‘Townies,’ ‘Men’: Two Shows, One Thing on Their Minds

“This pretty much tells you everything you need to know about men,” Molly Ringwald says in “Townies,” tonight’s new ABC comedy opening in a men’s bathroom. “They pee in a trough.”

An even lower view comes from the new NBC comedy “Men Behaving Badly,” whose gross-out males are themselves a trough. Him: “I’ve got a big surprise for you.” Her: “What, you’ve changed your sheets?”

Despite having common parentage, these new arrivals are adversaries. If ratings for “Townies” at 8:30 give a bump to the ABC comedies that follow, that will hurt “Men Behaving Badly” at 9:30 on NBC, a footnote of interest because both series are from busy Carsey-Werner Productions (“3rd Rock From the Sun,” “Roseanne,” “Grace Under Fire”) and have Matthew Carlson as creator.

Both are also spotty in their first two episodes, but funny enough to entice you back.

“Townies” examines blue-collar society in a small New England fishing town through the eyes of three female pals in their early 20s who work in a restaurant. Although the premise loosely mimics that nice little feature film from 1988, “Mystic Pizza,” the pleasures are slighter.

The “Townies” premiere pivots on wedding plans, with Carrie (Ringwald) and Shannon (Jenna Elfman) about to be bridesmaids for their neurotic friend, Denise (Lauren Graham), who is nervously preparing to marry the lug who fathered her infant child. How much of a lug? He wants to postpone the ceremony, Denise complains, because “he didn’t realize the Lakers were playing the Celtics that night.”

Starring in her first sitcom, film actress Ringwald is a fast study as the trio’s lead Townie, and there’s something fresh and affirming about Carrie’s loyalty to a small town that Shannon, for one, sees as a coffin. Moreover, the show is amusing from time to time and grows on you.

Yet the “Townies” premiere flunks the values check for 8:30 shows, its breezy approach to casual sex placing it squarely in the cross hairs of those blasting mainstream TV’s thoughtless programming at hours when kids are most likely to be watching. That ranges in “Townies” from small chuckles over the unmarried Denise’s apparently unplanned motherhood to bigger chuckles when free-spirited, sleep-around Shannon awakens one morning after a heavy night with only a blurry memory about the nude guy in her bathroom. Then Denise’s brother comes on to Shannon even though he’s engaged to someone else.

The bozos of “Men Behaving Badly” are even more sex-minded, but they don’t unleash their libidos until 9:30.

If you’ve ever wondered what Beavis and Butt-head would be like as adults, tune in beer-guzzling, TV-riveted roommates Kevin Murphy (Ron Eldard) and Jamie Coleman (Rob Schneider), who personify the low end of the food chain in this series based on a British comedy.

“Men Behaving Badly” is devoted to the pursuit of absurdity and the humor therein, sometimes delivering, as in Jamie using his dirty jockey shorts as a coffee filter, then serving the brew to the statuesque new neighbor (Julia Campbell) he slobbers over. “Um, good coffee,” she says, impressed. “It’s really earthy.”

Even earthier are Jamie and Kevin when nosing through her apartment and going through her private things. Although they both remind you of flatulent high schoolers flaunting their crude sounds, the two are not totally similar, Jamie being the grinning idiot of the two, Kevin merely a quasi-idiot.

“Men Behaving Badly” has guilty pleasure potential--a comedy so stupid that you scoff, but also so stupid that you laugh. Yet even Beavis and Butt-head are tolerable only in small doses.

Tonight, Kevin wonders whether he’s ready for fatherhood, a horrifying prospect that he discusses with his girlfriend (Justine Bateman), who is so much smarter than he that you wonder why she hangs around. Maybe for the coffee.

* “Townies” premieres at 8:30 tonight on ABC (Channel 7). “Men Behaving Badly” premieres at 9:30 p.m. on NBC (Channel 4).