TV REVIEWS : NBC’s ‘Friday Night Mystery’ Has Trouble ‘Staying Afloat’

Larry Hagman rejoins series television tonight when slow, klutzy “Staying Afloat” premieres as part of NBC’s “Friday Night Mystery” rotation prior (the network says) to becoming a weekly series. It airs at 9 p.m. on Channels 4, 36 and 39.

One of television’s most successful series actors ever (“I Dream of Jeannie,” “Dallas”), Hagman this time plays flamboyant jet-setter Alexander Turnbull Hollingsworth III, whose disinheritance by his father (also played by Hagman) imperils his extravagant lifestyle. No more Rolls, no more spending sprees. Hollingsworth is allowed to keep only his yacht and his loyal manservant, Ryder (Eric Christmas).

The good news is that the federal government agrees to bankroll Hollingsworth if he helps snag a high-living Palm Beach illegal arms dealer who moves in the same circles he does. To that end, Hollingsworth concocts a scam, with his collaborators turning out to be bumbling government agent Ed Smith (Gregg Henry) and con artist Lauren Morton (Claire Yarlett).

Unfortunately, this is a cast without chemistry, and coming after his exquisitely villainous J.R. Ewing, Hagman’s self-indulgent playboy projects muffled larceny at best. And lots of inertia. Even Hagman’s listless, largely humorless performance, though, is better than the ones that surround it.

Moreover, the script by Michael Sadowski and Bob Shayne is convoluted and the direction by Eric Laneuville lacks the pace and style necessary to carry off a venture that is supposed to convey an urbane wit. Wit less is more like it.