It's only the second day of shooting on ''The Handler,'' and star Joe Pantoliano is already having his first spat with creator Chris Haddock. The topic: What snack should his character, FBI agent Joe Renato, consume on a stakeout?
''French fries? You're killin' me with the cholesterol!'' moans Pantoliano, suggesting a healthier alternative.
Haddock isn't having it. ''Joe would NOT eat carrot sticks,'' he decrees, stressing the importance of establishing Renato's street cred in winning over an audience.
Finally, Pantoliano relents: ''Okay, until we see the numbers, I'll eat the f---in' french fries!''
Finger-food preferences aside, ''Joe Renato is the closest guy to Joey Pants that I've ever played,'' says Pantoliano, invoking the nickname he earned growing up in Hoboken, N.J. Part hard-ass, part smart-ass, Renato oversees a squad of young undercover FBI operatives (including fellow ''Sopranos'' grads Lola Glaudini and Hill Harper, ''Deadline'''s Anna Belknap, and ''24'''s Tanya Wright). He sends them to infiltrate criminal communities and bring to justice the likes of Russian pimps and corrupt U.S. judges. All that crime fighting -- usually wrapped up within the hour -- leaves little time for personal story lines, although Joe's freshly paroled brother (John Cassini) does move in with him.
''Joe throws them in the deep end and sees if they can get to the other side of the pool,'' says Haddock (a Canadian-TV vet and ex-''MacGyver'' scribe) of Renato's tough-love teaching style. ''He's the kind of guy you want involved when you go, 'Man, I am in so much s---, who am I gonna call?'''
Hence the ''Equalizer''-like title, which was changed from the original ''Street Boss'' so viewers wouldn't assume Pantoliano was ripping off his Emmy-nominated role as hotheaded wack job Ralphie on ''The Sopranos.'' Pantoliano says he's not sweating the transition from character actor to leading man. ''It doesn't make any difference if you're a lead,'' he says. ''It's all playtime.''
How much airtime Pantoliano ultimately enjoys may depend on whether the slot is big enough for both ''The Handler'' and another L.A. crime drama, NBC's critically hailed ''Boomtown,'' which happens to be filming only a few blocks away today. ''I'm happy to go up against a good contender,'' says Haddock. Pantoliano isn't so psyched: ''['Boomtown''s] Jason Gedrick and I did 'EZ Streets' together,'' he says, referring to CBS' short-lived Mob story. ''Now we're going to be competing against each other. It's an uncomfortable feeling.''
CBS has enjoyed its best success in the time slot with lighter fare like ''Nash Bridges.'' And given Pantoliano's wise-guy persona, ''The Handler'' isn't likely to be as grim as CBS' ''Robbery Homicide Division,'' another L.A. cop story that flopped last season. ''It's got some dark humor, but we're going for a commercial hit,'' says Haddock. ''Dark gets old quickly. We've got light, too -- it's like coffee with cream.''
During a break on the set, a fan who's been watching from her apartment window races outside, still wearing her Scooby-Doo slippers, and summons Pantoliano by shouting one of his movies' titles: '''Bad Boys'!''
He strolls over and obliges her with an autograph. ''This is called 'The Handler,''' he explains. ''It'll be on CBS Friday nights at 10. Tell all your friends to watch it so I'll stay employed.'' Because when it comes to ordering whackings, Tony Soprano's got nothing on CBS boss Les Moonves.
