Sales and Spiels Make a Dull ‘Living’

Michael Romei, the unflappable concierge at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria hotel, can get you more than just theater tickets.

One guest is looking for a vegetarian restaurant that serves meat, which only sounds like a joke. When another wants an obscure lotion, Romei darts about midtown like a cat on the prowl, returning with jar in hand. When another wants a table at a packed nightspot, he tells the club the guest is from London. “If you reference a major city, they think it’s somebody important,” he explains later.

Romei is among about a dozen workers featured in A&E;’s “It’s a Living” (9 p.m.), a “docu-tainment” special that peeks behind the scenes of the American workplace. Unfortunately, few of the others are as fun to watch as Romei--and there’s nothing he can do about that.

The program, directed by Daniel Elias in quick-cutting, freewheeling style, starts with a look at contrasting sales crews: the gung-ho guys at a Las Vegas car dealership and the perky gals who sell Mary Kay cosmetics in Dallas. The second half explores the “back of the house” at the mammoth Waldorf.

The car salesmen, led by a rap artist known as “The Chopper,” share some insights without spilling any trade secrets. They quickly size up which half of a couple controls the checkbook, for example. The sparkly Mary Kay saleswomen, meanwhile, dazzle potential recruits at their monthly “rally night” with tales of riches.

The rest of the Waldorf crew, which includes a chef, a wedding planner and a chambermaid, comes off as efficient and pleasant.

Soon enough, though, you may wish the producers had delved into the seamier aspects of these jobs.

“It’s a Living” has its moments, but not enough of them to keep it from becoming a chore at times. Hey, whatever. It’s a viewing.