More Bang for Fewer Bucks in ‘Geeks’

Undaunted by a rocky landscape strewn with the bleached bones of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” wannabes, Comedy Central steps forward tonight with “Beat the Geeks” (10:30 p.m.), a wackily entertaining game show seeking a niche-market foothold.

Regis-era elements abound--bombastic music, roving banks of stage lights and ratcheting-up trivia tests. But rather than mimic “Millionaire’s” general knowledge framework, “Geeks” throbs with a pop-culture heart. Droll host J. Keith van Straaten (“Two Guys and a Girl,” “Beverly Hills 90210”) presides over three contestants who do battle with one another as well as a trio of goofy, caftan-clad resident experts on TV, music and the movies.

A fourth guest “geek” joins the experts each episode with expertise in areas such as Playboy magazine, “Star Trek” or comic books.

Correct answers whittle the three contestants to two, and then one, with the survivor taking on his or her choice of experts for a shot at the modest $5,000 prize package. Hey, this is Comedy Central.

The experts are generally as quirkily amusing as they are knowledgeable, and co-host Tiffany Bolton (“Spy TV”) roams the shadowy, fog machine-enhanced set in all her bare-midriff glory.

The game’s basic rules are surprisingly easy to absorb, and for those with an unquenchable thirst for all things pop, “Beat the Geeks” is hard to beat.