Dirty Cabbie's in the Driver's Seat

Post Wire Services (NYpost.com)

October 26, 2002 -- DESPITE mostly negative reviews for the new CBS drama Hack, viewers have made it the top-rated network show Fridays at 9 p.m.

In its first two broadcasts, the show about a crime-fighting cabbie averaged about 12 million viewers.

Its blue-collar sensibility, executive producer Gavin Polone argues, speaks to the average viewer. "There's something in Hack that the common man can relate to a bit better than the critic," he said.

David Morse stars as Mike Olshansky, a dirty ex-cop-turned-taxi driver, who finds himself again fighting crime - only this time without a badge.

Joining Morse are Andre Braugher (Homicide) as Olshansky's equally dirty ex-partner, for whom Olshansky covered; and George Dzundza as a priest with a penchant for gambling.

Hack already is being compared to The Equalizer, a mid-'80s CBS series in which British actor Edward Woodward played a former government agent who took the law into his own hands.

But Morse said his character is no vigilante - and shrugs off the notion of Olshansky as a hero.

"He's not out to avenge something, he's not even looking to do good," Morse said of his character. "He's just a guy who has messed up his life, and he's trying to find his way back to something like the good guy he believes he started out as."

Of course, getting caught taking cash from a crime scene cost Olshansky more than his job. His marriage crumbled, and he lost the respect of his 11-year-old son.

But even as Olshansky searches for redemption, Morse points out that his character remains unwilling to fully acknowledge his own wrongdoings.

Not only is Olshansky imperfect, so are the characters around him. And Hack's surprising realism - some may say cynicism - also could resonate with viewers who in the past year have come face to face with an increasingly hostile world.

"He can be smart, sensitive, dangerous, petty - or just a jerk," Morse said of Olshansky.

"He's caught between the good side and bad side of himself. For an actor, dealing with that sort of dual nature is a fun place to live."