TV REVIEWS : ‘Danger Theatre’: Parodies Are No Laughing Matter

Rarely has a series been more misleadingly titled than “Danger Theatre.” There is nothing the least bit dangerous about the TV parodies in the numbing premiere of this Fox half-hour, at 7:30 p.m. Sunday on Channels 11 and 6.

“Danger Theatre” is down for a seven-episode trial. The format calls for two recurring spoofs of action/adventure series: “The Searcher,” starring Diedrich Bader as a female-lusting, disaster-prone biker hero who bungles his way through a “Fatal Attraction” case in the opener, and “Tropical Punch,” featuring Adam West in a “Hawaii Five-0” sendup whose cloddish Jack Lord-style protagonist initially must deal with a ninja assassin.

“The Searcher” tries to emulate the physical buffoonery of Showtime’s “Super Dave,” and “Tropical Punch” aims for a “Naked Gun” lunacy. Both fail miserably, in part because neither Bader nor West (it’s been a long time since “Batman”) displays a comic touch, but mostly because the real bungling here is in the writing, which is pathetically unfunny.