FEW people in the history of the world have gotten more mileage out of a single catchphrase than Mr. T.
He has been pitying fools since 1982, when he uttered his famous phrase for the first time in “Rocky III.” “I don’t hate Rocky Balboa, but I pity the fool!” Mr. T growled in the movie, ushering in a lifetime of feeling pity for those he deems foolish.
Cut to 2006 (tonight, to be precise) and Mr. T has a new show called “I Pity the Fool,” in which he supposedly applies his pity for fools to helping people.
However, he doesn’t really pity the people he encounters on the show. Nor are they particularly foolish.
They do have problems, though, and this new reality-based TV show gives Mr. T the opportunity to play Dr. Phil.
In tonight’s premiere, Mr. T ventures to a Queens car dealership, Nemet Motors in Jamaica, to motivate the sales staff and help smooth out the sometimes-rocky relationship between owner Tom Nemet and the dealership’s general manager, Scott Perlstein, who also happens to be Nemet’s son-in-law.
Mr. T accomplishes both goals with a mixture of toughness and tenderness, and also with the help of homey bromides such as: “If you want to polish a relationship and make it glisten, all you really have to do is learn to listen,” and “You can’t spell success without ‘t’ ” (which doesn’t make much sense, when you stop and think about it).
Next week, Mr. T visits the Abato family of Suffern to help repair rifts that have alienated dad from his wife, daughter and son.
One reason their relationship stinks: Dad’s propensity for loudly passing gas at the dinner table – a scene I could have done without.
“The biggest room in the house is the room for improvement!” Mr. T declares to the Abatos.
Only a fool would argue with that.
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“I Pity the Fool”
[***] (Three stars)
Tonight at 10 on TV Land