Anderson's art imitates life

HOLLYWOOD — Comic actor Anthony Anderson plays Anthony Anderson in the upcoming WB sitcom "All About the Andersons." And where the real Anthony Anderson ends and the fictional Anthony Anderson begins is not altogether clear.

"It's 92 percent true," Anderson said of the show.

Which is sort of interesting, given the premise of the sitcom. Anderson plays a struggling actor and single father of a young son (Damani Roberts). Anthony's TV father (John Amos) isn't exactly happy about his career choice, and in the premiere (8:30 p.m., Ch. 30), the elder Anderson doesn't want to let his son move back into the house. When he does, he wants him to give up his dreams of acting and join the family barbershop business.

And there are "a lot more things that we're going to work on and incorporate into the show," Anderson said.

Things like when his father took all the phone jacks out of the house and installed a pay phone in the family room. Or when he put a pay washer and dryer in the garage.

"He made me buy my own food. Then, once he realized that wasn't going to break me, he started putting padlocks on the refrigerator so I couldn't get to the food," Anderson said. (It happens in episode 2.) "All that's true. A lot of this stuff just comes from my life, and these are stories I just wanted to share with the viewing public because I think they're funny. I think they're thought-provoking if you got a daddy like that. And we're just going to have fun with it."

(The sitcom itself has it's moments, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to try to hit more on the comedy and less on the preachiness.)

Not that his real-life father's version of events is exactly the same as Anthony's.

"You know what's wild? My dad will deny everything on the television show with the exception of putting a pay phone in the house," Anderson said. "But my relationship has always been just great with my father. It was just when I returned home from college, it was just a tough-love thing. He didn't want to throw me out in the streets, but he wanted to show me how difficult it could be under his roof. But we have a wonderful relationship."

And his father is actually thrilled with Anderson's success. (In addition to the sitcom, he has starred or co-starred in movies like "Me Myself & Irene," "Barbershop," "Kangaroo Jack," "Exit Wounds" and "Malibu's Most Wanted.")