Secret Service Agent ‘Dag’ Seems Up to Assignment

The White House isn’t generating humor these days.

None, that is, except for “Dag,” NBC’s promising new comedy uniting a smart and ambitious first lady and the genial head of her Secret Service detail in amusing situations that play to the strengths of the skilled actors (Delta Burke and David Alan Grier) who play them.

Whether the writing remains strong and subsequent episodes hold up remains to be seen. Hail to the premiere, however, which finds agent Jerome Daggett (Grier) getting reassigned to First Lady Judith Whitman (Burke), a demotion he earns by bungling--hilariously--his assignment with the goofy president.

Joining him on this Secret Service “B” team is an IQ-challenged male agent (Stephen Dunham) and a zealous female (Emmy Laybourne) who should cut back on her caffeine. Also showing up are the first lady’s snotty teenage daughter (Lea Moreno Young) and treacherous secretary (Lauren Tom).

Although it’s a nice supporting team, “Dag” will soar or fall on what transpires between Daggett and the first lady, who privately rues getting no credit for being the brains behind her husband in this dysfunctional first family that flashes smiles for the public. “Somewhere along the way,” she laments, “they turned me into a wife.”

Burke is adept at playing edgy characters wielding PhDs in manipulation, moreover, this one trying mightily to make Daggett an errand boy charged with looking after the First Dog, a Yorkie named Betsy Ross. And the talented Grier--for years a big star waiting to happen--is a whiz at tight-roping broad, self-effacing humor without toppling into buffoonery.

Political settings rarely make for good TV comedies, but in this surreal election year anything can happen.

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* “Dag” premieres tonight at 9:30 on NBC. The network has rated it TV-PG (may be unsuitable for young children).