El Paso Times from El Paso, Texas • 148

Tinderbox Analysis 'Cop-Kid' Getting Good Ratings CHARLES DURNING TIERRE TURNER By BUCK BIGGERS Gannett Newsservice Television series based on concepts coming from successful movies have a habit of failing. But what about a series based on a relationship as memorable as that in "The Champ," a classic 1931 film that starred Wallace Beery as a big, burly oaf who, reluctantly, took in Jackie Cooper, a forlorn orphan? So heartwarming was this story that many fans thought there was really a father-son relationship between Beery and Cooper. We know better now. Jackie has long since explained that Wallace wanted no part of him off screen, and that the kid's heart-tugging tears were often produced by cruel, traumatic tricks such as convincing Cooper that his dog had died. Even so, the on-screen relationship was an extraordinarily memorable one and would appear to offer excellent possibilities for a series.

Let's take a look at NBC's new Thursday night entry, "The Cop and the Kid," in 3D (Difference, Depth and Durability). 1. Difference: Frank Murphy is an overweight bluecoat who, until recently, was enjoying his bachelor apartment, occasional visits from his doting Irish mother, and a regular poker night with other cops. But Fran made tne mistake of chasing a shoplifting black boy named Lucas Adams. In the course of the capture, the boy learned that Frank suffered from asthma (a retirable disability), and Lucas used this knowledge to force Frank to recommend leniency in court and then accept the court's decision to make the boy his ward.

Lucas moves in, bringing along a dog to inflame Frank's allergy, and a social worker to inflame Frank's ardor. All the elements of that classic movie, "The Champ," are here, but making Wallace Beery blue and Jackie Cooper black served only to bring triteness to what might otherwise haver been a refreshing new storyline for television. 2. Depth: Charles Durning plays the cop; Tierre Turner (15 years old) is the kid. We recently saw Durning as Stephen Douglas in Hallmark's "The Rivalry" and Tierre Turner as a troublesome boy on a repeat episode of "Adam-12." They are both very polished actors.

Why, then, does Patsy Kelly, as the cop's mother, steal every scene in which she appears? Not, it would appear, because of any lack of ability on the part of Durning or Turner, but rather because of the limitations placed on the characters they play. But even if the immediate rating numbers are satisfactory, we doubt that this series is in for a long stand unless something very substantial can be done to make the two little characters more appealing. Here are people who live together only because the court has forced them to. They feel little or nothing for each other except distaste. Who cares to view such a relationship? This was not how it was in "The Champ." There, the kid's affection was recognizable quite early, and even Beery showed that he cared deeply for the kid by the end of the film.

Perhaps that is the problem with "The Cop and the The story never ends. But, then, maybe the ratings will Neither Frank Murphy nor Lucas Adams are people we would care to know. They are selfish connivers who never perform a single decent act unless there is something in it for them. Naturally, therefore, the appearance of a more open, more three-dimensional character like that of the mother is welcome relief. (To say nothing of the fact that Patsy Kelly is one heckuva fine comic.) 3.

Durability: Opposite CBS's beloved "Waltons" and ABC's well-received "On the Rocks," the new program would appear to have rating problems ahead. The fortunes of "The Cop and the Kid" may depend to a great extent on the degree of success enjoyed by the show that precedes it also a new entry). remedy that. Solve your waste removal problem by calling us (915) 544-9093 WSI DISPOSAL 76 WILLIAMS "SSZte 2uCake Haste With "STour Waste No Lease Required Page 4 THE EL PASO TIMES.