Pass the j

Getting back to this for a second, I'm pleased to report that the episode of "Method & Red" I watched last night was immensely funny.

In the episode, "Dogs," wealthy rappers Method Man and Redman, playing themselves, are trying to raise money to build a sports facility for inner-city youths, but they must hurry because NBA star Yao Ming, who has a vendetta against them, wants to build on the same site. On a tip they invite over a wealthy benefactress, played by Carmen Electra. Redman, smitten, woos her. Method Man worries this will jeopardize the deal.

Meanwhile, Bill (Peter Jacobson) and Nancy (Beth Littleford), the parents next door, are angry at Method Man because their son (David Henrie) smacked Nancy's behind, a gesture he learned from one of Method and Red's videos. At the urging of his mother (Anna Maria Horsford) Method ventures next door, where he himself inadvertently smacks Nancy's behind. In the ongoing crisis, Method and the family meet with a counselor at the boy's school, whose behind, in a deliciously excruciating sequence, Method also ends up smacking, in full view of the students. An epidemic of behind-smacking breaks out at the school. Fox News covers the story, and thanks to Method and Red's fame, the epidemic goes national.

In the end, the benefactress declines to donate the money--not, she says, because of Redman's attentions but because the rappers are not good role models for children. But in a final twist, we learn she is a plant sent by Yao Ming, who has watched every development on surveillance video.

After the broadcast last night I dug up newspaper reviews, which compared the show favorably to fish-out-of-water sitcoms like "The Beverly Hillbillies" and "Green Acres." "Method & Red" definitely is a rarity: a smart new sitcom that made me laugh, very hard.

Aaron is right that the show has a strong "head" sensibility, what with frenetic jump cuts, strange interludes and over-the-top acting. Not to mention the laugh track, which I like to think Method and Red wanted precisely because it's so surreal.