The irony of “Kidding” is that Jim Carrey’s Mr. Pickles isn’t.

In Showtime’s half-hour comedy, premiering Sunday, Sept. 9, Jeff Pickles is too sincere for sarcasm. The host of public TV’s “Mr. Pickles’ Puppet Time” is so wholesome he makes Mr. Rogers look like a gangster. Mr. Pickles canbe as downright cloying as spoonfuls of sugar.

So to make the character palatable, the show adds a layer of creepiness.

凯瑞returning to TV is a welcome sight; it’s been 24 years since he was a regular on “In Living Color.” Back then, he shot to fame using his Silly Putty face to embody a wide, wild cast of characters, from an incompetent firefighter to an androgynous gymnast. In “Kidding,” Carrey reunites with Michel Gondry, director of the film “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” to provide yet another brilliant performance. The result is that genuine unicorn: a different sort of TV show.

Judging by the first four episodes, “Kidding” doesn’t fit neatly into any one genre. Like many premium-cable comedies, it avoids the usual setup-and-punch-line format, delivering sly smiles instead.

The series taps into the cult of fandom and how what we love as children remains a beloved touchstone throughout our lives. When这eves stealPickles’ car, they stop chopping it up when they recognize his ukulele in the trunk. Silently they reassemble and return the car. Everyone, including felons, loves Mr. Pickles.

Though it may seem like the series is capitalizing on“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”Dave Holstein started writing “Kidding” eight years before the Fred Rogers documentary hit theaters. All along, Holstein said he had Carrey in mind.

A man on the verge of a breakdown, Pickles is mourning the loss of a son and of his marriage. His estranged wife, Jill (the always dependable Judy Greer), was driving their twin sons when a truck T-boned their car, killing one boy, Phil.

Jill, an oncology ward nurse, has since left Pickles. Meanwhile, Pickles’ dad, Seb, and sister, Deirdre (Frank Langella and Catherine Keener, respectively), continue to work on the kids’ show he started in college.

Officially, Deirdre is the show’s puppet master. In reality, Seb pulls all the strings. Over 30 years, “Mr. Pickles’ Puppet Time” has become a multimillion-dollar business, even though the puppets have the look of having gone through the washer once too often.

Four-time Tony Award winner Langella is magnificent as a loving, albeit calculating, father. He’s determined to milk this cash cow and has no compunctions about replacing his son with an animated character should he melt down. And that’s starting to seem likely. (Intent on explaining death to his young audience, Pickles shoots a scene where he tells them, “I had a son named Phil. He was once your age. He died, so we put him in a box and buried him.”)

As sunny as Mr. Pickles aims to be, he exudes darkness. Maybe it’s his hairdo, possibly inspired by Javier Bardem in “No Country for Old Men,” or his wardrobe of short-sleeved white shirts and too-short pants. Or it could be buying the house next door to his family to spy on them.

Pickles, despite his wealth as a TV personality, lives like a grad student whose grants expired. He still uses a flip phone and considers frugality a virtue, yet he’s shockingly charitable with others. But for a character who promotes honesty, Pickles lives a lie. He pretends that he and his wife aren’t separated, and that his surviving son, Will (Cole Allen), is still the innocent kid he was before the accident, even though the boy is a budding stoner.

Decent, scrupulous and caring, Jeff Pickles is the essence of good — a little too good. Even the mild-mannered may want to slap the sanctity out of him. But most will want to watch Carrey deliver a fine performance in a weirdly engaging series. Building a comedy around the death of a child is risky, but Carrey makes it winning.

M“Kidding”:Comedy-drama. Starring Jim Carrey, Catherine Keener, Frank Langella and Judy Greer. Directed byMichel Gondry. Premieres on Showtime at 10 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 9.