Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 7, 1995 TAG: 9501190047
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB THOMAS ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
The comedian admits that survival of ``The John Larroquette Show'' is ``still borderline.''
``My job this season is to close the gap between Kelsey and me,'' he said, referring to Kelsey Grammer's ``Frasier,'' which precedes Larroquette on NBC Tuesday nights. (``Larroquette'' airs at 9:30 on WSLS-Channel 10). ``If I could do that, for even two points, I think we're a shoo-in for five years.
``When Kelsey does a 22 [Nielsen rating], I do a 17; when he does a 25, I do a 17. I've got this solid core now. What I've got to do is close that gap.''
But how? He believes he will never win many more female viewers as long as he faces the strong appeal of Brett Butler on the opposing ``Grace Under Fire.'' But he thinks the audience will enlarge if word can be spread of the changed nature of the show.
Like Murphy Brown, Sam Malone (``Cheers'') and Andy Sipowicz (``NYPD Blue''), John Hemingway on ``The John Larroquette Show'' is a recovering alcoholic. That element, plus the weird nighttime denizens of the St. Louis bus station he manages, may have turned some viewers off.
``Last year, the show was considered by some people with the word `dark,''' he observed. ``To me that doesn't mean unfunny; it just means that it wasn't as comfortable a place that people wanted to be, considering the nature of television.
``This year I as executive producer and Don Reo, the creator of the show, made some changes to try to broaden the scope of it. Here's an alcoholic who is sober a year, so his life's going to be a little better. He moves to a nicer apartment, begins to have a relationship with a woman across the hall. It's more normal, but this guy is always going to be dysfunctional.''
Larroquette has been campaigning for a different time slot, perhaps at 8:30, ``to see if there's more audience available.'' A good sign: NBC has ordered two more shows beyond the customary seasonal 22.
Movie audiences are seeing a different side of John Larroquette. He plays the heavy in Macaulay Culkin's new film, ``Richie Rich.'' Why would Warner Bros. cast him as a villain?
``Because they knew what a phenomenal actor I was, and I could bring out that other side of me,'' he joked. ``I was either going to do this, or I was going to play Kriss Kringle. I chose this one instead. I'm sort of like Grizzly Adams when my beard comes out.''
Perhaps the real reason he took the role: ``To be on the same stage with Macaulay Culkin, I'd be a hero with my 7-year-old.''
Larroquette had praise for the 14-year-old millionaire:
``He's wonderful. He's a young man. He's a professional actor. I don't listen to rumors, because I know the stuff that has been said about me over the years. I talked to a couple of people who had worked with him, and they had nothing but good things to say about him.
``So I didn't expect any problems going in, and there weren't any. He's a young man, and he really knows his job.''
Larroquette is confident that Culkin can bridge the gap from child star to adult actor - ``when I look into his eyes, I see an actor there.'' He cites the examples of Mickey Rooney, Jackie Cooper, Dean Stockwell and Roddy McDowall, who made the transition to grown-up actors.
``There's going to be that period when he probably should disappear for a while, maybe two years,'' said Larroquette. ``If I was his manager, I might tell him to go off and study, maybe just to get out of those habits that have made him an icon of childhood in the movie field.''
John Larroquette was inculcated with Dixieland jazz in his native New Orleans and began playing reed instruments at 9. He moved on to rock music, but acting in a little theater in Grand Lake, Colo., led him to Hollywood. His first job: a two-line, two-day job on the original ``Rich Man, Poor Man'' miniseries.
``I just kept working,'' he recalled. ``I did series in the '70s: `Baa Baa Black Sheep' with Bob Conrad, `Doctors Hospital.' I was always the psycho of the week on `Kojak' or guest star of the week on `Three's Company' or `Mork and Mindy.' Then in 1982, `Night Court.' I was only seven years an actor when it started.''
``Night Court'' continued its maniacal sessions for nine seasons, winning Larroquette four supporting-actor Emmys as Dan Fielding, the oversexed prosecutor.
If the current show lasts five years, that means Larroquette will have devoted most of 14 years to playing two characters. Does that bother him?
``I guess part of me objects to it. But to have that kind of security in acting is a rare thing. When I think that almost half of my career was spent as Dan Fielding, I am amazed.''
by CNB