The fact that Tim Curry doesn't exactly seem like the warm-and-cuddly, child-friendly, nurturing type isn't lost on the actor, who has stepped into a role that's a TV icon — butler/nanny Mr. French on the remake of "Family Affair."
"Well, children. I like them with black bean sauce," Curry said.
Which is just the sort of comment you might expect from Dr. Frank-N-Furter, the character he played in the 1975 camp classic "Rocky Horror Picture Show."
Curry is no novice to productions intended for family audiences. He's provided the voices for literally dozens of animated characters, and his movie credits include things like "Home Alone 2" and "Muppet Treasure Island." But he is more associated with playing bad guys than the guy charged with raising 6-year-old twins and their 14-year-old sister.
"I hope to just re-imagine him," Curry said. "I haven't seen (the original series)."
That's right — Curry has never seen as much as a single episode of the classic 1966-71 series that starred Brian Keith as Uncle Bill, Sebastian Cabot as Mr. French, Anissa Jones as Buffy, Johnny Whitaker as Jody and Kathy Garver as Cissy.
"I was blissfully unaware of 'Family Affair' because they didn't show it in England. Or, at least, if they did . . . I was unaware of it," Curry said. "So I didn't really bring any baggage to it. And I really had no idea until I was shooting it what a huge hit it had been and how sort of beloved it was. I don't think it would have stopped me from taking it on, because it's a damn good part. But I'm sensitive of the potential comparison."
The new "Family Affair," which airs Thursdays at 7 p.m. on WB/Ch. 30, is very much a remake of the original. Uncle Bill (Gary Cole) is a successful playboy of sorts who takes in his brother's three orphaned children (Sasha Pieterse, Jimmy "Jax" Pinchak and Caitlin Wachs) — and his butler, Mr. French, becomes the kids' reluctant, surrogate mother.
"One of the things that really drew me to it is that he's essentially a nice guy," Curry said. "He's kind of a buttoned-up sweetheart. And I love the comedy of humiliation.
"I really love the situation of a guy who has these grim responsibilities thrust upon him and has no clue how to deal with them. And, I think, gradually emerges as a person as a result. And to be funny — or try to be funny — on a regular basis was very appealing to me."
"Family Affair" is Curry's third shot at American television. He starred in the short-lived sitcom "Over the Top" in 1991, and three years ago he developed a show for the WB that never made it on the air.
"I was sort of a little iffy about going back to television," Curry said. "But . . . (executive producer) Gavin (Polone) explained why it was a good idea. Relentlessly.
"Actually, he said, 'It's a fairy tale, you idiot.' And a light sort of came on in my head. And I went home and I read it aloud, and I laughed."
Curry's Mr. French is more prickly than was Cabot's — and funnier, too, as a result. But, even behind the scenes, there are apparently a good many similarities "When we were shooting the show, the grown-up guy who played Jody (Whitaker) came to the set," Curry said. "And I asked him about Sebastian Cabot. I said, 'How did you guys get on with Sebastian Cabot?'
"And he said, 'Well, he was very professional. . . . He would always say to us, "This is work time. This is not playtime." And I said, 'That sounds grimly familiar.' " (Curry was himself a child actor.)
And Curry said that he, too, tries to keep things professional on the set of the new "Family Affair." "Yes, I do keep my distance for two reasons. One, because it's work time and not playtime. And, two, because I think the comedy comes from the fact that they're really foreign animals to him. He has no experience with them. He doesn't really like children particularly. He's never been asked to interact with children. So I think the longer that that separation takes place, the funnier it's going to be.
"And I think that when you're working with very young children, it's useful to keep a part of the character in your relationship outside playing because it makes it more real when you do play. And that's obviously what we're trying to do. They get to torture me and I get to torture them, basically."
As for his own disdain for children, well, it's but a facade. "Many of my friends have children. My sister has children. I'm actually very close to my nieces and spoil them rotten.
"I'm already spoiling this one," he said, pointing to his young co-star, Pinchak.
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com