Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 2, 1994 TAG: 9406020039
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By FRAZIER MOORE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
How the heck did Lt. Arthur Fancy, the righteous, tough and - while we're at it - hunky top cop in ``NYPD Blue's'' precinct house, get tagged with that unlikely name?
``I don't know,'' replies James McDaniel, his grin in marked contrast to the furrowed brow favored by the character he plays.
``I never asked, I just accepted it,'' McDaniel goes on. ``I called their bluff: `Fancy? THAT'S what his name is? OK, I can work with that.'''
He lets loose with a cackle.
``Certain things I just expect from those guys.''
``Those guys,'' of course, refers to executive producer Steven Bochco and the other creative marshals behind the season's most talked-about new series (which airs 10 p.m. Tuesday on WSET-Channel 13).
Headlined by carrot-topped heartthrob David Caruso and beefy Dennis Franz, ``NYPD Blue'' instantly proved itself last fall as an obstreperously fine cop drama.
But where does that leave McDaniel, whose steadfast, stringent, decidedly unfancy Fancy never gets to sleep with prostitutes, abuse alcohol, bare his rump or do anything else that might make the Rev. Donald Wildmon apoplectic?
``My character holds the expository role,'' says McDaniel.
``It's a job that has to be done, and it's a very difficult job, I feel. You've got to figure out a way to make it interesting.''
This McDaniel certainly does, even as Fancy, quite the understated hero, keeps much of himself locked away and out of sight.
Unlike his hit-the-streets detectives John Kelly and Andy Sipowicz, Fancy doesn't live the rock 'em, sock 'em life. He is a desk-bound manager, taking grief from his superiors, smoothing personnel problems below. He is good at his job, but wrestles with doubts he can't quite suppress.
Could be, he's the ``NYPD Blue'' character most akin to the show's audience.
And despite the hurly-burly that characterizes the series, McDaniel's work as its center has been recognized, and embraced, by ``NYPD Blue'' fans.
``When I walk into a room now, people react to me differently,'' says McDaniel, marveling at his eight-month-old celebrity. ``I haven't changed, but everything around me has. All the rules that applied before are slightly different now.''
It's not as if McDaniel is some kind of newcomer. The Washington, D.C.-born actor has performed in dozens of plays, including Broadway's ``Six Degrees of Separation,'' in which he originated the role of the young black man who masquerades as Sidney Poitier's son.
He appeared in the films ``Malcolm X,'' ``Crack in the Mirror'' and ``Alice.''
On TV, he guest-starred on ``Hill Street Blues'' and was a regular on the short-lived ``Cop Rock.''
It was his roles on those Bochco-produced series that led to ``NYPD Blue.''
``Steven talked to me two years before this show ever got off the ground,'' McDaniel says. ``I had high expectations but, being realistic, I knew there was a good chance that we were gonna get pulled. For two years I would hear, `It's on.' `It's off.' `It's on.' `It's off.' ''
Once ABC announced for its fall 1993 schedule what it was calling an ``adult police drama,'' the attendant fuss moved into high gear. At the wheel was Wildmon, a Tupelo, Miss., minister-activist. Sight unseen, he christened ``NYPD Blue'' ``soft-core porn'' and predicted it would last ``six to eight weeks, max.''
``If you really look at the show,'' says McDaniel many more weeks later, ``it's really pretty tame. But it became a political football. That's the world we live in today. People don't really address the vital issues. They speak around them.
``It's been an emotionally stressful year, and I'm tired,'' he says. ``Out in L.A., I've lived through earthquakes and fires, as well as Rev. Wildmon's fire-and-brimstone. We've really been through it.''
On the other hand, what's a little controversy? James McDaniel is smiling again.
``I'm having the time of my life,'' sums up the actor who has scored big with his Fancy footwork. ``I am having a ball!''
by CNB