The Man Show (1999)

The fifth season of The Man Show, which returns with fresh hosts Joe Rogan and Doug Stanhope, following former cohost Jimmy Kimmel's ill-advised defection to late night (and the ''Show'''s subsequent Carolla-ectomy) is another testosterone haven for Comedy Central. The new ''Man'' hosts are a mixed bag, and considerably less sunny than their predecessors: ''Fear Factor'''s Rogan seems to have swallowed Kimmel and is doing his best to regurgitate him, while Stanhope resembles an animated mug shot. Rogan lacks Kimmel's frat-boy affability, but Stanhope provides a dark, twisted perviness that Carolla's braying sports aficionado lacked. Most importantly, they don't seem to be messing with the winning formula.

New segments include a game show called ''Guess Whose Ass Crack'' (I stand by the winning-formula bit), in which the audience is asked to distinguish the ass cracks of plumbers from those of pop starlets in extreme close-up (not as easy as it sounds); ''Doug's Mom Reviews Porn'' (the isn't-my-mom-a-skank? routine has been done to death, but it's still funny); and ''Drunken Crossfire,'' in which four blotto bar patrons discuss current events in a roundtable setting. (Slurring aside, the results are barely distinguishable from ''The McLaughlin Group.'') On this ''Show,'' you have a character called ''the magical Negro,'' who, as Doug wrestles with whether to accept a ''happy ending'' from a Korean masseuse, appears and says (as stardust spills from his tipped bowler), ''You have to follow your penis' heart.'' Moments later, a member of the audience downs a shot of sweat and bellows, ''I'm a man!'' The juxtaposition is ultimately what's great about ''Show'': The satire gets smuggled in between the cleavage.

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