Remote patrol

Comedy Central's "premiere week" continues tonight with a new "Strangers With Candy" (9 p.m.). Amy Sedaris returns as Jerri Blank, a 40-something high school student and ex-drug addict, in what is probably the strangest sitcom on TV. Tonight's episode is the first of a two-parter in which Jerri joins a cult. There are several effective running gags here, one involving school principal Blackman (Greg Hollimon), who has his own Leninish cult of personality. That's followed by "The League of Gentlemen" (9:30 p.m.), a British import and the object of a perplexing (to me) level of positive buzz. Three men perform all the major roles (including women's) on this show, situated in the screwball English village of Royston Vasey. There are exactly two big laughs in this half-hour show. The rest is mirthless dialogue that obviously was designed to sound as bizarre as possible. The result, to my ear, is rehashed Python with dirty jokes mixed in. Also all this week on cable, E! welcomes celebrity guest hosts to its long-running, and currently host-less, "Talk Soup" (7 p.m., E!). Kevin Nealon, last seen on "Saturday Night Live," leads off the week. Jennie Garth, Ben Stein, Harland Williams and Cybill Shepherd will drop by later. >>>