More Ice, Please, in New Comedy

Already a powerhouse rapper and actor, Ice-T adds stand-up comedy to his list of talents tonight when he appears as the inaugural guest on the talk show-meets-improv program “Lifegame.”

Perhaps the producers of the new TNN show can sign him on permanently, because he’s a lot funnier than the regular players.

The goal of the hourlong “Lifegame,” joining the lineup Thursdays at 8, is to goad a team of comics into outrageous flights of improvised hilarity, based on an interview with a celebrity guest.

Improvisations also are built from brief interviews with members of the studio audience.

Unfortunately, too many of tonight’s improvs bomb, even though Ice-T--in a playful mood and full of offhand one-liners--provides terrific setups.

In one of the more successful attempts, regulars Ben Hersey and Dan O’Connor come up with a wacky doo-wop number about the time Ice-T found himself jailed with a randy Texan who didn’t realize that the gal he was flirting with was a transvestite. They never quite top the accidental double-entendre that Ice-T drops into his initial telling of the story, however.

“Lifegame” is one of five original series joining the TNN lineup this week, as MTV Networks continues to transform what was formerly the Nashville Network into a pop-culture station. Now it just needs to add “The Ice-T Comedy Hour.”