Michael Vartan deserves a lot better than, well, whatever he’s been doing the past year or two (can’t say I’ve seen him in anything of late). He’s one hell of a guy – super nice, very respectful, and needless to say, a talented son-of-a-gun. If you’ve seen his work on “Alias”, or even further back in the film “Dead Man’s Curve”, you’ll agree he’s a capable actor.

Unfortunately, blockbuster films haven’t exactly been dry-humping Vartan’s leg since he hung up his unruffled suit on “Alias”. Aside from killer-croc flick “Rogue”, Vartan’s biggest stint of the past twelve months has been as part of the ensemble cast of the ‘very’ short-lived, and rather atrocious, sitcom “Big Shots”.

Maybe his next gig will be the one that puts him back on the cover of EW?

The French-born actor will join Jada-Pinkett Smith in the series “Time Heals”. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the show centers on Christina Hawthorne (Pinkett Smith), a strong but caring director of nursing at a North Carolina, N.C., hospital. Vartan will play Tom Wakefield, the director of medicine at the hospital. Tom and Christina care about each other, possibly as more than colleagues.

Vartan replaced Jeffrey Nordling – currently on TVs “24″ – who replayed the role of Wakefield in the pilot.

Film-wise, Vartan will next be seen in “Jolene”, with Chazz Palminteri and Dermot Mulroney, a tire-salesman comedy called “Demoted”, and “High School”, a teenage comedy that’ll also feature Colin Hanks, Adrien Brody and Mykelti Williamson.