New York ? Consider “Jake in Progress” the latest example of how things can come in threes.

After a preview last Sunday, the new John Stamos comedy arrives on its regular night, Thursday, with back-to-back episodes airing at 7 p.m. Its network: ABC, which already has enjoyed a Lazarus-like recovery with “Lost” and “Desperate Housewives,” the season’s most-talked-about hits. Now could “Jake in Progress” be the third?

Why not? “Jake” is fresh, antic and smart, with the former “Full House” star exhibiting a gift for adult romantic comedy while making sport of his image since teenhood as a heartthrob.

“I knew the character I wanted to play,” says Stamos, who plays a slick PR agent who mostly handles celebrity clients. “He’s a guy who can make everyone else seem like they have their act together — but HE doesn’t. His life is in shambles.”

Well, maybe not in shambles. But Jake has his hang-ups — sweaty palms when he gets nervous; issues about age (he’s observed his 32nd birthday the past three years); a grass-is-greener fixation, whether it’s for the supermodel across the room who seems sexier than the girl he’s with, or for the latest model cell phone in somebody else’s hand that makes him instantly unhappy with the one he owns.

His biggest problem: Weary (or so he claims) of bedding one hottie after another, Jake believes he wants to settle down.

The series was originally meant to have Jake settling down from its first week — “basically, ‘Mad About You,'” Stamos explains.

Then his life and the show began to mirror each other.

A year ago, Stamos separated from his wife, supermodel-turned-actress Rebecca Romijn-Stamos.

John Stamos, bottom, returns to television in a new comedy series, Jake

“Meanwhile, ABC picked up the show, but wanted Jake out there dating. I said, ‘Yeah, let him be a guy who’s looking to fall in love again.’ So it all paralleled my life, and suddenly the show became more personal to me. There are scenes sometimes that hit right to the core.

“I never thought I’d be single at 41, never in a million years,” says Stamos, whose divorce became final earlier this month. “It’s for the best, and it’s exciting. But a lot of it’s depressing.”

The next, inevitable question: What about “Full House,” the treacly family sitcom that ran on ABC from 1987 to 1995, and has haunted him since.

“The whole time I was on it, I wished I was on another show; I’m not gonna lie to you,” he gamely replies. “But I look back on it fondly, and I’m proud of it. Was it ‘Seinfeld,’ ‘Friends,’ ‘Mary Tyler Moore’? No. Was it a heartwarming show you could watch with your kids? Yes. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

“But it’s taken me years to have people realize that I can do more than that mullet-headed, guitar-playing motorcycle guy. It’s been methodical, it’s been slow, it’s been 10 years of doing theater, independent movies, and hiding out for a while and just growing up and becoming a man.”