ShareThisBy TERRY MORROW
Chris Rock is already working his backup plan.
"The heat _ or whatever it is I have _ is not going to last," he says. "We all burn out or fade away. Hopefully, when my time comes, I have the skills to do other things."
And he's already relishing life behind the camera.
"Everybody Hates Chris," his first network sitcom, is his baby. Launching its second season Sunday nights on the new CW network, the show was one of the few solid performers for its former home at UPN.
"Chris" is a biographical comedy about the awkwardness of his childhood in the predominantly white Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, N.Y.
Rock co-created the series, is an executive producer on it and co-writes some of the scripts. The stories are loosely based on his own childhood experiences, growing up as an above-average student in a school where he is an outsider.
Rock has yet to appear on "Chris," but is searching for the right moment to do it. He's not overwhelmed, though, by the temptation to act in the story of his own life. (Each episode has Rock narrating the action.)
"I'm trying to find a character for me to play on the show, but, on the other hand, it's really cool to have a show and not be on it," he says. "It really makes me feel like a producer.
"You don't see (producer) Brian Glazer in the background, shooting it out on '24.' He doesn't need to be there."
Rock says he's finding pleasure in being out of the limelight. That pleasure, in fact, grows as he gets older. "It's just common sense," he says.
To hear Rock talk, it sounds as if he's already chilling. However, his career is still quite warm.
In 2005, he hosted the Academy Awards. In 2007, he has two movies coming that he has written _ "The Gilmores of Beverly Hills" and "I Think I Love My Wife." ("Wife" will also mark his second time directing a feature film.)
One of the highest-paid comics of all time, Rock has translated his sharp tongue into books (the best-seller "Rock This") and hit comedy CDs. His acting resume includes such box office draws as "Lethal Weapon 4," "Beverly Hills Cop 2" and 2005's animated hit, "Madagascar."
"As long as I can still do (performing) well, I will continue to do it," he says.
And how will he know when he's no longer doing it well?
He's already plotted that scenario out in his head.
"I'll be in a club, and some kid will be coming off the stage," Rock says. "He'll say, 'do you want to go on next?' And I'll say, 'no, I better not.' "
Not that Rock is planning for this to happen anytime soon. But he knows, at some point, a new talent will be funnier, more popular or more relevant. And when the time comes, he wants to stop performing.
Part of this revelation, he says, comes with age.
"The moment I am just up on stage, collecting a check for laughs, then I'll know it's time to quit," he says. "That's when I'll quit."
(Contact Terry Morrow of The Knoxville News Sentinel in Tennessee at www.knoxnews.com.)
