Nick Mancuso’s Burned At NBC

( by Jay Bobbin - 1990 )

Two Nick Mancusos will be on TV this week.There will be t h e  c h a r a c t e r
played by Robert Loggia in the NBC serie "Mancuso FBI," and then there will be a real-life Nick Mancuso.

Not to be confused with the FBI agent, Nick Mancuso is an actor who established a TV identity in the adventure series "Stingray." In Sunday's new ABC drama "Burning Bridges" (8 p.m. on Channel 2), he portrays a College professor who is stunned upon learning that his stagnant marriage has led to his wife's (Meredith
Baxter-Birney) affair with a married doctor (Derek de Lint), resulting in emotional
torment for all parties involved, including their respective children.
Inspired by a true story, the TV-movie also features Lois Chiles ("Moonraker") as the
doctor's wife, who is more willing to accept her spouse's infidelity than Mancuso's
character is.
"There are some parts that l don't intellectualize at all," Mancuso says, "and there are
other roles that l do, but l didn't particularly do that with this one. l was reacting more on a moment-to-moment basis, hoping to convey a gut reaction.
"l think [the film makers'j concern was that the wronged husband not be so
unsympathetic — or that the wife was so justified in leaving him — that a certain kid
of dynamism wouldn't take place. Basically, l was just playing the reality of the pain
that one goes through under those circumstances, and the eventual relief."
Though happily married in real life, Mancuso maintains, "We've all been in that
position, to one extent or another. It's not as if l'm immune to, or unknowledgeable of, that area of life."
Mancuso had appeared extensively in Canadian television and theater before starting
work in America, and even though his first U.S, TV role was in a series pilot that didn't sell (1978's "Dr. Scorpion"), it was produced by Stephen J. Cannell, who eventually did "Stingray" with him.
It also paved his way into feature films, since casting director Lynn Stalmaster
remembered him while assembling performers for "Nightwing," a 1979 moviechiller
about vampire bats.
"My intuition kept telling me that it was going to be a dog Mancuso reminisces, "and
after l saw it, l ended up weeping into my beer in a bar where people were dancing
the polka. That was my first encounter with the Hollywood experience."
It has been almost three years since "Stingray" left NBC, but Nick Mancuso's
name has remained a constant on that network during the past season, thanks to the
aforementioned "Mancuso FBI."
The real-life Mancuso deems it "a very odd situation. l know Steve Sohmer, because
he was the head of promotion at NBC when l was doing 'Stingray.' When l found out
about 'Favorite Son' [Sohmer's novel that became a miniseries, as well as the pilot
for the 'Mancuso' series], l got in touch with Steve and Brandon Tartikoff about the
name, and they said, 'No problem, we understand, we'll change it.'
"l've never been able to fathom the reason they never did, and l got into it with them.
There were these awful reviews in newspapers with the name Nick Mancuso all over
them, and l don't mind getting bad reviews for performances l DO, but l really hate
getting them for performances I haven't done. Furthermore, it's confusing, and it just
isn't right."
Finally, NBC tried to appease Mancuso, but the network's move was only slightly
satisfactory. "They've changed the name from Nick to Nico," the actor says, "but
Nico is my REAL name! l'm also a painter, and l sign my paintings 'Nico,' but l finally
decided they can keep the name. l sent a telegram to NBC saying, 'l think l'll change
my name to Brandon Tartikoff.' "