TV REVIEW : CBS Sitcom ‘Cutters’ Is Shorn of Originality

First, imagine prejudiced old Archie Bunker stripped of any redeeming qualities. Then, think of him thrown into a work situation where he barks and banters not only with his more enlightened adult son but also with a gay black man and a whole coterie of mouthy women’s-lib chicks.

There, in an abrasively cutesy nutshell, you have the new series “Cutters” (premiering tonight at 8:30 on CBS, Channels 2 and 8), which is so topical in pitting bickering bigots versus semi-progressive young people that it might well have been on the shelf since the 1970s (rather than for only a year or so).

In tonight’s pilot, the show’s perpetually grumpy Bunker wanna-be, Harry (Robert Prosky), is bemoaning the lack of business at his old-fashioned barber shop in Buffalo. His hip, entrepreneurial son Joe (Robert Hays) suddenly has a swell idea: Why not tear down the wall that separates Harry’s shop from the thriving beauty salon next door and go . . . unisex?

As clip jobs go, this is the TV equivalent of Michael Douglas’ bad haircut in “Falling Down”: way more obviously antiquated than it means to be.

There are some definite nods to the ‘90s, albeit equally painful ones. The first show opens with one of the female hairstylists complaining about her “terminal cramps.” The new gay hairdresser (Julius J. Carry III) is not only not swishy, but also a burly former Olympic gold medalist, which naturally rubs up against all of Harry’s homophobic stereotypes. Meanwhile, son Joe recoils at the thought of actual commitment to the perky hairdresser next door (Julia Campbell), which helps transform her from doormat into raging feminist.

This battle-of-the-sexes comedy is directed with the utmost broadness (no unliberated pun intended), an approach that flatters none of the unfortunate actors.

Future episodes include one in which the pivotal conflict is over periodicals: The guys want to keep their Playboys and sports-magazine swimsuit issues in the shop, and the gals want their Cosmos. Let the clipee beware.