TV Reviews : ‘Tattinger’s’ Misses and Hits in New Incarnation

“Tattinger’s” is back and only half as bad. That’s because it’s only half as long.

But that is only the initial impression of NBC’s “Nick & Hillary,” the half-hour comedy version of the hourlong dramatic series “Tattinger’s,” which underwent a drastic conversion after bombing in the ratings earlier this season.

With a mere four-episode commitment and no regular time slot, “Nick & Hillary” is hanging by a thread. It premieres at 9:30 tonight on Channels 4, 36 and 39, and returns Wednesday at 9:30 p.m., but thereafter faces a blurry future.

Too bad, for although tonight’s premiere gets bogged down in establishing characters and a series environment, Wednesday’s episode is a wheezingly funny, fast-cutting, smashingly executed farce.

Stephen Collins and Blythe Danner return as the divorced Nick and Hillary Tattinger, still bickering, but now partners with former maitre d’ Sid Wilbur (Jerry Stiller) in once-staid Tattinger’s restaurant, which has been converted into a trendy disco eatery by its radical-chic new manager, Spin (Chris Elliott).

The transformation was approved by the flighty Hillary while Nick was out of the country, and he hates it. But it stays, and so do Spin and his silent, inanimate sidekick Marti (Anna Levine).

Tonight, Nick and Hillary mainly spin their wheels over Spin. Forget it. This is the Boston tryout, good for working out the kinks. Come back for Wednesday’s hilarious Broadway opening--which feels like a blend of “Cheers” and early “Moonlighting”--and you’ll be rewarded.

Written by Channing Gibson and directed by Don Scardino, Episode 2 is about celery increases and salary increases. Spin relays Marti’s demand for a raise. When she doesn’t get it, Marti--who sits in front of the reservation book but does nothing and says nothing--goes on strike by doing nothing and saying nothing more intensely. She’s merciless.

As a result, Spin is a mess and Tattinger’s falls apart, making its trendy crowd unhappy. It gets so bad one evening that Paul Shaffer leaves early!

Collins and Danner are wonderful together, Stiller is funny and Elliott and Levine are to die for. Episode 2, at least, is daringly inventive comedy that deserves a place in prime time. As they say in the restaurant business: Break a leg . . . of mutton.