Farina and Smart Make Good 'In-Laws'

Monday, September 23, 2002

When NBC's new sitcom "In-Laws" debuts on Tuesday (Sept. 24) night, viewers will see two recognizable faces on screen.

Dennis Farina ("Big Trouble," "Snatch" ) and Jean Smart ("The District," "Frasier") star as Victor and Marlene Pellet, the parents of Bonnie Somerville's ("Friends," "Gross Pointe" ) character, who moves back into the family home with her new husband, played by Elon Gold ("She TV," "The Dana Carvey Show" ).

The show is produced by "Frasier's" Mark Reisman and Kelsey Grammer, and based on a pitch by Gold, who is also a producer on the series. The actor and standup comedian based the series on his real-life experience of living with his wife's family.

Smart and Farina both met Gold's father-in-law after they were cast. "He's a somewhat imposing gentleman, but very nice. I can see how I wouldn't want to be his son-in-law," Smart recalls. "I think that he and Elon probably came to terms with this quite a long time ago since Elon's been abusing him in his stand up routine, or at least getting revenge for quite a while."

"I liked the guy. I guess I would call him a man's man," Farina said of his character's real-life inspiration, but admits, "I don't have to live with him, either."

Farina has played tough guys before, and is often cast as a cop or a criminal. He starred as a detective in the television series "Crime Story" and "Buddy Faro" and as a mobster in the films "Get Shorty" and "Snatch." He doesn't limit himself to these roles, however.

"I've never turned down a role or accepted it because of the character's occupation," Farina says.

The names already attached to "In-Laws" were a big lure for the actor. "'Frasier' is one of the few shows that I watch with regularity because I think it is so smart, and written well and acted well," he says. "When they told me that Kelsey [Grammer] and Mark Reismen and Jean were involved in it, it was a pretty simple decision after that."

"In-Laws" premieres on Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC in a special one-hour presentation.