CAN WE BE PATIENT WITH DANSON DOC?

Byline: Keith Marder Daily News Television Critic

Ted Danson has come full circle on television. His latest character is the quirky guy on the other side of the counter.

In his new sitcom ``Becker,'' Danson plays a genius of a doctor in the Bronx who spends a lot of time annoying fellow patrons and workers in the neighborhood coffee shop.

John Becker is a crotchety middle-age man who rails about everything from daytime talk shows to car salesmen (not exactly cutting-edge topics). He makes fun of fat people and blind people and has no tolerance for foreigners or the homeless.

``Check out the Hippocratic oath,'' he says. ``It doesn't have anything about nice.''

This show suffers from ``Dabney Coleman Disease,'' in that viewers are generally turned off by nasty male leads. Coleman is a fine comic actor who starred in some funny shows, but none was a commercial success.

The same will probably happen to Danson and ``Becker.''

And another factor working against Danson is that, unlike Coleman, he played one of the most recognizable characters in television history - Sam Malone on ``Cheers.'' It's almost surreal to see him act as anyone else. At times, it seems like a ``Saturday Night Live'' sketch - one of the bad ones.

An effort is made to show Becker's warm and fuzzy side in his dealings with a 7-year-old African-American kid who is HIV-positive because of a tainted blood transfusion, but it falls short. By the end of the first episode, he takes his interest in the kid to an unrealistic level, making a sacrifice you wouldn't expect from a good Samaritan.

The new ``Brian Benben Show'' has already tanked in this time period, which features one of CBS' best comedy lead-ins, ``Everybody Loves Raymond.''

``Becker'' could make it two-for-two.

If you want to hear a graying man whine about society, you're much better off buying a George Carlin CD.

THE FACTS

The show: ``Becker.''

What: A sitcom about a dedicated doctor, with little tolerance for other people, who can at times surprise you with a nice act.

The stars: Ted Danson, Terry Farrell, Hattie Winston, Alex Desert, Shawnee Smith.

Where: KCBS (Channel 2).

When: 9:30 p.m. Mondays.

Our rating: Two stars.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: Ted Danson is a crotchety but dedicated medical man in ``Becker,'' on CBS.