Rick & Steve the Happiest Gay Couple in All the World has all the markings of a buzz-worthy animated comedy — a distinct look, plenty of shocking "Oh no they didn't!" humor and a sweetness hiding underneath all that cynicism. It's a daring and funny series that gives Logo (AfterElton.com's parent company) a distinct voice the network hasn't quite had until now. Best of all, it's unapologetically gay and is intended for gay audiences, exactly the sort of programming viewers tune in to Logo to watch.

Based on the 1999 short film by Q. Allan Brocka (Eating Out, Boy Culture) that became a cult hit at LGBT film festivals, Rick & Steve is populated with characters that look like simple children's toys with visibly movable joints and cartoonish features that somehow manage to be quite expressive. The solid, vivid colors making up the show's palette give Rick and Steve a whimsical look that's a sharp, amusing contrast to the show's mature dialogue and topics.

That mix of childlike visuals with mature, social awareness recalls irreverent, thought-provoking and hilarious shows such as South Park and Broadway's smash puppet musical Avenue Q, the creators of which contributed R&S 's theme song.

The eponymous Rick (voiced by Will Matthews) and Steve (voiced by Peter Paige) of the title live in "the gayest of gay ghettos," West Lahunga Beach — just one of the show's many double entendres. West Lahunga is the kind of place where lesbian and gay people are so common that they feel completely free to be themselves.

Rick is 30, brainy, Filipino-American, and a self-described insatiable bottom who keeps house for the couple in their modest bungalow. Proving the maxim that opposites attract (and occasionally that oil and water don't mix) Steve proves to be quite different from his significant other.

A 33-year-old gym bunny, Steve's hotness is widely acknowledged by all and, even though he isn't terribly bright, he still manages to make good money as a real estate agent. He's also a versatile top interested in three-ways, a topic of conversation that frequently comes up in a show that is refreshingly and unapologetically upfront about its characters' sexualities and desires.

Indeed, the creators of Rick & Steve operate under the principle of unapologetic frankness most of the time, not worrying what straight viewers might think of the show or that any of their characters will be taken as a representative of the entire gay community. It's a refreshing change that allows the creators to poke fun at elements of gay life without fear of being politically incorrect.

Much of that frankness comes into play with Rick's best friend Kirsten (Emily Brooke Hands), a lesbian partnered with the much more butch Dana (Taylor M. Dooley). Unfortunately for Rick and Kirsten, their respective mates absolutely loathe each other, frequently trading anti-gay slurs with delicious abandon. While Steve tends toward the party boy end of the gay spectrum, Dana falls more on the man-hating militant side of things; naturally, each hates what the other stands for.

Other residents of West Lahunga include Steve's best friend Chuck (voiced by queer actor Alan Cumming), who is HIV-positive, wheelchair-bound, short-tempered and the oldest one in the bunch. Chuck is in an open relationship with Evan (voiced by gay actor Wilson Cruz), a 19-year-old “twink” who isn't exactly a deep thinker. Then there is the lesbian couple Ebony (Liza Del Mundo) and Ivory (Lori Alan) who are every bit the politically correct stereotype their names imply.

In the show's first episode, Kirsten and Dana decide to have a baby with Rick providing the “baby juice.” Unable to afford a fertility clinic and unwilling to actually have sex, they turn to that standard gay insemination device — the turkey baster. This gives rise to one of the show's first hilarious and tasteless sight gags as Kirsten hoists her toy legs in the air as she attempts to impregnate herself.

Of course, complications ensue including Rick and Steve's mixing their sperm together without the women knowing, and Kirsten and Dana's hunt for more sperm when the first dose doesn't take. (I won't tell you where they go to find it so as not to spoil one of the most tasteless jokes in the premiere.)

Other storylines in the first two episodes include Chuck and Evan's attempts to keep Rick and Steve from becoming married homebodies by persuading them to go out to circuit parties and partake in other gay “activities”. Meanwhile, Ebony and Ivory let Kirsten babysit for their precious Echinacea, whose gender is an intentional mystery to the mothers in order to ensure that they do not impose any gender roles upon the infant. The babysitting gig of course only stokes Kirsten's desire to have a child.

Chuck and Evan are interesting characters not only because of their age difference, but because they are very sexually active — within and outside of their relationship (unlike Rick and Steve). This gives the show plenty of opportunities to tastelessly joke about glory holes and park bushes, and again demonstrates its willingness to be frank about how some gay men lead their sexual lives.

In a similar vein, Evan embodies the gay male obsession with looks. As he readies to head out to a dinner party he asks Chuck, “Should I take an ephedrine, or just eat something there?” “Would you rather be dead or fat?” Chuck responds. “I know. I better take two.”

There's a great deal of tension in Chuck and Evan's relationship due to Chuck's HIV status and Evan's youth. Chuck is suspicious of why Evan would be in a relationship with him: “You married me when it was cool to have a boyfriend with AIDS,” he snaps, “but now I'm living larger and longer and now you're stuck with me.”

Much as Chuck and Evan play out the excesses of gay male party culture as a contrast to the domestic bliss (mostly) of Rick and Steve, Kirsten and Diana are contrasted by a couple who take lesbian stereotypes to the extreme. Ebony and Ivory play out stereotypes of lesbians as man-hating, patriarchy-obsessed feminist extremists, a stereotype that works because it's balanced out by the more human Kirsten and Dana (although Dana shares their tendencies in that regard, at least when it comes to Steve).

This is one of those comedies that is hilarious and cringe-inducing all at the same time. There's a fearless "warts and all" mocking of the gay community to this show, a kind of humor that can only come from someone within the community lest it be labeled offensive.

It is reminiscent of Chappelle's Show in how it brings up some difficult truths in a way that will leave people worrying how the humor will be taken outside of the community, even as they laugh at the jokes. Occasionally the stereotype mocking becomes hard to laugh at. While they are jokes LGBT people have made amongst themselves, they are still jokes rarely heard in national media, except from those seeking to enforce narrow, limiting views of what gays can be.

What makes Rick & Steve really work is that there's a sense of heart to the series beyond the offensive jokes and disgusting moments. Watching Rick and Steve, as well as Kirsten and Dana, it's clear that there's a lot of love between these couples no matter how many dysfunctional adventures they go through.

Still, the effective moments call attention to the occasional weak ones. Steve is supposed to be the intellectual inferior to the genius Rick, but that aspect of the character comes into play only when the gags demand it. When the show needs Steve to be someone who wouldn't know better than to brag about feeling smart — “like someone with an IQ of 100” — it's convincing. Later on, however, it's easy to forget his apparent stupidity when the pair trade equally sharp quips.

Rick & Steve the Happiest Gay Couple in All the World has all the makings of a break-out hit. It's a smart series that speaks with a clear voice, pushes boundaries and gets you to emotionally connect with the material. Hopefully, the series will get the attention it deserves and signify that Logo is finding its footing in terms of its original programming.

Rick & Steve premieres on Tuesday, July 10, at 10 p.m. ET on Logo. Visit www.happiestgaycouple.com for more info, videos, and photos, download the first episode from iTunes now, and watch a clip of Rick and Steve discussing who they would do a threesome with here:

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