"The Augie Show Special," airing tonight on KHNL 8, is Augie T at his wackiest — with the style and flavor of sitcom (sets, costumes, wigs, etc.) or at least the semblance of "production."

It is a compilation of endeavors from a run on OC16 and sets up his weekly laughfest — a Monday-night run starting next week on KFVE (K5)

Widely known for his antics as a stand-up comic and roving morning drive radio host, Augie's penchant for the absurd and his joy of characterization makes this enterprise a possible template for Island comedy on TV.

The hourlong special includes his family (wife, kids, parents, brothers and extended 'ohana), who play setup roles like a company of willing thespians. His mom and his son deliver lines; his wife appears in a couple of acting spots.

"Mokeback Mountain," an outrageous set-in-Hawai'i parody of "Brokeback Mountain," plays like a preview reel of a feature movie — with faux credits listing "Angus Lee" as the filmmaker. Augie plays Butchie, opposite Kaui Kauhi as Kawika, engaged in a relationship which is "nobody's business but ours." Augie's real-life wife, Kim, plays Butchie's wife, who asks: "Do you know somebody named Kawika?" To which he responds, "We hunt pigs," an homage to the Oscar-winning film's tale of two pals with a secret known by the wife of one.

"Hog the Bounty Hunter," of course, pokes fun at the now-gone A&E reality show. Augie plays Beth, complete with chest enhancement and blond wig. Timmy Mattos is "Dog," and others in the cast take on slippah-stealing moke roles. There's requisite mood music, posturing and Hog-Dog-isms.

"CSI Waipahu" is highly ambitious and richly textured with nuances of the original crime lab show, with a dramatic music score, shop talk and visual texture. This one parodies the Miami version, with Augie as Lt. Kane, donning, then shedding, then again donning sunglasses a la David Caruso.

And there's craziness a-plenty.

Playing Terrence Batu, a deaf interpreter, Augie incorporates deliberate jabs of humor when he names a character Dr. F.A. DeLima (portrayed by Mattos) in a TV signing segment.

Augie takes risks, too, delivering a super Samoan accent as he plays "Super Sole Suka," a superhero who flies a la the Man of Steel. Conventional wisdom among comics is to lay off the Samoan culture — but Augie does his shtick in the spirit of fun.

"Tool Time" parodies TV pitchmen hyping tools; "Hot Bodies in Motion" explores the world of exercise with "pick pineapple" action.

Television enables Augie — who wrote all the material (some in collaboration with director Ryan Kawamoto) — to stage scenarios to create mini-sketches impossible to duplicate in live stage or club performances.

So, if you like Augie with all the frills (and lots of pidgin and some Filipino dialect, too) this is a good bet.

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com.