"The Jackie Thomas Show," which premieres tonight at 8:30 p.m. on ABC (Ch. 4), will undoubtedly be a huge hit.
Which is not to say that it's a particularly good show. It isn't.It isn't as bad as it could have been, given that its star - Roseanne's hubby, Tom Arnold - has no discernable acting ability.
But it isn't any worse than a lot of sitcoms cluttering the television airwaves. (More's the pity.)
What's going to make this show a hit is, of course, the fact that it's on after "Roseanne." You could put almost anything into the post-"Roseanne" time slot and come up with a hit.
And even ABC's top programmer has admitted that he faced a wrathful pair of Arnolds when he didn't give "Jackie Thomas" the post-"Roseanne" slot when the season began in September.
It wasn't worth the wait.
Nonetheless, because of Roseanne's clout her husband has his own show and an extremely cushy place for it to air.
Now, if only he could act . . .
The premise is extremely true-to-life. Arnold plays Jackie Thomas, a load-mouthed, obnoxious egotist who somehow goes from an Iowa slaughterhouse to starring in a top 10 TV show. (How he does it isn't apparent - Thomas doesn't seem to be married.)
Actually, the Arnolds, who are the show's executive producers and who wrote the pilot along with Brad Isaacs, were smart enough to let a fine supporting cast have lots of airtime. Tom Arnold is actually on camera less than half of tonight's pilot, and the show fares better without him.
As the show opens, a new head writer (Dennis Boutsikaris) has been hired and finds the staff lives in dread and fear of Jackie.
Jackie is the stereotypical Hollywood monster - demanding, unreasonable and dumb. One of the supporting characters describes him as "clinically insane."
Alison La Placa co-stars as a production assistant, Martin Mull is the "network stooge," and the cast is filled out by other writers and the actors who co-star on the fictional "Jackie Thomas" show.
The level of humor isn't particularly highbrow. In one extremely lame scene, Jackie breaks down and cries when he learns that Arnold, the pig on "Green Acres," has passed away.
In many ways, "Jackie Thomas" is a parody of Tom Arnold's life. There are jokes like about his personal problems.
"Man, I could go for a beer," Jackie says. "But I won't, because I just got out of rehab."
Jackie is prone to throwing tantrums and firing writers, just as Tom and Roseanne have been.
They're poking fun at the hand that feeds them, like this assessment of an episode of the fictional "Jackie Thomas Show."
"Well, as TV goes, that was pretty bad," says the head writer.
"Definitely a new low," says the production assistant.
"Now, that was great television," says the network executive.
"The Jackie Thomas Show" is somewhere toward the lower end of that continuum. It isn't great, but it could have been a lot worse.
Tom and Roseanne should be commended for having the ability to laugh at themselves. Now, if only they were able to make us laugh at them as much as the obnoxious laugh track does.
(Viewers may wish to note there's rough language in this show. The characters - Arnold's in particular - spew several words and phrases that are inappropriate to repeat in a family newspaper.)
Actually, La Placa has a line early in tonight's episode that pretty much sums up "The Jackie Thomas Show."
"This isn't one of those `fun' shows," she tells the new head writer upon his arrival. "You'll get used to it."
"The Jackie Thomas Show" isn't a whole lot of fun, either. But chances are we'll have a long time to get used to it, too.