NEW YORK — Rob Corddry is a really funny guy. With his gift for looking shrewd yet silly, with his balding head and that phantom forelock, he was the perfect pundit on Comedy Central's "Daily Show" fake newscast.

(There's a "but" coming, isn't there?)

But he's painful to watch on "The Winner," his new Fox sitcom premiering tonight at 8:30 p.m., with an additional episode at 9:30 p.m.

Corddry plays Glen Abbott, a 32-year-old slug who lives in Buffalo with his parents, has no job or girlfriend, and whose ambitions rise no higher than trying to better his speed completing TV Guide crosswords.

Then Alison, his unrequited childhood crush — now a doctor and a divorced single mother — moves back to the neighborhood.

Jolted into action, Glen is finally "ready to begin my adolescence," he declares. He's psych-ed to make up for lost time and win Alison's heart.

(Is that the show's shaky premise?)

But that's not all. "The Winner" is a dual-track coming-of-age comedy: Glen instantly bonds with Alison's son, Josh, who is just beginning his age-appropriate adolescence with a lack of experience and confidence that's on a par with Glen's own. A generation apart, they are brothers-in-arms, with Josh pining for a pretty schoolmate while Glen has fantasies of sex with Josh's mom.

(Sounds kind of icky.)

There's a certain ick factor on "The Winner."

"I've never fornicated a woman," Glen confesses to Josh in the second episode when he misinterprets Alison's dinner invite as a signal she not only wants to get romantic but wants to go all the way.

What choice does he have? He heads to a massage parlor for a trial run while Josh waits outside for moral support. Too naive to know better, Glen has brought a box of chocolates. Then, panicking, he bolts before the practice session can commence.

(Do such victories account for the show's title?)

It's unclear exactly how Glen qualifies as "The Winner," at least from the first five episodes — which not only were made available to critics but are now on the Fox network Web site for overeager viewers who want an early crash course.

As each episode starts, Glen announces that, in the present day, not only does he have a wife and three kids, he's also the richest man in Buffalo. Which puts him in his mid-40s: The series is set in 1994.

But viewers may not learn how Glen came to be such a winner without subjecting themselves to lots more of "The Winner," which is a cruel price to pay.

(Oh, come on. There must be something about it you admire.)

"The Winner" isn't a complete loss. As Alison, Erinn Hayes meets her role's requirement to smile prettily while indulging Glen's idiocy.

And Keir Gilchrist is quite good as Josh. He shares a chemistry with Corddry that sells the budding friendship between their characters. When hypochondriac Glen asks, "You ever check your urine?" and Josh answers, "Only all the time!" the viewer can believe the two are kindred spirits.