CBS's 'Creature Comforts': A Brit-Witty Feat of Clay

The stop-action animals of "Creature Comforts" share their Aardman Animations pedigree with Wallace and Gromit. (Aardman Animations Ltd.)

It's been a grim summer television season so far.

Steven Spielberg's reality show on Fox about wannabe movie directors is a flop and a bore. Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance" and NBC's upcoming "America's Got Talent" are bad "American Idol" rip-offs. And did anyone catch that train wreck last week on CBS about pretend pirates searching for hidden treasure? Aaaargh indeed.

But take heart, channel surfers. The first bright spot of the hot months arrives tonight, and we've got a bunch of animated animals to thank for it.

Created by the British company responsible for the popular "Wallace & Gromit" movies, "Creature Comforts," an animated half-hour comedy debuting tonight at 8 on CBS, is clever and often hilarious.

The premise? The show's producers record the voices of "real people" throughout the country as they talk about everyday topics such as doctor visits, keeping secrets and the attraction between the sexes. These voices are bestowed upon various animal characters who all bear that familiar Claymationed "Wallace & Gromit" look.

"Creature Comforts" opens tonight on a slightly crude note, but it's hard not to laugh. The voices of two men, apparently recorded at a wine tasting, are given to a pair of dogs sniffing a third dog where dogs generally sniff each other.

"It smells pretty ripe," the dog says earnestly. "I'm getting medium to dark notes. Also, kind of a dry fruit character to it."

Some of the must-see "Creature" characters include: two lovebirds sitting in their cage, where the wife lists her various ailments while her put-upon husband sits by; two porcupines discussing their fear of needles; a hippopotamus who hates being weighed by nurses, all of whom are skinny; and a pair of frisky bunnies discussing their love lives.

The humor in the show derives from how perfectly the animal characters (dogs seem to be a specialty) and their expressions match the voices that are provided. In general, the jokes don't stray from PG-rated territory, save for a randy toucan who claims he's a "bisexual" -- "I like to buy sex," he explains with a cackle.

One 5-year-old viewer, who clearly didn't get any of the humor of the show, was still howling at the various animals that popped up onscreen. The biggest laugh for him was a water-fearing polar bear wearing floaties on his legs.

Creature Comforts (30 minutes) premieres tonight at 8 on WUSA (Channel 9).