THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 29, 1996 TAG: 9603290076
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: LARRY BONKO
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
WHEN HE WAS Detective Sonny Crockett on ``Miami Vice,'' Don Johnson lived on a sailboat guarded by an alligator, never wore socks with his loafers, shaved every fourth or fifth day, wore a cool pastel wardrobe and tooled around town in a Ferrari Testarossa.
Tonight at 10 on CBS, Johnson again plays a cop in a big-city.
No sailboat.
No stubble.
No Ferrari.
No sunburst-yellow sports coat over lime-green T-shirt.
He wears socks now.
In ``Nash Bridges,'' which takes the ``Pickett Fences'' time slot on CBS, Johnson plays a San Francisco police inspector who is a lot more laughs than Sonny Crockett. ``This is a cop show with humor. An action show with a light touch,'' Johnson said not long ago when he met TV writers in Los Angeles.
His personal demons have been slain, he said. Alcohol and drug abuse are behind him. His personal life, once in chaos, is nicely in order.
Don Johnson, said Don Johnson, is a lot better off than the character he plays in ``Nash Bridges.''
That man is a baby boomer with baggage and wreckage. There are two ex-wives in Bridges' life.
Sounds autobiographical.
``It certainly is not,'' Johnson said. ``But the fabric of my life and times is in the character. Let's put it that way.''
Is Nash Bridges as compelling to watch as Sonny Crockett?
Not quite.
Does Nash Bridges move as quickly as Sonny Crockett?
Of course not. It's been 12 years since ``Miami Vice'' signed on. Johnson is heavier, older. No fancy wheels here. Bridges drives a 1970 Plymouth Barracuda.
``Nash Bridges,'' the fifth cop show to be launched in the past few weeks, may be one too many. And compared to the police dramas of the 1990s such as ``NYPD Blue'' and ``Homicide: Life on the Street'' - both so real it hurts - ``Nash Bridges'' is as out of place today as ``Starsky and Hutch.''
It's a cartoon.
This cop confounds the bad guys with magic tricks.
Bridges busts up a $5 million theft of computer chips without telling his bosses.
He wakes up a police informant with, ``Hi, Hon.''
She has a shotgun pointed at him from under the covers. Boom!
Bad guys steal a cab. The cops shoot the driver. His foot is still on the gas pedal. The cab plunges into oncoming traffic. Bridges is in pursuit. ``Hang on!''
Bridges refers to everyone as ``Bubba.'' He pampers his 16-year-old daughter, still loves his ex-wives (Annette O'Toole and Serena Scott Thomas) and hangs around with his ex-partner played by Cheech Marin.
No stretch, said Marin when he met the TV press.
``My dad was a cop for 30 years.'' This is a minor comeback for Marin, a major comeback for Johnson. He's been in films before and after ``Miami Vice'' but never became a bankable movie star. Johnson said he will continue to do features.
But for now, he's back on weekly TV.
``The fans are hungry for this kind of a show,'' said Johnson. Humor. Action. Warm relationships. Action again. ``Content is more important than style.''
Unlike ``Miami Vice''? Right, said Johnson.
``After a few years, that kind of TV became cartoon stuff,'' he said.
``Nash Bridges'' doesn't wait five years. It starts out cartoonish. And it's a violent show at times, which means it's all wrong for the V-chip generation. ``Nash Bridges'' is doomed. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Don Johnson stars in CBS' new ``Nash Bridges.''
by CNB