TV Reviews : Nickelodeon Unleashes New ‘Ren’ Episodes

Attention, “Ren & Stimpy” fans--including those who won’t admit it: The twisted cartoon duo return in new episodes, beginning at 9 tonight on Nickelodeon. The patriotic pair join the Army.

The show is part of Nickelodeon’s new “Snick” night, a two-hour block of original programming, including two new shows, that is intended to draw in young teens.

Judging from the lineup, that’s wishful thinking. “R&S;” wins hands, er, paws down.

The evening begins at 8 p.m. with another returnee, the mildly anarchic “Clarissa Explains It All,” starring Melissa Joan Hart. Clarissa offers viewers her teen perspective on the world around her; the humor is predictable, but Hart has an engaging self-assurance and dry humor, like a Murphy Brown-in-training.

Next up at 8:30 p.m. is one of two new offerings, “Roundhouse,” a “variety” show in the fast-moving, irreverent “Saturday Night Live”/”In Living Color”/MTV mode, created by Buddy and Rita Sheffield.

Flashy lights, an experienced young cast, a break-neck pace, dancing, singing and an in-studio rock band make it look good, but the comedy needs work.

Parent-bashing is the opening show’s theme. Content isn’t the problem--”You Can’t Do That on Television” has been working parents over for years--but too often the humor here is more witless than witty. The best moments are parodies of Bill Cosby, Dan Quayle, Sally Struthers and Ed McMahon.

After “Ren & Stimpy,” it’s time to get serious, sort of, with the anticlimactic “Are You Afraid of the Dark” at 9:30 p.m., a tame anthology series of “scary” stories told by kid members of the “Midnight Society.” The opener is “The Phantom Cab,” a tale about two brothers lost in the woods, a ghoulish taxi driver and a psychotic doctor.