Changing his paternal pose as radically as any TV dad I can recall, Ed O`Neill moves from the loutish and crass Al Bundy on Fox`s ”Married . . . With Children” by trying to play a loving and caring Jimmy O`Meara in ABC`s ”The Whereabouts of Jenny.” It`s as if, to use a reverse analogy, Ozzie Nelson decided to play a crack addict.
O`Neill`s acting stretch is one that ABC was initially unwilling to allow in its own prime-time back yard. Not only were the network bosses concerned that he might fail to sufficiently bury Bundy to be believable to viewers in this film role but, on a more avaricious level, they worried that they might inadvertently be adding polish to another network`s star.
O`Neill, with a hang-dog inexpressiveness throughout, plays it very cool as the owner of a cozy San Francisco saloon. Even when he gets angry-and, with good reason, he does that frequently-he keeps the flame low. He loses his daughter and acts as if he has misplaced nothing more important than a cigarette lighter. People express more anger at missing a bus.
O`Neill`s restraint mutes, if not quite ruins, the story of O`Meara`s struggle with a hardball system for the right to see his daughter.
Divorced, O`Meara is a doting father, relishing each weekend with his little girl (Cassy Friel). His former wife, Theresa (Eve Gordon), is amenable to this arrangement. She`s a good mother.
But she`s also involved with a drug dealer (Michael Crabtree). When he gets busted, he decides to aid the feds. So they place him, Theresa and the daughter in the witness relocation program.
There`s no time to say goodbye to daddy, who`s understandably upset when he finds his daughter gone with no explanation.
He gets his boozy lawyer (Dan Hedaya) and then a comely private investigator (Debrah Farentino) working on the case. Through no doing of theirs, O`Meara is soon butting heads with the bureaucracy, in the form of a slick, arrogant U.S. attorney, played by Mike Farrell.
The battle between parent and policy takes a few interesting twists but never picks up enough steam to be anything but mildly interesting. That`s simply not enough when, given the emotional baggage of the story, we should be cheering for dad.
O`Neill doesn`t pack enough goodness, nor Farrell enough evil, to make us care.
”The Whereabouts of Jenny” is a compilation of several true cases, and screenwriter John Miglis fashions from them a cohesive whole. But he is incapable of giving his characters any depth. He relies on stereotypes, and though most of the cast members accomplish their modest chores without breaking a sweat, it`s a shame to see as interesting an actor as O`Neill get such a paltry return on his investment.
`THE BARBARA DEANGELIS SHOW`
9 a.m. weekdays, WBBM-Ch. 2
Dr. Barbara DeAngelis is a psychologist. I`ve seen her frequently as an
”expert” guest on the gab-fest circuit. She struck me as perky and polished, so much so that advice she offered was overshadowed by showmanship. The arrival of ”The Barbara DeAngelis Show” comes as no surprise. It premieres at 9 a.m. Monday on WBBM-Ch. 2, replacing ”Family Feud,” which moves back to 9:30 a.m., thereby killing the daytime version of ”Wheel of Fortune.”
The format is one topic a day, the doctor exploring everyday problems by using a studio audience as her lab rats. This is problematical, since most people`s troubles are relatively prosaic.
I`ve seen two not-to-be-aired pilot programs. DeAngelis is spunky and sincere. But the show has the feel of an infomercial, as if DeAngelis were pitching $39.95 Healthier You kits.
