By ERIC GRIFFITH / The major networks know their relatively timid shows can’t compete with the more titillating programs on cable. So, when HBO dropped plans for the edgy sitcom "Action," Fox was smart enough to scoop it up. Outside of re-pairing "Futurama" and "The Simpsons" on Sundays, it's the smartest move the network has made all year.

If you're familiar with HBO's "Arli$$," about the snake-oily sports agent, or the late, lamented "Larry Sanders Show," about the snake-oily talk-show host and crew, then you'll be well-prepared for "Action."

Jay Mohr -- the heavy-lidded comedian who took a lackluster stint on "Saturday Night Live" and turned it into a creditable career in films like "Jerry Maguire" -- stars as Peter Dragon, a young, aggressive movie producer who's just made his first bomb after earning his studio millions. His ex-wife is married to a gay studio exec (who goes head-to-head, so to speak, with Mohr in one unforgettable scene), his assistant has purchased the wrong screenplay for $250,000 and things couldn’t get much worse.

When Dragon meets a prostitute named Wendy (Illeana Douglas), he asks her for an opinion about his new movie. Her honesty leads to him to offer her a job — as a vice-president at his DragonFire Productions. Oddly enough, she'll probably continue hooking because the pay is better and, sometimes, so are the people.

If the first two episodes, run back to back, are any indication, hilarity will indeed ensue. In bringing the show to Fox, it appears that “Action’s” producers changed almost nothing from what they proposed to HBO, except for bleeping out the use of the F-word (how many years until that network taboo is done away with?). Celebrities are skewered on a hot poker: Keanu Reeves and Salma Hayek both make cameos, though she doesn’t come off nearly as smarmy as he does. The show's producer, Joel Silver ("Die Hard," "Lethal Weapon") also takes some hits. No one gets off easy – picture a Disney exec as a submissive john – and the dialogue is loaded with cynicism and disgust for the industry.

Usually a Thursday night slot, opposite the NBC juggernaut, would spell doom, but "Action" is a smart gamble. With its rude behavior and brilliant scripting, it could be the series that puts a chink in the "Must See TV" armor.