri, funny and hot – a very rare combo.

In the pilot entitled, “The Gods Of Dangerous Financial Instruments,” you will see Marty and The Pod travel to New York to consult for MetroCapital, a mega-bank that is looking for a plan to unscrupulously justify taking their year-end bonuses as the financial world around them burns. Unfortunately, Marty makes an enemy out of MetroCapital’s number two guy, Greg Norbert, in the process.

Back at home, Marty gets some unwanted advice on how to raise his son, Roscoe, from Jeremiah, Marty’s live-in father, when Roscoe decides to try out for the female lead in a school play.

Tune in to Showtime on January 8th, 2012 to see the official premiere, but to get a special early screening of the pilot hit play below!