‘League of Gentlemen’ a wild ride> Show premieres tonight

What would happen if Twin Peaks were inhabited by the troupers of Monty Python? It would probably be something like “The League of Gentlemen,” which premieres at 10:30 tonight on Comedy Central.

This BBC import also answers the question, “What if the Addams Family had been nasty rather than nice?” In the small rural village of Boyston Vasey, nobody can hear you scream.

Through the eyes of the young adults Benjamin and unfortunate Martin, viewers get to meet some of the residents. There’s Barbara the transsexual taxi driver, who describes her transformation in painful detail. There’s Tubbs and Edward, a pyscho couple who run the local store (“If you’re not local, then there’s nothing here for you.”). There’s Benjamin’s aunt and uncle, who are anal to the point of color-coding keys, scissors and towels by function. There’s also Mr. Chinnery, the vet who cures few patients; and Pauline, the employment counselor who seeks to keep her charges in limbo on the dole, the better to hold onto her job.

If the characters in the sketches all look somewhat similar, it’s because the 60-plus roles are played by the three performers in the troupe the show is named for — Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith. They also write the show, aided by Jeremy Dyson. They’re a damned talented lot, even if their women characters are among the ugliest ever.

“The League of Gentlemen” is not for everyone. It’s very British, almost to the point of needing subtitles. Also, in this country, only the Coen brothers have successfully mined such bizarre and macabre situations for laughs. Vicious doesn’t sell well here (take, for example, the way-too-short-lived “Action”).

But for those who like their comedy offbeat and weird, “The League of Gentlemen” certainly fits the bill. It’s going to take much of the 14 episodes just to figure out what all the different characters are up to, and it certainly promises to be a wild ride.