Actor Jason Priestley. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Dan Steinberg, file)

TORONTO - Jason Priestley is returning to series television with a comedy about a morally bankrupt used car salesman.

Priestley will play the title character on the half-hour show "Meet Phil Fitz," bound for The Movie Network and Movie Central next year.

The series is set to shoot in Halifax and Priestley says it's "a great chance to get back to Canada and flex some comedic muscles."

Most recently, Priestley finished filming the BBC miniseries "The Day of the Triffids."

He's also been adding to a growing list of director credits, with stints behind the camera of "90210" and "The Secret Life of the American Teenager."

But Priestley is perhaps best known as the squeaky clean teen Brandon Walsh on the "90210."

He notes that his new series allows him to dive into a nasty personality for a change.

"I get to play a guy who is the embodiment of Freud's, 'id,' " Priestley said Wednesday in a release.

"The writing is sharp, edgy and so fast it leaves you gasping for air. You don't often have a chance to get paid to be morally bankrupt."