BEHIND THE SCENES Australia’s answer to Mr. T takes off in anew NBC show By Frank Lovece Jacko is a bit of a joke, which, one supposes, is the whole idea. So is his first TV show, NBC’s “The Highway- man” — an opus about two feds roaming the Southwest in a futuristic tractor-trai- lor. The series, co-starring Sam Jones and Jane Badler, airs Fridays. “Sam is the smooth opera- tor of the whole scene,” says Jacko. “I just come in there and jump everything up, cracking jokes when things are looking real - serious. They’ve actually written the script around me so that I don’t have to be confront- ed with any high-intensity acting. They really made it as comprehensible as possi- ble for me at this present stage. But they said it's gonna get harder as it goes on.” So, he’s an Australian Mr. T. Jacko doesn't care. “Aw, it doesn’t worry me, mate. I met him about a month-and- a-half ago on the set of his (syndicated) TV-series ‘T & T.’” Jacko - born Mark Jackson — was up for a guest role on the show. “They wanted me to do (it),” he says, “but we had to pull the pin on it because ‘The High- wayman’ came up.” Ah, the wages of fame. Not that Jacko’s not used to it. As the clown prince of Australian Rules Football — where 18 guys per side try to kick or dribble a ball and each other across goal lines - Jacko was a crowd-pleas- er. He wasn’t the fastest or the biggest. But he was, he says, “lovable. I was sort of like Bob Uecker. I was a real character.” Jacko parlayed his antics to a spot on Australian TV commercials for Energizer batteries. Union Carbide, the parent company, found him successful enough to bring him stateside. Since then, he has become the most popular Aussie import since “Crocodile Dundee.” Though he has released a couple of novelty records in Australia, he’s no singer. Though he has had four pro- fessional heavyweight bouts in his homeland, he’s no boxer. And now? ‘Don’t get me wrong, mate, I’m no actor! I’m just a good tryer! I'll have a go at a lot of things, right through me ca- reer. I’m an apprentice now under (series creator) Glen Larson and Sam Jones. I’m just trottin’ along, doin’ me bit, y’know? Help ‘em out,” he grins, “‘when I can.” Release the week of March 13-19, 1988