'Sons of Tucson' is surprisingly funny

"Sons of Tucson" sounds utterly ridiculous. And not in a good way.

But, as it turns out, it's pretty darn funny. And in a very good way.

The set-up for "Sons" requires a major suspension of disbelief. Three young brothers in desperate need of a pretend father hire a goofy loser to play the role.

It's a lot better than that makes it sound.

Tyler Labine stars as Ron Snuffkin, who's an awful lot like the goofball character Labine played on "Reaper." He's sort of a dopey fast-talker who has a certain charm.

"He's a creep," says 8-year-old Robby Gunderson (Benjamin Stockham).

"Exactly. He's perfect," replies 11-year-old Gary Gunderson (Frank Dolce).

The Gunderson boys — including 13-year-old Brandon (Matthew Levy) — are on their own in a suburban home in Tucson. Their mother is out of the picture; their swindler father is in prison.

Dad apparently left them plenty of money to get by, but they don't want to end up in foster care. So they hire Ron to be their pretend dad.

And hilarity ensues. Really.

"Sons of Tucson" has the feel of "Malcolm in the Middle." ("Malcolm" co-star Justin Berfield and producer Todd Holland are executive producers of this show.)

Much of the humor comes from the contrast between irresponsible Ron and ultra-responsible, mature-beyond-his-years Gary. At 11, he's pretty much the parent to his brothers and Ron.

"Sons of Tucson" is witty, goofy and even laugh-out-loud funny with some wild slapstck.

And there are surprising moments of heartfelt emotion. The boys aren't as tough as they pretend, and Robby in particular misses his father.

Ron is nobody's idea of a perfect parent — of a parent, period. But he has a good heart.

And "Sons of Tucson" does, too. In addition to being just plain funny in a totally goofy sort of way.

"DINOSHARK" (Saturday, 7 and 11 p.m. Syfy): Roger Corman was on TV this past Sunday because he was presented with an honorary Oscar. This TV movie is an example of just how odd that was.

Corman made a career out of making bad horror movies. And "Dinoshark" is horrible.