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Last night Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim premiered two new programs. It feels like this is something that happens about every six weeks in this block of stoner-approved animation madness. What sets apart these new shows (Tim & Erin Awesome Show, Great Job, and Saul of the Mole Men) is that they happen to be (more or less) live action creations. I use the word “creations” because the pair are very much a collage of home-made video trickery and retro video tomfoolerly. One of the shows is a mostly funny collection of odd-sketches combining the cut-and-paste aesthetic of Tom Goes to the Mayor with a really great acid-flashback. The other show is painfully unfunny and has a title that uses the words “Saul” and “Mole Men.” Can you figure out which is which?

I’ll help you out a little.

Tim and Eric… is worth checking out — especially if you happen to catch it while in one of those “I really should be asleep right now” late-night television watching and Mallomar eating marathons. If you’re of the opinion that too much of today’s edgy comedy is derived from cutting together completely random and nonsensical moments of silence and mayhem with curious music selections over just being clever you’ll probably still laugh while watching Awesome Show, Good Job even if you walk away feeling a little empty on the inside.

Saul of the Mole Men, on the other hand, was the longest 15 minutes of the life, which is saying something as once in my formative years I was caught in a temporal vortex for nine hours but only eight earth-minutes. It was odd.

Still, I love the 15-minute format. It’s a great time-killer, especially as we all wait for new seasons of The Boondocks and Venture Bros.

Friday night Cartoon Network aired the series premiere of Class of 3000, the trippy new childrens cartoon from Andre “3000″ Benjamin (of Outkast fame). The hour-long broadcast was cut together with a premiere party held at a theater in Atlanta. In front of an audience packed with tweens and pre-tweens, the show starts with a marching band making its way down the center aisle playing the show’s theme. Eventually Mr. Benjamin walks onstage to thunderous applause and introduces his new project to the kids. Lights dim and the film rolls. Throughout the hour, we bump in and out on the festivities in Atlanta showing break-dancers, rappers, and general fun being had by all. Fitting enough for a series like this; one of the wilder childrens programs this side of H. R. Pufnstuf.

The show itself is good. It would clearly be better if I were eight or nine years old, but its good nonetheless. Each episode will have a new song recorded by Mr. Benjamin, reason enough for any adult to check in once a week. Though equally interesting is the mish mash animation style. The show looks like the characters were drawn on top of a collidescope. Its actually kind of mind-skewing, as the endless changes of color create a really odd effect on a scene’s natural perspective. The characters look like they’re walking through air, or that walls are bending. It’s fun to look at, especially during the musical numbers when all rules of physics and color-theory go right out the window. Like a tornado-slide, its built for kids, but more than willing to entertain an adult as well.

Arguably the greatest news in animated children’s programming was the creation of the new Cartoon Network series Class of 3000. For those who haven’t heard the good news, Class of 3000 is the story of Sunny Bridges, a hip-hop superstar who gets fed up with the hustle and bustle of celebrity life and decides to teach music at a school in Atlanta. Oh, and its creative, executive produced and stars Andre “3000″ Benjamin of Outkast fame. AND, he’ll be creating new music for every episode.

It doesn’t premiere until Friday, November 3rd (7:00pm ET), but to hold us all over for the next couple weeks, take a listen to this GREAT interview with Mr. 3000 from this past Monday on NPR’s FreshAir. Obviously conclusions drawn: Andre Benjamin is way cooler than all of us. I’m totally stoked for this new series.