Sep 29, 2006  |  By: BRIAN MOYLAN  | COMMENTS     

THESE DAYS THE best place to find spot-on social commentary and adult comedy is on animated shows. The prime example is Fox’s “The Simpsons,” which has been consistently funny for 18 seasons.

Comedy Central is the home of the great adult cartoon these days. “South Park” remains controversial and funny. “Drawn Together” skewers both cartoon and reality television conventions. The gay-inclusive show returns with its third season Thursday, Oct. 5, at 10:30 p.m.

Trying to add to its stable, Comedy Central launches “Freak Show” on Wednesday, Oct. 4, at 10:30 p.m., right after the new season premiere of “South Park.”

From creators David Cross (who played Tobias on “Arrested Development”) and H. Jon Benjamin (Cartoon Network’s “Home Movies”), “Freak Show” sounds like a great a idea: a hapless superhero team comprised of carnival sideshow members. The teammates are Tuck and Benny, Siamese twins who can separate; the Bearded Clam, who shoots blinding bitch juice; the World’s Tallest Nebraskan, who can shrink himself up to six inches; Primi, the Premature Baby, a child-like creature with killer vomit; and Log Cabin Republican who transforms himself into Burly Bear.

The crew goes on second-tier missions for the American government that are beneath real super heroes while trying to defend their little circus from Freak Mart, a conglomerate trying to take over the family-owned business.

With the wacky character profiles, it seems like the show would be a surefire hit, but the sophomoric execution and barely tolerable gay stereotypes make it a ‘toon worth tuning out.

FIRST UP, LOG Cabin Republican is a fussy, lisping prancer of a gay man. The only thing that would be worse is if he was all those things and a closet case too (a new, unwelcome trend started with the new CBS show “The Class” and the new ABC show “Help Me Help You”).

No matter how you feel about our gay brothers and sisters in the GOP, calling them freaks is over the line. Gay people of all stripes have been called freaks for decades so calling even one segment of the gay population by such a title hits a little close to home.

All of this might be excusable if Log Cabin’s alter ego, Burly Bear, was a big, strong, butch guy who could kick ass and take names. It would be funny because it would be unexpected and break stereotypes.

But no, Burly Bear is a limp-wristed leatherman in chaps (they’re all ass-less, so calling them so would be redundant) with a harness and leather vest (note to producers: no self-respecting gay man would wear a harness and a leather vest at the same time). Burly Bear is like trading in one offensive gay joke for the next.

DON’T LOSE TOO much sleep over it, because, with the quality of the show being so low, it’s sure to only last a season. Instead of going for keen observation or satire, “Freak Show” aims for the patent absurdity that is popular and done much better on Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim” block of programming, which includes Benjamin’s “Home Movies.”

“Freak Show” doesn’t have the compelling characters of “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” or the insane insight of “Sealab 2021,” it just has a bunch of nonsensical characters trying to get laughs from an audience through their idiocy.

It’s as if the writers of the show came up with a great premise and ruined it by throwing so many outlandish jokes at the wall hoping that some would stick. The cumulative effect is that none of them do, and we’re left with a big runny mess all over the wall.