Family is paramount to Aiello, and he agreed to do the show "only if Les [Moonves] let the whole thing be done in New York; my wife, Sandy, wanted to stay there." Dellaventura costars one of Aiello's four children, Ricky, as Teddy Naples, a swaggering wisecracker; another son, Danny, a Hollywood stunt coordinator, is a producer. "Nepotism?" asks Papa Aiello. "Maybe slightly the name of the game, but CBS feels they're both very qualified."
Aiello freely admits that the pilot episode of Dellaventura contains "a lot of expository bullsh--; the show's going to have more humor, more self-deprecation. I want this guy Dellaventura to be out there on the streets, approachable to anyone who's in trouble," he says finally. "He's going to be a rough guy who's also got a real heart. I want this show to be Touched by a Thug."
PREMIERING SHOWS
OVER THE TOP
ABC, 8:30-9 p.m.
Starts Sept. 23
CONCEPT: Outlandish has-been soap actor (Tim Curry) rejoins ex-wife (Annie Potts) at her small big-city hotel; merriment theoretically ensues.
THE SCOOP: Already widely disparaged because of last-minute reshooting and its executive producer, the (now-former) boyfriend of the network's entertainment honcho (Robert Morton and Jamie Tarses, silly), Over may be over quickly if it's not an instant success. No matter. Curry is determinedly upbeat: ''You can't buy chemistry like [Potts] and I have, because we're great friends [off screen, they're L.A. neighbors] and we find each other very funny.''
BOTTOM LINE: Tim, it's whether viewers think the two of you are very funny that'll keep you from a Rocky Horror touring company.
MICHAEL HAYES
CBS, 9-10 p.m.
Starts Sept. 15
CONCEPT: It's NYPD Dark Blue Suit as David Caruso returns to TV to play an ex-cop-turned-federal prosecutor in New York City.
THE SCOOP: Caruso knows darn well everyone's going to compare Hayes with NYPD's John Kelly. ''I wouldn't come back to television to try and play another detective. [Hayes is] working for the federal government and has federal power, so I will be pursuing a different-sized monster.'' The pilot the network sent out was limper than Caruso's hair, so it's good news that writer-producer Paul Haggis (EZ Streets) has been brought in to punch up the show.
BOTTOM LINE: Matched against Home Improvement and Frasier, this is either smart drama counterprogramming or a way to make Caruso want to exit prime time again. We're hoping it's not the latter.
HILLER AND DILLER
ABC, 9:30-10 p.m.
Starts Sept. 23
CONCEPT: Kevin Nealon and Richard Lewis are a sitcom writing team — guess which one's the contented family man, and who's the divorced neurotic with two kids. The Odd Couple meets The Dick Van Dyke Show.
THE SCOOP: Says real-life single guy Lewis, ''I love working with children because it's like having imaginary kids. I'm not married, so it's sort of fun.'' Sort of, indeed. Given Lewis' patented neurosis, he's also doing his share of worrying: ''When I'm acting I just think of the fear I'd have if I had to raise children. Sometimes I catch myself trembling while I'm reading the script.''
BOTTOM LINE: The show has a shambling charm — uneven but smart, with nice chemistry between Nealon and Lewis. Having been handed the primo spot between Home Improvement and NYPD Blue, Lewis can probably look forward to years of further trembling.
Others of Note: Well, Hitz (UPN, 9-9:30 p.m.) marks the TV return of Andrew Dice Clay — his ''Diceman'' persona revived after he flopped as a nice guy in 1995's Bless This House — but is he an enticement, exactly?
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