Lions in ‘Father of the Pride’ come out roaring

Maybe, at some point, “Father of the Pride,” which debuts at 9:30 tonight on NBC, seemed like a good concept.

Just take DreamWorks Animation, arguably the hottest studio in town thanks to the “Shrek” franchise, and turn its CGI artists loose on the many animals in the troupe of Las Vegas faves Siegfried & Roy. I mean, lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

But after Roy Horn was severely injured by one of his white tigers last October, the whole idea of watching zany animated versions of the entertainers cracking vise in thick accents just seemed a tad creepy.

And yet, and yet, there’s just too much talent involved with “Father of the Pride” for it to be overly alienating. It manages to be funny, at times despite itself.

The series, co-created by animation chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, focuses on Larry (voiced by John Goodman), the new lead lion in the S&R troupe; his wife, Kate, (Cheryl Hines, “Curb Your Enthusiasm”) and their two children. Also living in their den is Kate’s father, Sarmoti (Carl Reiner), the crochety former lead lion. The caliber of guest voices in the early going (Lisa Kudrow, Andy Richter, John O’Hurley, Wendie Malick) is also promising.

The writing on the series really zings, giving new spark to some very tired sitcom premises (matching up a lonely fat friend, vying with a smarmy rival).

What parents shouldn’t do is mistake “Father of the Pride” with a children’s program. With its rude adult content, it should be airing alongside “South Park” on Comedy Central or in Cartoon Network’s late-night “Adult Swim,” not at 9 p.m. on a network.

“Father of the Pride” is over the top, jaw-droppingly so at times. It’s certainly not the venerable, genteel “Frasier,” whose time slot it is inheriting. But traditional sitcoms are dead, so they say. So why not animals spouting sex jokes with a timing of a borscht belt comic? Maybe it is better to come out roaring.