Early Night With Chris Elliott : Letterman’s Guy Under the Seats Stars in New Fox Sitcom

Regular viewers of “Late Night With David Letterman” never knew where and whenChris Elliott would show up next. The one-time “Late Night” office boy developeda cult following on the show as a sarcastic guy who would do anything to breakinto show business. He was the Panicky Guy. The Guy Under the Seats. TheFugitive Guy.

But Elliott has been scarce on “Late Night” in recent months preparing for hisgreatest role yet--The Prime-Time Guy.

In his new sitcom “Get a Life!”--debuting Sunday on Fox--Elliott stars as acarefree paperboy who, at 30, still lives at home with his folks. Mom and Dad,both ‘50s throwbacks, are played by Elinor Donahue, who was Betty on “FatherKnows Best,” and ElliottUs real-life dad, Bob, of the classic radio team Bob andRay.

“The very first glimmer of this (sitcom) concept was, ‘What if Dennis the Menacenever left home?’ ” director David Mirkin said with a smirk.

“There was a lot of happiness and denial in the ‘50s. Remember those old moviereels they showed in school? ‘When you come to the table be yourself, but makesure it’s your best self.’ In other words, if you have problems don’t bug Dadwith them. Give him a smile and cheer, and tell Mom how nice she looks. Wewanted a show that was steeped in that denial.”

Elliott boiled “Get a Life!” down even further: “The whole idea was to createsomething where I could pretty much be myself, and use the persona I developedat ‘Late Night’--this guy who goes through life with blinders on.”

Growing up in New York the son of a popular radio and stage star, Elliott wastoo wide-eyed to wear blinders. As a boy he often stood in the wings during Boband Ray’s performances and let their comedy wash over him in waves. Forsakingcollege after high school, Elliott took a job as an NBC tour guide atRockefeller Center with the dream of becoming a “Saturday Night Live” writer.

Then, one day he recognized the then-unemployed Letterman--who had just lost hisNBC morning show--taking the tour with his mother.

“I felt sorry for him, so I charged him the kiddie fare,” Elliott said. When “Late Night” began in 1982, Elliott was hired as a runner for $200 a week.

“I remember I impressed Dave the first week,” Elliott said recently on the setof “Get a Life!” Sitting in a dressing room, with his comfortable paunch andreceding blond hair, Elliot sort of looked like Dennis the Menace at 30.

“He had tried on his morning show to get 100% cotton T-shirts,” Elliottcontinued, “and for some reason the runner on the morning show couldn’t find him100% cotton. They kept bringing him blends. Dave was very disappointed. I madeone call and worked out a deal to get all-cotton shirts, and from then oneverytime I’d run into him in the hall he’d say, ‘There’s my buddy. That’s theguy who got me my shirts.’ ”

During “Late Night’s” first week on the air, Elliott was asked to model someurban protective gear--actually a head-to-toe garbage suit covering his face. Butbecause of a bad network feed, most of the East Coast did not see Elliott’s bigdebut. So Letterman brought him out the next night, this time with his faceshowing.

“Dave asked me what the audience the night before thought of my performance, andI told him they said it was the funniest thing they had seen in North America.That got a laugh, and Dave laughed. And I was on my way.”

Elliott’s dead-pan delivery led to more walk-on parts and ultimately to regularcharacters, such as the Guy Under the Seats, who made his home beneath the “LateNight” bleachers and occasionally popped his head up through a trap door.

In a way, the Guy Under the Seats was the end of the innocence for Elliott. “Itsounds corny, but it’s true,” he said.

“At that point I had to start considering myself a performer and get an agent.There was pressure because the audience began to expect funny things from me. Ilook back at those old days of trying to impress Dave as more fun. It was kindof neat to hear people say, ‘Oh, that was really funny,’ and then go back andtype up a music clearance sheet or something menial.”

In addition to becoming a full-time writer on “Late Night,” Elliott did walk-onparts on TV shows (“Miami Vice”) and movies (“Manhunter,” “New York Stories”).Elliott said his cult following of fans always get a kick seeing him outside of”Late Night.” During last year’s opening of “The Abyss” at Radio City MusicHall, the audience burst into ripples of laughter and applause when they brieflysaw Elliott’s mug on the big screen as an oil driller.

“(Director) James Cameron was sitting in front of me, and he actually turnedaround and looked at me,” Elliott said. “It’s just weird for people to suddenlysee me pop up in a film--people who know the joke with me about a guy who reallywants to get into show business.”

Elliott eventually grew weary of writing jokes for Letterman, prefering insteadto write his own material. “That’s something I learned from my dad,” Elliottexplained. “Doing kind of what my dad did is my goal. It’s hard to put a fingeron. I don’t think I’ll ever do game shows. My dad never did. He’s notmainstream, and neither am I. I think we’ll sort of be entertainers on our ownterms.”

Elliott did a couple of Cinemax comedy specials, and during the writers striketwo years ago co-wrote with his father “Daddy’s Boy,” a book that lampoons theautobiographies of celebrities’ children.

When Fox expressed interest in working with Elliott on a sitcom, he was ready.”Whatever it is I do from now on, I want them to be my own projects,” he said.”I think if I reach old age and just look back at a lot of failures orsuccesses, but they were other people’s visions, I’ll feel like, what was thepoint?”

Now in prime-time on the up-and-coming fourth network, Elliott will have alarger audience than his popular mentor, Letterman. “I’m going to rub that in(Dave’s) nose,” the former “Late Night” office boy said, squinting his eyes inmock anger. “Believe me, I’m going to rub that in his nose.”

“Get a Life!” premieres Sunday at 8:30 p.m. on KTTV.