New cop show inspires little enthusiasm

Bland at first but better next week, this new spring collection of plainclothes cops has an outside chance to fit in and maybe even wear well. If not, no big loss. Battery Park inspires that kind of enthusiasm as the latest occupant of choice real estate between Frasier and ER.

Created by Gary David Goldberg (Spin City, Family Ties), the sitcom stars Elizabeth Perkins as New York precinct captain Madeleine Dunleavy. She's far more interested in becoming mayor than in tending to a flock of disparate detectives headed by handsome Ben (Justin Louis) and midriff-baring Elena (Jacqueline Obradors).

The premiere episode is built around a gangland shooting that threatens the precinct's rock-bottom homicide rate and allows Battery Park to work in a reference to The Sopranos. Sent to sweet-talk the infirm mobster, Ben also begins dating his daughter, Maria (Wendy Moniz). Their relationship spills over into the second episode, which is less self-consciously jokey than the first.

Battery Park's best attribute is Ms. Perkins and her character's haughty disdain. Another plus is a recurring, hapless crime victim named Raymond Gideon (Sam Lloyd). The latter harkens to the menagerie of eccentric characters that buoyed Barney Miller. Future episodes could use more of them.