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Add the name of Christopher Titus to the pile of stand-up comedians whose stage act has become a sitcom. But in adapting his bleak autobiographical one-man play, "Norman Rockwell Is Bleeding," for television, Fox may have lightened up too much in "Titus," which has its debut at 7:30 tonight on Channel 4. Carrying over the one-man-play motif, Titus often speaks directly to the camera in black-and-white cutaways. (We've already seen this gimmick on ABC's "Once and Again," but at least this time it doesn't feel like a soap commercial.) Titus runs a custom car shop, because, as he tells us in one of the asides, "What most people want is a normal life and a cool car. Most people settle for the car." Stacy Keach plays his dad, a mean old hombre who seems to have stepped out of a Johnny Cash song. Married five times, he rides his boys sadistically so they won't be "wussies." Along the way he's pulled down their pants (yep, there's male nudity), beaten them and insulted them at seemingly every chance. Yet tonight's episode goes to extremes to convince us he's just a lovable lunk. If this had been HBO, we would've learned what Titus really thought of his old man. Now that might've been worth watching. @ART CAPTION:Keach @ART:Photo (color) >>>
