Denis Leary fits bill on ‘The Job’

Filmmakers just don’t know what to do with Denis Leary.

The actor-comedian broke onto the scene as a caustic cabbie in a memorable series of ads for MTV. Then the powers that be tried to sand off his rough edges in such forgettable films as “The Ref,” “Operation Dumbo Drop” and “Two If by Sea.”

Dabney Coleman has suffered from a similar fate throughout his career, as attempts to make him more lovable have served to neuter his unique voice.

Coleman found a perfect fit in the 1983-84 series “Buffalo Bill,” in which he portrayed an egotistical Buffalo talk show host. Now, Leary has found an equally compatible character in the new series “The Job,” debuting 9:30 tonight on ABC.

Leary plays Mike McNeil, a veteran police detective with way too many vices: smoking, drinking, self-medicating, adultery. As portrayed on the show, Leary’s McNeil is a talented cop, but a somewhat suspect human being.

McNeil is partnered with the loyal but henpecked Pip (played by Bill Nunn), who often attempts to right McNeil’s askew moral compass. He is surrounded by a squad room of characters who can give as well as they get.

Still this isn’t a “Barney Miller” for the new millennium. As designed by Leary and Emmy-winning writer Peter Tolan (“The Larry Sanders Show”), “The Job” is really a study of a self-destructive character, which still manages to be archly funny. Think of it as “NYPD Blue” with the angst dialed back quite a bit and the humor turned up a notch.

The often-profane “The Job” is one of those rare dramedies to earn a parental warning label, and as such, it’s not a terribly good fit with the rest of ABC’s light Wednesday comedy lineup. It’s going to need a more compatible lead-in than the jovial “Drew Carey” to survive opposite the brilliant “West Wing” or a different slot altogether in the lineup. That’s unfortunate, because it’s too promising a series to be sacrificed to NBC’s quality dramas by ABC.