‘Women Aloud’--Where Men Are an Afterthought

The host holds up a sign that reads “NO.”

“Now,” she says, “to a woman this means ‘No.’ To a man it means ‘maybe’ or even ‘I must have you.’ ”

There’s little doubt who this show is speaking to: “This is ‘Women Aloud,’ ” says the host, “where men are an afterthought.”

Taped before a live audience, “Women Aloud,” premiering today at noon on Comedy Central, is written, produced and directed by women. It deals with a different issue every day, with each show featuring two women stand-up comics and an “expert” on the day’s subject.

It doesn’t take long to realize this is not Sally or Phil or even Geraldo. Take the way host Mo Gaffney leads into the above-mentioned show on communication: “Men say we nag. We say we’re trying to make them as good as they can be. Men say we gossip, we say we network.”

“Women Aloud” was the brainchild of HBO Downtown Productions and Comedy Central, the year-old basic cable network seen in 25 million homes, including about 30% of Southern California. “We wanted to do something combining attitude and stand-up, and Comedy Central wanted to appeal to women since most their fare skews male,” explains Nancy Geller, senior vice president of HBO Downtown Productions. “We had the whole idea in about an hour and a half. I called Mo and she said ‘cool,’ and we were taping our first show two months later.”

Although the program is clearly female in perspective, it is not a forum for male bashing. In fact, men have been asking to sit in the audience and seem to laugh as hard as anyone. “I think every man dreams of getting inside a women’s locker room just once,” Geller says.

“What I love about this show,” says Gaffney, who with Kathy Najimy (“Sister Act”) had a successful stage show called Kathy and Mo, “is that it’s about important stuff and not just about make-up kits.” One show, among the 30 ordered to date, is called “Women of Color,” which touches on many aspects of race, albeit with biting humor.

The opening show, called “If Women Ran the World,” also says some pretty timely things, and is so funny and raw that even starchy New York senatorial candidate Liz Holtzman loosens up.

“People like Liz Holtzman must be thrilled to have someone like me sitting next to her as a mouthpiece,” says Joy Behar, one of the stand-ups on today’s opener. “She has to be more constrained, but I get to say the things she’s probably thinking and wants said.”

At the end of each show, the host goes into the audience to elicit comments. When one man in the audience gets up to say he and his wife did not communicate well when she found him with another woman, Gaffney’s expression is pointed: “That was wrong! Do you understand?” she scolds good-naturedly.

“This show could never have been done even five years ago,” says producer Karen Glass. “Now women are filling up comedy clubs across the country. We’re using 60 on our show alone and there are many more we couldn’t use.”

Women stand-ups seem thrilled to have a place to show their stuff on television, especially while given a chance to talk about issues that concern them. “There’s certainly a freer atmosphere than on other networks,” Behar says. “I was way out there on the edge.”

Like many others involved in the show, she hopes to keep opening doors for other women comics. “There will always be prejudice against us,” Behar says, “and men still get bent out of shape hearing outspoken women. I think that’s one of the advantages of this show. Familiarity breeds tolerance.”

“This show always had the potential to turn into just another talk show,” producer Glass says, “so this had to be a very pure comedy staff. We look at each theme and we ask, ‘What’s the humorous spin we want to take on this?’ For example, on a show about babies, it’s, ‘What if you forget to have one?’ You really need comedy minds to do that.”

“Life is pain and pain is comedy,” says Gaffney, who feels this is the perfect show in this year of the woman. “It’s a way of saying we’re not done yet, we’re not particularly where we want to be just yet. We’re doing this show without apologies. No longer are we asking for things, we’re setting the agenda.”

Glass believes that laughter will go a long way toward softening attitudes. “It’s not militant, it’s smart, and we think audiences will appreciate that,” she says. “This is women talking about real life. Also, those watching TV, particularly in the daytime, like to walk away with something, and that we’re giving them.”

One thing they’ll take with them is the comforting knowledge that a lot of other women suffer many of the same daily indignities. How many, for example, will relate to guest Merrill Markoe as she speaks of differences in communication between men and women: “Men say, ‘I had a nice time. I’ll call you.’ Women know that means ‘Take a hike.’ ”