Martin Short back tonight as Jiminy Glick

TV can be the most forgiving of mediums. It often welcomes back actors when their film careers start to falter, often allotting them a tremendous amount of creative freedom. But as Bette Midler, John Goodman and Geena Davis found out last season, stars had better bring an original idea and not just come a-slumming.

Two quirky comedic actors return to TV tonight: Martin Short and Paul Reubens. Short’s comeback is the more successful of the two.

Short made his mark in America during a short run on “Saturday Night Live,” then he went on to an erratic career in film. “Primetime Glick,” debuting at 10:30 on Comedy Central, returns Short to the world where he shines brightest: sketch comedy.

Short stars as Jiminy Glick, the porcine, obsequious interviewer to the stars. Glick makes up for a dearth of preparation with an abundance of enthusiasm. Short brings on his friends (Steve Martin, Dennis Miller, Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Maher appear in the first two episodes) and grills them ineptly as Glick.

A real asset to the program is Michael McKean as tanned bandleader-second banana Adrein Van Voorhees and his all illegal-immigrant orchestra.

Another hoot is the commercials. Whether it’s about Tom Green kidnapping his parents to Afghanistan or a new Brit sitcom about drunken plastic surgeons, these parodies are dead on.

Like most shows on Comedy Central, “Primetime Glick” is uneven, with hilariously funny bits interrupted by jokes that just fall short. But such are the pitfalls of sketch comedy.

Reubens’ new game show, “You Don’t Know Jack,” should be so lucky as to reach unevenness. This new vehicle really isn’t a good fit for the actor, however.

Reubens is best known for his role as Pee-Wee Herman, but his infamous 1991 arrest doomed that innocent alter ego. Since then, he’s been spotted in a handful of movie roles (most recently the aptly named “Blow”) and a recurring stint during the declining years of “Murphy Brown.”

This time out, he plays Troy Stevens, the condescending host of “You Don’t Know Jack,” which debuts at 8 tonight on ABC before settling into its regular slot at 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays. But the Jellyvision CD-ROM game on which the series is based already has plenty of attitude, and Reubens as Stevens adds little to the mix. When TV can’t transcend the enjoyment of playing the game alone on computer, what’s the sense of investing that 30 minutes watching the tube?

MTV’s “Remote Control” provided more attitude lampooning the game show format more than a decade ago. “You Don’t Know Jack” has nothing new to offer.