TELEVISION; The Kids Are All White and Funny Enough The Kids Are All White and Funny Enough

By JOANNE WEINTRAUB

The lyrics are insanely catchy. I can’t seem to dislodge them from my brain:

“H-I-T-L-E-R,

“Drivin’ down the streets in my fancy car . . .

“Started bustin’ rhymes, finally found my groove,

“Now the ‘SS’ on my jacket stands for ‘Super Smoove . . .’ “

The words are from “Triumph of the Ill,” a music video that makes “Springtime for Hitler” look like yesterday’s schnitzel, and the video is part of “The Whitest Kids U’Know,” a new and often hilarious cable sketch comedy.

The Kids, a five-man comedy troupe who share their name with the half-hour series, are known as taboo smashers, but they never – well, hardly ever – offend just for the sake of being offensive. They’re in it for the laughs.

They also know how to get off the stage when the laughs are played out. A sketch that features a drunk crashing an AA meeting – call him a man unclear on the concept – lasts just 40 seconds, not a moment more or less than it ought to.

All five members of the New York City group, which won the “Best Sketch” award at the prestigious Aspen Comedy Festival last year, are in their twenties, near the midpoint of Fuse’s 12- to 34-year- old target audience. Their elders at “Saturday Night Live” might want to take notes.

Almost as clever as “Triumph of the Ill,” which goes out to “all the Aryans in the area” from a newly peace-loving Fhrer, is another music video, “Get a New Daddy,” which advises tots to plant incriminating photos in a parent’s sock drawer.

It’s not much more outrageous than a lot of the real videos on MTV, and it’s a lot funnier:

“Get a new daddy, get a new daddy,

“The police’ll take the old one away in a Caddy . . .”

Not every bit hits the mark. I spent almost four minutes watching a sketch on pooping in the boardroom, and I dearly wish I had those four minutes of my life back.

But the Kids do the best deer-in-a-bra sketch ever. And I’ll never watch one of those mushy pregnancy-test-stick commercials again without thinking, yeah, those sticks do look a little like an iPod Shuffle; I can see how a woman could make a messy mistake.

For the record, “The Whitest Kids” are Trevor Moore, Sam Brown, Zach Cregger, Timmy Williams and Darren Trumeter.

The show is produced by Jim Biederman, who almost 20 years ago produced another quintet of white guys with a similar name, the Kids in the Hall.

These Kids are almost as funny as those Kids, and that’s saying a lot.

Fuse, best known as the home of the mildly raunchy, brilliantly titled “Pants-Off Dance-Off,” is available on digital cable and satellite systems only, but you can sample it at www.fuse.tv. The series premieres with a pair of back-to-back episodes.

Short takes

— Blue-footed boobies and hammerhead sharks, diving lizards and surfing sea lions, giant tortoises and the world’s smallest penguins: The Galapagos Islands, 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador, are home to one of the world’s most fascinating ecosystems.

“Galapagos” (7 tonight, repeated at 10 tonight, 11 a.m. Monday, 7 and 10 p.m. Thursday, and 3 p.m. Saturday, National Geographic) captures this teeming world in three gorgeously photographed high- definition hours.

One quibble: The second hour’s segment on Charles Darwin, whose work was profoundly influenced by his discoveries here, is a little hasty. Still, no one with an interest in Darwin’s ideas should pass up this opportunity to see living, breathing descendants of the creatures that inspired him.

— “True Life: I Have Autism” (8 tonight, repeated at 1 p.m. Tuesday, 11 a.m. Thursday and 7 p.m. Friday, MTV) profiles three teens with varying forms of the condition, ranging from a boy who can talk only with the aid of an electronic device to a kid eager to embark on a career in stand-up comedy.

It’s a candid hour that doesn’t gloss over the difficulties faced by these teens – all three of whom, like a disproportionate number of autistic kids, are male. But in unfolding the stories of the boys and their families, it recognizes that one high school student’s ability to celebrate his birthday with friends for the first time in his life can be as big an achievement as another’s college acceptance.

— Don’t be fooled by the presence of indie icon John Waters (“Hairspray,”"Serial Mom”) at the start and finish of each episode of ” ‘Til Death Do Us Part” (9 and 9:30 p.m. Monday, repeated at 10 and 10:30 p.m. Wednesday and 1 and 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Court TV). The Waters moments are fun, as Waters always is, but the half-hour dramas in-between are a snore.

The theme of this anthology series is murderous spouses, the cases are “inspired by true crimes,” and the writing and directing are straight out of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.” And not in a good way.

The 13-part series kicks off with a pair of back-to-back episodes before settling into its 9 p.m. time slot next week.

— After 4 1/2 months on the shelf, “Six Degrees” (8 p.m. Friday, ABC) returns with new episodes on a new night.

The action this week centers on Laura (Hope Davis), the melancholy widow, Whitney (Bridget Moynahan), the driven executive, and Steven (Campbell Scott), the moody photographer, with Damian (Dorian Missick) and Carlos (Jay Hernandez) in the background and the mysterious Mae (Erika Christensen) MIA.

Although less absorbing than the other ABC ensemble drama that premiered this season, “The Nine” – which was pulled from the lineup months ago and, alas, is almost surely a goner – “Six Degrees” does have some intriguing crosscurrents.

This week’s episode is No. 7; the producers promise that “a seventh (character) shows up in Episode 11 and changes everything.”

— – —

After six seasons of blood, bullets and baked ziti, America’s favorite mob hit is coming to an end.

Starting April 8, HBO will air the final nine episodes of “The Sopranos.” Think everyone will get out alive? Fuhgedaboutit.

Send us your predictions for the fate of Tony, Carmela and any other characters you choose, in as much detail as you like, and we’ll publish the best ones March 25.

Need more incentive? After the final episode airs, a “Sopranos”- themed prize will be awarded to the reader who, in the opinion of the judges, submitted the most accurate predictions.

Send predictions on or before Monday to JSFEAT@journalsentinel.com, with “Sopranos” in the subject field.

WHEN TO WATCH

What: “The Whitest Kids U’Know”

When: 10 and 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, repeated at 9 and 9:30 p.m. Wednesday and 10 and 10:30 p.m. Thursday

Where: Fuse

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