'Knight Rider' Is Stuck in Low Gear

Begley plays a marriage counselor who has become engaged to the female half of a couple who consulted him. This displeases the male half of that couple no end, but you can hardly blame the wife for having fled.

The series, premiering tonight on CBS, nominally stars Jay Mohr as Gary Brooks, a painting contractor divorced for three months from Allison, his wife of 15 years, played by Paula Marshall. The most noticeable thing about Mohr is how much beefier he is than when he was a cast member of "Saturday Night Live" in the '90s. He hasn't gotten any funnier, however; too bad about that.

Millions of American men and women will be able to identify with Gary and Allison and the rocky roads to and from what Walter Winchell called Splitsville. Attempting to deal with his 14-year-old son Tom's apparent fear of females, Gary tells his ex: "He should be afraid of girls. They pretend to like you, and then they take all your stuff."

When the divorced couple get into the delicate and very often painful matter of custody arrangements (they also have a daughter, Louise, who adores Al Gore and Gandhi), the electronically amplified audience roars with laughter. But at such points, "Gary Unmarried" treads into areas perhaps unfit for sitcomedy. Begley brightens things up when, as the marriage counselor, he condescendingly tells the angry husband, "I validate your rage, Gary."

There are errant laughs floating around, but for the most part "Gary Unmarried" is Gary Unfunny.

Knight Rider (one hour) debuts tonight at 8 on Channel 4. Gary Unmarried (30 minutes) premieres tonight at 8:30 on Channel 9.