Drew Carey, Jamie Kennedy and a chimp might give away a billion dollars on Sunday night. Really.

The three of them are hosting "Play for a Billion" Sunday on the WB (8 p.m., Ch. 30). Somebody is assured of winning a million bucks, which he/she gets to keep no matter what. And that winner has a shot at the billion.

And Carey, at least, is hoping somebody wins.

"If we give away the billion, that would be the greatest thing in the world," he said. "If it's just a million, I won't be near as excited. But as far as working with a monkey or a chimp, I could care less one way or the other."

The game began with 1,000 contestants chosen randomly by finding specially marked Pepsi bottle caps. Ten finalists compete in a "game of chance and nerve," with the winner taking home the million. And that person has a one-in-a-thousand chance of winning a billion dollars — based on numbers selected by the chimp.

"I just know that whoever wins the billion is going to be my new film-production partner," Carey said.

The producers (and the network) are expecting a whole lot of people to tune in to see someone have a shot at a billion dollars, no matter how long that shot is.

"By the way, if this works out, during the next election year the Bush administration is going to get together with Pepsi and give away a small Arab country," Carey said.

CARNIVALE (Sunday, 10:35 p.m., HBO): Most of my TV-critic pals come down on one side or the other of this show — they either love it or they hate it.

I, on the other hand, have no such passions for this 12-part series set during the Great Depression. Frankly, I just don't get it.

I'm confused from the first moments, when a midget intones, "Before the beginning, after the great war between heaven and hell, God created the Earth and gave dominion over it to the crafty ape he called man. And to each generation was born a creature of light and a creature of darkness. And great armies clashed by night in the ancient war between good and evil. There was magic then. Nobility. And unimaginable cruelty. So it was. Until the day that a false son exploded over Trinity and man forever traded away wonder for reason."

It's all supposed to symbolize a titanic struggle between good and evil, with a fugitive teen (Nick Stahl) with magical healing powers on one side and a creepy minister (Clancy Brown) on the other. But I'm not sure who's on which side.

Maybe I'm still feeling burned by my too-enthusiastic response to "Twin Peaks" way back when. But "Carnivale" feels too much like mystical, mythical nonsense masquerading behind outstanding production values and good acting.

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E-MAIL: pierce@desnews.com