Profile : Divorce, Dave Thomas Style : MIXING BITTERNESS AND HUMOR IN ‘GRACE UNDER FIRE’

Dave Thomas is finally on a hit TV series.

In fact, Thomas stars in the biggest hit of the new season, ABC’s “Grace Under Fire,” which airs Wednesday nights after the network’s most popular series, “Home Improvement.”

Thomas plays Russell Norton, a bitter, recently divorced pharmacist who is friends with Grace Kelly (Brett Butler), a caustic divorcee with three small children.

“I’ve never been in a big ratings hit in my entire career,” acknowledges Thomas, who came to fame as a regular on the award-winning Canadian TV series “SCTV.” The comedy-variety show, which also starred Martin Short, Rick Moranis, John Candy, Eugene Levy, Joe Flaherty, Catherine O’Hara and Andrea Martin, aired Saturdays at 12:30 a.m. on NBC from 1981 to 1983.

“I found it really hard to stay up (and watch it),” Thomas confesses. “It was, like, who in their right minds would stay up?’ We had, like, night watchmen and insomniacs.”

Being on a successful show like “Grace,” Thomas adds with a smile, “is actually better than being on one that isn’t successful. It feels better. You get better feedback and a lot more of it.”

“Grace Under Fire” marks Thomas’ first sitcom. The series, he says, “just came along.” He met with executive producers Tom Werner, Marcy Carsey and Chuck Lorre about the role of Russell and then did a scene with Butler.

“It was great,” Thomas recalls. “I thought, ‘OK. I’ve never done a sitcom. I’ve done everything else. I’ve done movies. Variety shows. TV movies. Theatrical movies. I haven’t done a sitcom. Let’s see what that’s like.’ ”

So far, it’s been fun for Thomas, especially since the show’s director, Michael Lessac, allows him to improvise and experiment during the tapings.

“I will change certain lines,” says Thomas, who is just as funny off screen as he is on. During the interview in his Santa Monica production office, he breaks into dead-on impersonations of Bob Hope, Michael Caine, Richard Harris and Sean Connery.

“I will look for opportunities where I can make Brett laugh or relieve the tedium of the taping process for the audience. Anyplace that looks like it needs it, I will find a spot where I can change a line and surprise everybody. It’s not destructive, it’s just playful.”

As in the case of a recent episode in which Russell did his laundry at Grace’s. Thomas decided to deliver his lines while folding the most outlandish-looking underwear.

“That wasn’t written in the script,” Thomas recalls. “It was just that I was folding my laundry. I said to the prop guy, ‘Get me some underwear, like, from Frederick’s of Hollywood and get me some big boxer shorts with polka dots--just the stupidest-looking underwear you can find.’ Then I just deliver my lines straight and I’m folding this underwear. I knew this was going to get laughs. It was killing the audience.”

Russell’s character has evolved during the season. Originally, he was ensioned as a potential suitor for Grace. “Then I got involved with her sister,” Thomas says. “I have had so many audience members ask me, ‘Are you going to get back together with Grace?’ I suggested to the writers that they leave that as a possibility. I honestly don’t know if I’m her type. I thought that the best relationship we could have would be one where I play a friend whom she can let her hair down to and talk to.”

Thomas also feels Russell is too bitter. “I’ve talked to Chuck (Lorre) about that and said, ‘Listen. This is what I would like Russell to be. All we hear about are child abusers and fathers who don’t pay child support because that’s news. What isn’t news are the guys who pay the support every month. Let him be one of those guys--one of those few people who signed all the checks.’ That’s a nice character to play with. It’s a rock-like character.”

Though “Grace” keeps him busy, Thomas manages to find time to work on his own projects. He hopes to direct a TV movie during the show’s spring hiatus and is working with ‘SCTV” alum Andrea Martin on a TV series.

Thomas also plans to work with Rick Moranis in the near future. The two became cult heroes on “SCTV” as the beer-guzzling, bacon-eating Canadian hunters, Doug and Bob McKenzie. Their album, “Bob and Doug McKenzie’s Great White North,” went gold in the United States and triple platinum in Canada. The McKenzie film “Strange Brew” was the highest-grossing film in Canada in 1983.

Though Thomas says he “has to write” or go crazy, he enjoys acting the most because it’s so easy.

“You’re totally free. People think of actors as idiots and totally protect them. It’s the best of all jobs, I think. Actors are babied, and it’s nice to be pampered liked that.”

Especially since Thomas is the father of three young children. “Your life at home is, ‘Dad! Dad! Dad! Can you help me with this?’ And then you go to work and it’s like, ‘Dave. We won’t be needing you for an hour.’ It’s, like, great. I’ll go to my room and just kind of relax and no one will be screaming my name for about an hour.”

“Grace Under Fire” airs Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m on ABC.