Entertainment

‘TOON-IN ALERT

HBO has been trying all kinds of new, out- there programming to break out from the “Sopranos“/”Sex and the City“/”Six Feet Under” box that had defined them over the last successful decade. Some of it has worked, and some of it hasn’t.

The Life & Times of Tim,” their new, offbeat, animated series, is one that works like crazy – and no, it doesn’t hurt to be crazy to love this show.

Each half-hour episode is comprised of two 15-minute segments – which chronicle the everyday life of everyday Tim.

A 20-something Tim (voiced by the show’s creator, Steve Dildarian) is a guy who is just always running into the wrong people and doing the wrong stuff that makes him look all wrong in the eyes of all the right people. For sure, Tim isn’t your average animated guy.

On tomorrow’s premiere, for example, Tim is caught with a hooker in the apartment he shares with his girlfriend, Amy (voiced by Mary Jane Otto), when she arrives home with her parents from a cruise. That’s why that segment is called, “Angry Unpaid Hooker.”

Debbie the hooker is a blond-haired black woman (voiced brilliantly by Bob Morrow) who wants $300 for services rendered, and to clear out of Tim’s apartment. Instead, he offers her a meatloaf. Funny stuff.

On part two, “Rodney’s Bachelor Party,” Tim is forced to go to the bachelor party of the office show-off. Problem is, only Tim and one other guy show up, and get abused by the nightclub’s DJ for being such losers. To hide his shame, the bachelor boy makes up a story about the wild times they had, which includes Tim getting raped by a bum. Don’t ask. But trust me, it’s laugh-out-loud stuff.

Week two is just as funny – especially when Debbie the hooker reappears as Tim’s pretend Hispanic wife. Thing is, Tim is told by the boss (Peter Giles) at Omnicorp to pretend to be Hispanic so they meet minority guidelines. Then to promote their equal opportunity employee, the corporation puts him on “The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch.”

The producers want Tim to come on with his Latina wife (which he doesn’t have), so he recruits Debbie-the-hooker, who shows up in her business suit. Don’t ask. Just know that when Donny asks why Debbie’s suit is backside-less, she turns around, shows off her asset, and quips, “It looks like I’m smuggling midgets in there!”

Hint: If that line doesn’t make you laugh, this show is definitely not for you.

Me? I’m still laughing.