Putting 'family' reality in N.J.'s 'Housewives'?

The second season of The Real Housewives of New Jersey begins Monday, and this year, Danielle, the housewife the others love to hate, has a friend in the "family."

You got a problem with that?

Danny Provenzano, whose great-uncle was a notorious North Jersey mobster linked to the killing of Jimmy Hoffa, has a recurring role this year as a friend of Danielle Staub, the 40ish housewife with the checkered past, who has been at war with the Manzo girls and their allies.

Provenzano, who has done time for racketeering and who also has written, directed, and starred in an independent movie that won some film festival awards, said last week that he would be Danielle's mentor this season.

"They kicked her to the curb," Danny Pro said. "I help her get back up."

How big a role Provenzano will have in the series is uncertain. He said he filmed two or three days a week for four months and was at Danielle's side through a series of conflicts (no surprise there).

A representative of Bravo, the network that telecasts the show (premiering at 10 p.m. Monday), would say only that "Danny is a friend of Danielle's, and we document who she and the other housewives interact with."

There is a hint of Danny's presence in one of the sizzle reels that Bravo placed online.

In a scene where Danielle is working out in a boxing ring, Danny's the guy standing behind her, acting as her coach.

It is, he says, a symbolic shot.

He's got her back.

While reluctant to provide specifics, Provenzano said he was happy with the experience, and if the network uses his scenes, he thinks he has added a new element to the show.

Last year, folks viewing in Peoria came away with the impression that the Manzo family was - perhaps, maybe, you know - "connected."

"If you didn't know any better," Provenzano said, "you'd think they were the Sopranos."

Reality television, of course, is built around perceptions.

But Provenzano is the real deal, a bona fide wiseguy who has done time, who has turned down offers to cooperate, and who has standing in the underworld because of his past and because of his bloodlines.

(His late uncle Anthony "Tony Pro" Provenzano once headed notorious North Jersey Teamsters Union Local 560. A capo in the powerful Genovese crime family, Tony Provenzano was long suspected of being part of the Mafia hit squad that rubbed out Hoffa.)

While Danny Pro doesn't shy away from any of that, he is a 21st-century wiseguy, smart enough to realize that the days of the old-time gangsters are over.

Now in his 40s, he has decided to take what he knows and who he is and market it. He sees the America Mafia as a brand, no different from Dolce & Gabbana or Prada.

Consumers know the product.

Danny hopes to cash in.

His movie, This Thing of Ours, had its premiere just before he was convicted and sent to state prison in 2003. He played the lead, sharing the screen with top-notch talent like James Caan and Frank Vincent.

Before he began serving his time, he appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live to tout the film. A prosecutor, less than pleased, played a clip of Danny Pro's talk-show appearance at his sentencing hearing to underscore what he said was Provenzano's arrogance and lack of remorse.

Danny said he was just being himself.

Now, he's developing a series, working title Manhattan, Kansas, about wiseguys who end up in middle America.

He's hoping his turn on Housewives expands his celebrity, showcases his acting chops, and generates some interest in that project.

"I was playing in a celebrity softball game at Bears Stadium in Newark in the summer of 2009," Provenzano said in describing the serendipitous route that led him to the outcast housewife.

"Danielle was a coach on the other team. We started talking. She invited me to another event she was involved in, and it just went from there."

Asked if they became romantically involved, Provenzano said he had been told not to provide details about their "relationship."

"You'll have to watch the show," he says with a laugh.

But he said the two instantly connected.

Both have had problems in their past, he said. And both are trying to move their lives in another direction.

One of the biggest differences, Danny Pro said, is that he is thick-skinned. He doesn't care what others say or think about him.

Danielle, on the other hand, "wants to be loved."

"She's a sweetheart, she really is."

And, he adds with a smile, she's sexy. Be sure to check out the scenes, he said, where she gives a pole-dancing lesson in a North Jersey go-go bar called Squeeze. The club, Danny adds, is owned by one of his "friends."

In the cable series, he said, he supplies a shoulder for Danielle to cry on. But he practices a wiseguy version of tough love.

"I supported her, but I told her, 'Who cares what other people say? You know who you are.' "

In many ways, that is Danny Provenzano's mantra.

It's how he rolls.

So if Bravo decides to go in that direction, viewers this year will see Danielle and Danny Pro working out, dining out, and clashing with the other housewives who have long had it in for her.

At one point, and this is not giving up too much of the story, Danny said he and an entourage accompany Danielle to a charity fund-raising dinner.

When they arrive, the others have made sure Danielle doesn't have a table. Danny and his crew, which includes a Hells Angel and a state senator (don't ask), rectify the problem.

Later, one of the other housewives tells a friend - and this is the line that Danny loves - "Danny Provenzano doesn't hang with bad company. Danny Provenzano is bad company."

Reality TV.

It doesn't get any better.

"How could they not use a line like that?" Danny Pro asks.