Down And Out In Beverly Hills: Anita Morris and Hector Elizondo

Down And Out In Beverly Hills aired from April until September 1987 on FOX.

Dave Whiteman ( Hector Elizondo) had made his fortune selling clothes hangers and had moved his family into a sumptuous Beverly Hills mansion. Although he still had middle-class roots and understood the value of a dollar, such could not be said for his flighty wife Barbara ( Anita Morris), or his social climbing daughter Jenny (Eileen Seely), Max ( Evan Richards), his son was not coping well with either his new peer group at Beverly Hills High or his adolescence. Into this unsettled household came Jerry Baskin ( Tim Thomerson), a flower child of the 60's who had become a derelect in the '80's. When his attempt to commit suicide in the Whiteman pool failed-he was pulled out by Dave-Jerry stayed on to live the good life and dispense philosophical and sometimes cryptic answers to the unending questions posed by the Whitemans.

Based on the 1985 feature film starring Richard Dreyfuss, Bette Midler, and Nick Nolte, which in turn was based on characters from the play " Boudu Sauve des Eaux by Rene Fauchois and the classic French film, Boudu Saved From Drowning (1932). Reprising his role in the 1985 movie as the nasty pooch Matisse was a black-and-white Scottish border collie known professionally as Mike the dog.

A Review From The New York Times

'DOWN AND OUT IN BEVERLY HILLS' BECOMES A SERIES

By JOHN CORRY
Published: July 24, 1987
LEAD: THE title is the same, but on television it looks different. ''Down and Out in Beverly

THE title is the same, but on television it looks different. ''Down and Out in Beverly

Hills'' is not the movie, even if it does use the same dog. He's Mike, a border collie, and a good thing it is, too, that he's still around. In this new comedy series, on Channel 5 at 8 o'clock tomorrow night, he gets the funniest scenes.

Consider the opening: Anita Morris does aerobics in satin-stretch leotards. Ms. Morris, who is playing Bette Midler's role from the movie, is all curves, and in leotards she commands attention. What's funny is that Mike commands more. He flops on his back and waves his paws. That may not sound like a hoot, but it is.

A few minutes later, Mike drags Evan Richards by the leg into a room. That's funny, too. As is Mike, Mr. Richards, who plays the son in the goofy Whiteman household, is repeating the role he did in the movie.

Similarities to the movie end there, though. The new television series seems inspired more by other television series. The script - by Robert Bruce and Martin Weiss - has fresh wisecracks, but we have the feeling we've seen the production before. And, in a way, we have. Tim Thomerson, who plays the derelict who jumps into the Whitemans' pool, has the same function as the family retainer played by Christopher Hewett on ''Mr. Belvedere.'' He counsels family members. Mr. Richards, meanwhile, is not as charming as Michael J. Fox on ''Family Ties,'' but the idea is the same: he's upwardly mobile and a smart aleck.

''Reno,'' he says, ''the only place on earth the Pope won't visit.'' His sister, Jenny (Eileen Seeley), has forsaken college to run off there. Actually, all she wants to do is attract attention. The Whitemans - Ms. Morris and Hector Elizondo - take her for granted. She has always gotten straight A's, never stayed out late and had milk and cookies every afternoon.

That's pretty much sitcom stuff, too. The movie was more abrasive. Jenny was anorexic, and her brother was sexually confused. The television production - Howard Gewirtz is the executive producer and Bill Foster is the director - has no juice.

Grant, meanwhile, that you can take the television analogies too far, but Mr. Elizondo does sound like Bob Newhart's psychologist, even if he is playing someone who manufactures hangers. Mr. Elizondo is ordinarily a more forceful actor; here he's so laid back he disappears.

Where is the abrasiveness, or even a hint of comic vulgarity? There is some when Michael Shaner turns up as a funny psychotic from Reno. He's plays someone with an edge, but the scene lasts only minutes, and even then Mr. Shaner might be a driver from the ''Taxi'' garage.

We miss Mike, who leaves about halfway through the program. ''Down and Out in Beverly Hills'' doesn't even give us Rodeo Drive. After the aerobics, it's a very bland half-hour.

For a website dedicated to Tim Thomerson go to www.stomptokyo.com/timthomerson/