Harriet Dyer isn't just along for the ride

With 'DMV,' the Aussie actor lands in the front seat of a U.S. sitcom

- BY YVONNE VILLARREAL

HARRIET DYER co-stars in "DMV," which debuts Monday. Her character, Colette, is "a breath of fresh air," she says.

BEXX FRANCOIS For The Times

“Now serving G455 at Window No. 5” “Now serving G456 at Window No. 12.” Neither of us has an appointment at the DMV in Hollywood.

But Harriet Dyer strolls through the sliding doors like she's walking into another shift at work as the soothing automated voice directs harried visitors trying to get their driver's licenses or transfer car titles. She just as quickly halts her stride, taking in the site as if she's marveling at the details of the Sistine Chapel, only the ceiling here is adorned with a grid of buzzing fluorescent lights and hanging eye chart posters.

“Oh, my God, I can’t even tell you what I’m feeling,” she says, the lilt of her Australian accent coming through.

Who knew a place some consider to be one of the supreme symbols of American bureaucratic inefficiency could hold such wonder?

Maybe that’s being too generous. But it’s clear Dyer sees beyond its reputation as a place most people dread visiting now that she’s charged with depicting one of these state employees, whose ordinary lives are the basis for CBS' new workplace comedy. Premiering Monday, “DMV” is set at a fictional East Hollywood location and orbits around an eclectic staff that is just trying to get through the daily grind ofinteracting with the public.

Dyer plays Colette, a five-year DMV veteran who is certain her days there—asa genial driving examiner trying to make it back to work unscathed as she rides shotgun with first-time drivers — won't be forever. Really.