TV Reviews : Ray Sharkey’s Talent Wasted in ABC ‘Man in the Family’ Sitcom

Ray Sharkey is so terrific in pent-up, slow- and fast-boiling roles that it’s no wonder he gets stuck in supporting character roles. And while it’s nice to see him heading a cast in his first TV comedy series, “The Man in the Family” (premiering tonight at 9:30 on ABC Channels 7, 3, 10 and 42), its makers don’t seem to know quite what to do with all his bristling energy. So they slow him, flatten him, till we almost get a laid-back Ray Sharkey.

In tonight’s episode, while most of the supporting players are quickly set up in their stock Italian-American Bronx parts, Sharkey wanders loose without a compass and seems the least well-defined character on the show--wily and street-smart one minute, a lovable dumb lug the next. He plays erstwhile ne’er-do-well Sal Bavasso, who in the opening scene makes a promise to his dying father that he’ll leave his wild ways behind and take over the management of the family deli, and, for that matter, the family.

Having reluctantly moved back to New York from Las Vegas, Sal is reconnecting with his mother and sisters--one a cynical divorcee, one a teen--as well as wild-’n’-crazy old neighborhood pals Vinnie and Cha-Cha, who want to involve Sal in an unlikely business scheme. (Cha-Cha is tired of working at the cleaners: “Life is good when you’re putting stains in, not when you’re taking ‘em out, right?”) The fact that crusty Sal has fallen for the lame scheme by episode’s end doesn’t make us want to tune in next week.

This first half-hour has two things to recommend it: The opening credit sequence, which builds more good will than the show can deliver with Louis Prima’s infectious “When You’re Smiling,” and a little exchange in the deli with the veteran actress Sylvia Sidney, who demands 17 years of interest after Sal big-heartedly admits stealing petty cash as a boy.

“The Man in the Family” is executive produced and written by Ed. Weinberger, of “Taxi” and “Mary Tyler Moore” fame, who really ought to be above some of the dumb gags perpetrated here, starting with the very first one--a respirator salesman who’s made his way into the receiving line for the dying dad. Here’s to better days.