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By Sandy Yang

Daily Bruin Staff

It may be the ultimate nightmare for a public relations executive.

How do you promote a show that features cameras cheerfully focusing in on scantily-clad, jumping girls in a politically correct TV industry, or hosts Adam Carolla and Jimmy Kimmel talking about the best and worst jobs that get you laid, or adult film stars giving suggestive, if useful, household tips?

The worst qualities became the best qualities, in this case. To promote “The Man Show,” Carolla’s and Kimmel’s unapologetically humble mugs graced magazine ads, billboards and the sides of buses.

“It’s a show made by developmentally disabled men,” reads an excerpt from a New York Post review, displayed in bold white type on a magazine ad.

“The critics agree! It’s on at 10:30!” was the tongue-in-cheek response to the collective vile comments critics had for the show.

Revving up for its second season this summer, the show’s new ads could feasibly say, “Critics agree, ‘The Man Show’ is moving from Wednesdays to Sundays at 10:00 on Comedy Central.”

But this time, they have something more to say in its defense. Carolla and Kimmel, who also created the show, responded in a phone interview to criticism that their work is offensive, degrading to women and just plain tasteless.

“The way we look at it, we’re just being honest when we have girls jumping on trampolines,” Kimmel said. “Shows like ‘Baywatch’ and ‘VIP,’ they put together these pretend plots, where the drug lords are trying to kill Pamela Anderson, and her hot scientists have to kick his ass in a hot tub. It’s a load of crap.”

“We just boil it right down,” Kimmel continued. “The reason guys watch those shows is to see girls running around in bikinis.”

And girls aren’t all. The variety show also includes “Man-o-logues,” a diatribe questioning the roundabout woman’s mind among other insights and “Man-o-vations,” inventions meant to improve man’s life such as the carnival urinal and WWF books on tape. They also incorporate bathroom jokes, beer-drinking contests and the occasional home improvement tip from Carolla, a former carpenter.

The male-bonding crusade was germinated six years ago when the two men met at alt-rock station KROQ. At the time, Kimmel was Jimmy the Sports guy on KROQ’s morning show. Carolla snuck into the station to apply to be Kimmel’s boxing trainer, although he would later be legitimately employed. The two men eventually became best friends and creative partners.

For guys who say they’re lazy, Carolla and Kimmel have tackled many projects from television and radio to publications and commercials. Kimmel became the co-host of Comedy Central’s game show, “Win Ben Stein’s Money” and a spokesman for FOX. Carolla has been co-hosting the station’s syndicated advice show “Loveline” since 1996 with Dr. Drew Pinsky, a show which is also aired on MTV daily and a book.

Their busy schedule belies the lethargic, beer-drinking slob images they project on “The Man Show.” But that’s not the only inconsistency.

Carolla’s current stint on “Loveline” seems to contradict “The Man Show’s” idea that ogling at women is OK. Many calls on “Loveline” have actually dealt with women who use their bodies in risky situations to break out of abusive pasts.

Carolla defends “The Man Show’s” portrayal of women.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with women exploring or celebrating their sexuality. At the ‘Loveline’ radio show, if some girl said that she’s got a two-piece bikini and asked if she could go to the beach during Spring Break, I’d tell her by all means, enjoy yourself. But if she said she wanted to do a porn movie or dance in an all-nude place, I’d probably advise her against it.”

“As far as ‘The Man Show’ goes, we don’t ask women to degrade themselves,” Carolla continued. “We could put them in more provocative outfits and get them to do more provocative things on the show, and probably get away with it. But we do like the idea that they’re dressed a little more wholesomely and leaving a little more to the imagination.”

True to his word, the first season of “The Man Show” does outfit their dancers in summer dresses, cheer-leading uniforms and wedding gowns in addition to the two-piece bikinis. Also, their image as “developmentally disabled men” may be lessened given the facts that Kimmel, 31, is married with two children (his wife and 7-year-old son regularly appear on the show), and Carolla, 35, is engaged.

But even if it is refreshing to strip away pretenses so guys can freely admit watching “Baywatch” for the women and professional wrestling for the violence, “The Man Show” may prove too much for today’s politically correct TV industry.

This is the same medium that implemented the V-chip and the ratings system and suffered criticism when “Friends” aired at 8 p.m. without backing off of adult themes.

In fact, Carolla and Kimmel were priming “The Man Show” for ABC before the Disney-owned network rejected it and Comedy Central picked it up.

Despite the flak, the intentions of “The Man Show” are honest, said Kimmel, unlike soft porn which is held together by a thread-thin plot,or talk show hosts who claim to help people.

“We make no bones about it,” Kimmel said. “We’re not claiming to help people. We like to make people laugh and make money at the same time. We’re not living under this Maya Angelou cloud that Oprah (Winfrey) has surrounded herself with.”

Whether it means that “The Man Show” is unashamed to air monkey and flatulence jokes or celebrate gaudy male pleasures, Carolla and Kimmel prize their show’s unique, uh, integrity. And it looks like that’s not going to change.

“(Next season), we have twins who became juggy dancers,” Carolla said.

TELEVISION: “The Man Show” will move from Wednesdays at 10:30 p.m. to Sundays at 10 p.m. on Comedy Central beginning June 18.

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