TV REVIEWS : Frewer Sturdies ‘Shaky Ground’

As he was in the CBS sitcom “Doctor, Doctor,” Matt Frewer is again a man-child in “Shaky Ground.” The formulaic but sneaky-funny Fox series premieres at 7:30 p.m. Sunday on KTTV-TV Channel 11 and XETV-TV Channel 6.

Superseding shaky writing, Frewer’s offbeat, off-center, off-the-wall style sees him through the premiere, which introduces him as Bob Moody, a sort of white collar Homer Simpson who impulsively quits his job at an aerospace plant when he’s passed over for a supervisory position that instead goes to a 25-year-old snotty pipsqueak. Later, Moody has second thoughts.

“Shaky Ground” is a case of father knowing least. Moody lives in a tract house with his wife (Robin Riker) and three kids, and it’s a toss-up whether he or his hooky-playing son, Carter (Matthew Brooks), is more immature.

Frewer’s goofy charm is about all that elevates the opening episode above the mundane. But the second episode is much cleverer, as Moody and Carter design a devious plot to enable Moody to stay home and watch a championship fight on TV rather than go to the ballet with his wife. “What we’re doing is deceitful, dishonest and wrong,” the father informs his son. “And I can’t believe we’re gonna get away with it.”

Whether “Shaky Ground” gets away with it will depend entirely on whether its writers can consistently keep pace with its star.