‘McNasty’ Puts New Twists on Crudeness

“Shasta McNasty” is the Quasimodo of sitcoms.

Its PR says it’s about three Venice Beach members of a musical group, who are played by Carmine Giovinazzo, Dale Godboldo and Jake Busey (son of Gary Busey). Not that any plot line was apparent in Thursday night’s chaotic, madcap premiere, which was not made available for preview. It emerged, aptly, from the butt of “WWF Smackdown,” with UPN’s low burlesque of wrestling tele-brutes proving a most compatible lead-in.

If bad taste were always funny, the funniest show this side of Howard Stern and “South Park” would be “Shasta McNasty,” which wears its crudeness like a WWF championship belt. Even while obnoxious, though, it did expose an inventively twisted brain.

“Shasta McNasty” opened (hereafter the series will air Tuesday nights) with this comforting disclaimer: “No midgets or dwarfs were harmed during the filming of this episode.” The half-hour that followed pivoted on a bald little person named Vern (Verne Troyer, who was Mini-Me of “Austin Powers” fame) becoming the punch line of one dwarf joke after another. “Can he make toys?” asked Dennis (Busey), the group’s least functional member.

They used him as a bowling ball. They used him as a food stand. They retrieved letters by suspending him into a mailbox by his ankles. And the running gag de resistance:

“Things that Vern is taller than.” Answer No. 1: “A road cone.”

All of this would have been irredeemably sadistic--worse even than pulling apart and stomping on hapless Mr. Bill in “Saturday Night Live”--had Vern been less formidable than his full-sized tormentors. But he gave as well as he got.

Where “Shasta McNasty” travels from here, go figure. In addition to the dwarf jokes, subtle throwaway lines also were occasionally evident. Dennis: “That’s the girl who got me through my sophomore years.”

More typical, though, was the show-ending promo for tonight’s episode, which affirmed that bad taste isn’t necessarily funny--or advisable in an 8:30 time slot accessible to pliable young minds. It showed a parrot (fake) apparently being shredded by an electric fan.

But, kids, don’t try this at home.

* “Shasta McNasty” is broadcast at 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays on UPN. The network has rated it TV-14 (may be unsuitable for children younger than 14).