A Second Search for the ‘Fawlt’ Line Results in ‘Payne’ for CBS

The new CBS sitcom “Payne” is the second ragged attempt by U.S. television to re-create the celebrated British series, “Fawlty Towers.”

ABC took a stab in 1983 with the deservedly short-lived “Amanda’s,” which installed Bea Arthur in the John Cleese role as the proprietor of a quaint coastal inn. “Payne” is superior to that, yet it still lacks the wicked slash and bite of the original, which drew between the lines but wildly, by giving vent to the grotesque and nasty within the recognizable format of the traditional sitcom.

Viewers of “Fawlty Towers” when it aired on KCET some years ago will recognize the familiar outline. Scheming, tenaciously insincere Royal Payne (John Larroquette) and his caustic wife, Constance (JoBeth Williams), encounter obstacle after obstacle while operating Whispering Pines, a charming small hotel on the California coast.

The obstacles are mostly the staff--Mo the bumbling bellman (Rick Batalla) and Breeze the chambermaid (Julie Benz)--and the guests, whom Royal finds creative ways to abuse. As when the anniversary present he gives to Constance tonight is an antique pin that he won’t return to the woman who left it behind in her room.

Although Larroquette has a feel for this broad, cynical material, the premiere is pretty awful, its moments of slight wit getting overwhelmed by a deafening laugh track that the writing doesn’t begin to live up to.

Considerably funnier is Wednesday’s episode, which finds the Paynes eavesdropping on their guests, courtesy of a funky new telephone system whose cost Royal plans to pass on to the hotel’s patrons. “I’ve finally given our guests something that I’ve always wanted them to have,” he tells Constance. “A third page to their bill.”

However, a third episode returns to bad form, creating an impression that the pleasures of “Payne” likely will be mild and infrequent.

* “Payne” airs at 9:30 tonight on CBS, then moves into its regular time slot at 8:30 Wednesday night. The network has rated the premiere TV-PGD (may be unsuitable for young children with special advisories for suggestive dialogue).