Bad Habits - Going for broke - September 02 2000

Not content to rerun Striptease, The American President and its own original movies ad nauseam, TNT has created its first weekly series called "Bull" (it's too easy to make fun of that name, so we won't bother), which airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. "Bull" is about the rarefied world of legalized gambling known as the stock market. Our smart-ass hero is Robert Roberts III (George Newbern), known to his friends as Ditto. He's disillusioned by the unscrupulous tactics of his grandfather's firm, Merriweather Marks, where he works. Grandpa (Donald Moffat) is a racist, sexist old WASP known as "The Kaiser" who deals dirty while droning on about dignity. So Ditto and some other young employees decide to break out on their own, something quite unheard of on "the Street."

Clichés abound. When the young'uns decide to make their move, Ditto actually says, "Here's to getting our acts together and taking them on the road." People pace around their well-lit offices wearing headsets, saying things like "Hotter than a firecracker," and "Bullseye!" Because it's set in New York, we get insufferable conversations like, "How was Yoko's party? A couple of the Baldwin brothers were there." (Sorry, "Bull," but just because they both live in NYC doesn't mean that Yoko Ono and Stephen "I own a restaurant" Baldwin hang together.)

Still, Moffat, the great Stanley Tucci (as a sleazy backstabber) and comedian Larry Miller, as Ditto's smug, asshole brother-in-law, are fun to watch, though it's uncertain how much will they be featured now that the kids have left the firm. The younger folks (including Malik Yoba, Elisabeth Rohm, Ian Kahn, and Alicia Coppola) are all competent and, of course, attractive (they are, after all, portrayed by actors), though the white males are interchangeable.

Besides the decent actors, "Bull" does have an impressive TV pedigree: Michael Chernuchin, producer of "Law & Order;" Ken Horton of "The X-Files," "The Simpsons," and "L.A. Law;" and Eric Laneuville of "L.A. Law," "ER," and "NYPD Blue." And it's not a bad show. But it also could be any show about lawyers, doctors or cops, with its bantering lingo, busy camera work, and the sun-soaked office windows. And while the ads say it's about the "New Economy," "Bull" could've dropped right out of the greed-worshipping '80s right down to the preppy yellow ties and suspenders.

People love medical, legal and police dramas because they can relate, even if they don't catch all the lingo; most of us will have seen a doctor, a cop and maybe even a lawyer in our lifetime — but a stockbroker? Also, what makes law, medicine and crime translate into good drama is that the situations are life-and-death. Freedom vs. prison! Walking vs. paralysis! What's the worst thing that could happen on "Bull"? A rich white male moves down one tax bracket?

Well, that explains why Ted Turner's network is airing "Bull," but will average Joes like us care about it?