Demonic and diabolical his good traits, businessman Jim Profit sinks his
incisors into TV villainy and finds it to be so much cotton candy. Those
who have gone before him - J.R. Ewing, Alexis Carrington and lately, Lucas
Buck of "American Gothic" - suddenly seem like Richie Cuninghams trying to
pass for Johnny Rottens.
Profit, lead character of Fox's new same-named series, is a combinations
Charles Manson/Menendez brother clawing his way to the top of the Gracen
& Gracen conglomerate. Emotionally traumatized by an abusive father,
he has forsaken human decency as well as the surname Stokowski. His only
consort is a stepmother named Bobbi, with whom he enjoys occasional rough
sex.
Mildly put, Jim Profit is thoroughly without honor. J.R. and Alexis were
wink-wink campy, and Lucas Buck had a surreal bent to him. But Profit is
straight-from-the-shoulder evil, a slick-haired slug of strychnine.
That said, why watch? Perhaps because Profit qualifies as "good television"
in the sense that it's different, daring and strangely compelling. Whether
narrating or acting on his ruthless impulses, Adrian Pasdar is quietly addictive
in the title role. Sounding a lot like Martin Sheen - and a little like Rod
Sterling - he plots downfalls with the practiced skill and dispassion of
a surgeon removing appendix no. 879. His allies are computer files, blackmailed
accomplices and an ability to exude a little-boy sincerity and vulnerability.
If anything, he's all too believable.
Monday's two-hour premiere finds Profit beginning work as a junior executive
at Gracen & Gracen, where he fully intends to run the whole show in short
order. Following his heart, he methodically seduces the unsatisfied wife
of a rival. It goes like this: "When you want someone to love you, open your
heart. When you want someone obsessed with you, close it."
Meanwhile, a corporate investigator and a rival executive are unraveling
Profit's past. It's impossible to reveal more without giving away too much.
Suffice it to say that Profit is fully capable of murder. And that his formative
years remain very much in the forefront of his current, decidedly twisted
lifestyle.
The jolting, closing scene of Monday night's premiere will serve as the trademark
parting shot of each episode. Executive producer Stephen J. Cannell, whose
TV contributions range from the "A-Team" to "Wiseguy", has let his imagination
run like a wild child in creating a character quite unlike any before.
Episode two finds Profit polishing off a decent-hearted executive by framing
him for a murder he didn't commit. The poor guy is going to look lousy in
an orange prison suit.
Episode three includes this memorable come-on from stepmother Bobbi (Lisa
Blount), who knows what Profit likes. "Ya know," she tells him, "ever since
you were a little kid, there's this real snotty sound you've got in your
voice which made me just wanna grab a belt, yank your britches down and beat
your ass to hamburger. So whaddya say?"
Sorry to say, he's agreeable.
Profit obviously invites a raft of reprisals. What's this doing on network
television? What sort of messages is it transmitting? How dare they?
Any such debate will only intensify if Profit somehow manages to be roaring
successful, which is unlikely. The first three episodes already show signs
of running thin on machinations. Mr. Pasdar's performance is hard to resist,
though. He's a bad seed sprung from hell's half-acre, a devil in a dark business
suit by day and a birthday suit in the nighttime privacy of his oddly appointed
apartment.
Profit isn't recommended viewing. What would be the point of that? But it's
attention getting, intriguing television for those willing to give just about
anything a whirl. Don't try any of this at the office, though. Please don't
even consider it.
May 8, 1996
Ed Bark
PROFIT' WITHOUT HONOR
astralj@hotmail.com
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