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What: “Hardcore Football”

Where: Fox Sports Net

When: Tuesdays, 8 p.m. (Rescheduled when preempted by a prime-time game.)

When it comes to pro football shows on television--and there certainly are enough of them--HBO’s “Inside the NFL,” which has been around for 21 years, is hard to beat. But this first-year show, which this week can be seen on Fox Sports West on Wednesday night at 7:30, is worth checking out. So is the half-hour show that usually precedes it on Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m., “NFL Total Access.” (This week, because of a King home game Tuesday, it follows “Hardcore Football” Wednesday at 8:30 p.m.)

“NFL Total Access,” which is co-hosted by Tim Green and Ron Pitts, is co-produced by NFL Films. That alone should tell you it’s a good show.

As for the one-hour “Hardcore Football,” a Fox Sports Net production, it is lively and fast-paced. The studio analysts are Ronnie Lott and Bill Maas, two former defensive specialists. Lott you probably know about--USC, San Francisco 49ers, L.A. Raiders, New York Jets. Maas, an All-American at Pittsburgh, spent 10 seasons in the Kansas City Chief defensive line, and when not busy doing that he worked in local radio and television. His experience shows. The Fox brass is high on this pair. They are the type Fox likes, glib and witty former players. On last week’s edition, when host Steve Physioc called them the “brains and the brawn of the show,” Lott shot back: “I guess that’s better than sugar and spice or dumb and dumber.”

Thom Brennaman started as the show’s host, but his schedule was too full, so Physioc was brought in three weeks ago. Nothing wrong with Physioc.

If there is a criticism of the show, it’s that things get a little silly at times. But, generally, viewers can learn something.

Vince Evans, an in-studio guest last week, went through what a quarterback is thinking from the time he breaks the huddle until he releases the ball. It was an interesting segment.

This week, the scheduled guests are Seattle defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy, Denver linebacker Bill Romanowski and Green Bay tight end Mark Chmura.

Last week’s guests included St. Louis quarterback Tony Banks, who got off a decent line when he said: “There’s no substitute for experience on the field. I’m getting ‘Football 101’ every Sunday.”

Maas got off the line of the show when talking about how the Raiders treated Evans. “If you had a bad game, they rotated you like they do milk in a grocery story,” he said.