‘The Mullets’ centers on blue-collar comedy

The first great lunkhead comedy of the new season lands tonight, when “The Mullets” debuts at 9:30 on UPN.

Now, don’t sit down expecting sophisticated repartee such as on “Frasier” (well, like “Frasier” used to have). Lunkhead comedy is broad, physical and situational, but not cerebral.

“The Mullets” (which moves to its regular time slot of 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 16) centers on brothers Dwayne and Denny Mullet, who are like the mutant offspring of Wayne and Garth and Bill and Ted. They sport the hairstyle that is their namesake and enjoy pro wrestling, rock ‘n’ roll and PBR. The blue-collar brothers own a roofing company, but dream of being casino developers someday. Dwayne (Michael Weaver) is the muscular, loud one; Denny (David Hornsby) is the skinny, (relatively) thoughtful one.

The boys’ mother, Mandi Mullet-Heidecker (played by sitcom goddess Loni Anderson), recently remarried, and much of the show’s comedy comes from the brothers’ interaction with her new husband, Roger Heidecker (John O’Hurley, “Seinfeld”), the pompous host of a “Jeopardy”-like game show.

The show’s producers have made the Mullets likable caricatures, and have avoided the trap of asking viewers to laugh at the working class. Instead, it’s stuffy Roger who’s at the receiving end of the comedy.

The Mullets are the kind of dysfunctional family that has thrived on Fox since its beginning. While the show is largely a live-action cartoon, it’s encouraging to see UPN branching out from its largely urban comedy lineup. “The Mullets” may not be slick, but it’s honest and funny, which is more than a lot of network sitcoms can claim.

Also premiering tonight are the comedy “Run of the House” at 9:30 and the variety show “Steve Harvey’s Big Time” at 8, both on WB.