‘Jonny Zero’ is strictly by the numbers

Though its title is suggestive of an age of asymmetrical haircuts, huge shoulder pads and funny sunglasses, “Jonny Zero,” premiering tonight on Fox, is not the story of a new wave pop band -- alas -- but rather of a muscular ex-con trying to go straight on the complicated streets of New York. Notwithstanding that our hero is Latino, se habla espanol aqui, and the soundtrack bubbles with Nuyorican hip-hop and soul, it is not exactly a new idea -- a Google search of the phrase “ex-con trying to go straight” produced 768 hits -- not even in the way that Jonny is caught between his old associates and the lawman who blackmails him into finking for the feds. Sixty or 70 years ago, John Garfield might have been playing this role (skinnier, but no more sensitive), with the Dead End Kids throwing stones somewhere in the background.

Former nightclub bouncer Franky G (for Gonzalez) plays former nightclub bouncer Jonny, who has spent four years in jail for what he is careful to point out was the “involuntary manslaughter” of “a drug dealer.” So: not his fault, really -- and good riddance to bad rubbish. Jonny is the Paul Bunyan of doormen: In his absence, many tall tales have grown around his name -- he is a legend of lethal crowd control. But he is a gentle giant, really, and now that he’s out of the joint, he’s looking to stay clean in mind and body and do a good deed daily. “I like helping people,” Jonny tells his old boss, Garret (Ritchie Coster), a slick Cockney psycho whose clubs are only a front for running drugs and guns, and who wants Jonny back on the team. It’s not clear why he does, given that Jonny has no heart for the job -- whatever it is (it’s not really clear what said job entails). Perhaps Garret’s just in love. (If this bit reminds you at all of “Sexy Beast,” you have me for company.)

While enduring the usual-for-such-stories bad straight-world jobs -- dressing as an octopus at a nautical theme restaurant, getting hit all day as a sparring partner -- Jonny is adopted by wannabe “Renaissance man” Random (actor GQ, not to be confused with the magazine), who takes him to live in an abandoned factory. Random is a small, yapping Ratso Rizzo to Jonny’s slow Joe Buck -- or perhaps a Huntz Hall to his Leo Gorcey. (They become, or try to become, “alternative investigators,” which is Bowery Boys all the way.) GQ has the best job here, and makes the most of it. As the stiff-necked embodiment of law enforcement, meanwhile, Chris Bauer (“The Wire”), looks unhappy and uncomfortable. Franky G, who has had small parts in “Wonderland” and “The Italian Job,” tries hard, and one day may be no worse an actor than Steven Seagal.

There is barely a moment in it that registers as original, and whatever authenticity is gained by the Queens-bred star’s ethnic bona fides is squandered by the preposterousness of the writing and the visual overkill -- relentless zooms, “Batman” angles, color manipulation, MTV edits. I understand that for the generations raised on video games, this may just be how things look, and that modern Hollywood equates style with substance, but it really is impossible to create suspense when the camera is working that hard. Oddly, the people behind this frantic enterprise -- executive producers John Wells, Llewellyn Wells, R. Scott Gemmill (who also scripts) and Mimi Leder (who also directs) -- are best known for such dignified high-middlebrow entertainments as “ER,” “The West Wing” and “China Beach,” and the movie “Pay It Forward.”

Like its protagonist, the show is lunkheaded, but in a genial way. It indulges in the occasional dumb sex joke, and there is a fair amount of mayhem -- Jonny, who may not even be street smart, gets beat up and shot at a lot -- but it is mostly implied or fantastic. (Jonny’s hot red muscle car seems to get the worst of it.)

“Jonny Zero” is a comic book clear through, though not as clever as comics tend to be nowadays. It’s not awful, just awfully corny, its version of urban grit as filtered and prettified as that of “West Side Story.” (“This gym is neutral territory,” Jonny even says at one point, echoing the musical.) Every once in a while a nice bit of business comes along -- Jonny frightening Random in a graveyard, a well-played scene with a Chinese jeweler -- and in general the series is on much surer footing when it tries to be funny than when it tries to be “real.” The more seriously it takes itself, the harder it is to take seriously.

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‘Jonny Zero’

Where: Fox

When: 9 p.m.

Ratings: TV-14 L, V (may be unsuitable for young children under the age of 14 with strong advisory for strong language and violence)

Franky G...Jonny Calvo

GQ...Random

Brennan Hesser...Danni Styles

Executive producers R. Scott Gemmill, Mimi Leder, John Wells, Llewellyn Wells. Director Mimi Leder. Writer R. Scott Gemmill.