‘The Job’ Ought to Tackle the Case of the Missing Jokes

Devotees of “Car 54, Where Are You?” may not agree, but TV has had only two memorably funny police comedies, both on ABC. One was long-running “Barney Miller,” the other short-running “Police Squad,” which introduced Det. Frank Drebin, a stony bumbler of infinite sight gags who later would renew Leslie Nielsen’s career when moving on to success in feature films.

ABC’s “The Job” isn’t a strong candidate to become No. 3, its interesting star, Denis Leary, and atmospheric New York and New Jersey settings insufficient to atone for its writing woes. Surely more is needed to compete with the second half of NBC’s blockbuster, “The West Wing.”

In any case, viewers with a yen for New York cops now have a broad array from which to choose on Wednesday nights, which also includes NBC’s “Law & Order” and the new drama “Big Apple,” which airs opposite “The Job” on CBS.

“The Job” has Leary playing Det. Mike McNeil, who in one sense is hardly your typical comedy protagonist, having a wife and a mistress. He’s also a heavy smoker. Although not quite an antihero, he’s in that neighborhood. Yet he is also a formulaic maverick TV cop who irritates others while doing things his way. Which turns out to be the right way, naturally.

In the premiere, McNeil’s partner and best friend, Pip (Bill Nunn), is greatly distressed after his wife tells him his butt is massive, and McNeil and his buddies yank a confession from a guilty suspect in an absurd manner that strains credibility, even for a comedy.

All would be forgiven if this opening episode were much fun, but it isn’t, not even during a chase sequence that has the fugitive fleeing in a wheelchair. A more conventional chase soon follows.

The second episode thuds even louder when Pip’s wife, thinking McNeil a bad influence, orders her husband to change partners, and McNeil and other cops queue up for a case involving fetching actress Elizabeth Hurley (playing herself). When the ever-libidinous McNeil takes her to dinner, she asks: “Do you think my nipples are too small?”

Not as small as the jokes.

* “The Job” premieres tonight at 9:30 on ABC. The network has rated ti TV-14-L (may be unsuitable for children younger than 14, with special advisories for coarse language).