Fox's Profit turns corporate intrigue into a dark art. The star: an antihero
who could show Gordon Gekko a thing or two
It is hard to imagine where Jim Profit might have received his M.B.A., but
whatever the school, it was a place where he learned the art of downsizing
all too well. Profit, an intensely focused executive at Gracen & Gracen,
the 15th largest company in the world, eliminates manpower with the sort
of effectiveness AT&T's CEO Robert Allen might admire. When Profit wants
someone out of the way, he might have him framed for selling contraband chemicals
to Saudi terrorists or set him up for the murder of a subordinate who died
of a heart attack--or both. And no outplacement counseling.
Profit, an incomparable thriller that debuted on Fox last week (Mondays,
9 p.m. EDT), is perhaps the first show on television to build itself entirely
around a character so resolutely insidious. Even J.R. Ewing would be impressed
by Jim Profit's cunning (and Dallas was more an ensemble piece). Played
with a slippery chill by Adrian Pasdar, Profit is a young man of untrammeled
ambition and unfathomable turpitude. What he's up against, the labyrinthian
universe of Big Business, may be just as pernicious.
Creators and writers David Greenwalt and John McNamara have done their best
to imbue the show with a mythic ethos. The drama takes place in a gray, unnamed
city (it's shot in Vancouver). Profit, a junior vice president, blackmails,
murders and manipulates to remove obstacles and enemies, but his ultimate
goal is unclear. While his urge to control is maniacal, he appears to want
powers even grander than a mere title like CEO could bestow. The operations
of Gracen & Gracen, "a family company," are shrouded in mystery. They
simply "acquire"--businesses, information and, of course, souls.
Profit, though, is not without wry wit. Jim's mean father kept him in a box
where Jim watched TV all day. And see how the boy turned out? As a grown-up
he sits in front of a computer plotting against rivals. Indeed, technology
can alienate--Profit is TV even the Unabomber could appreciate.
Getting Profit on the air was no simple feat. Part of the credit for
rescuing the show from a lengthy development hell goes to executive producer
Stephen Cannell, who funded the pilot and was able to persuade initially
reluctant programmers at Fox to pick it up. Over the years Cannell has mounted
an incredibly wide range of dramas--everything from Wiseguy to the
less cerebral The A-Team and Silk Stalkings. Initial ratings
for Profit were weak, but Cannell thinks he can maintain his track
record. "I broke all the rules with The Rockford Files,'' he says,
referring to his first big hit. "I had an antihero the networks hated for
being a coward." The Rockford Files ultimately hit No. 1--and Jim
Rockford never looked as sexy in a suit as Jim Profit.
astralj@hotmail.com
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