CARREY'S NEW `CABLE' CHANNELS.

Byline: Bob Strauss Daily News Film Critic

Jim Carrey has always been irritating, but never quite so thoroughly as he is in ``The Cable Guy.'' As a deranged pay-TV installer, Carrey's trademark mugging grows malevolent, his capable-of-anything humor steps over the line to become a constant threat. It's not as entertaining as his sheerly silly schtick, but there's something pure and fascinating about it.

In what amounts to a kind of cartoon ``Cape Fear,'' Carrey explores the dark side of his popular screen image: the hyper comic who goes way overboard just to be liked. It's childish, it's annoying, it's sporadically hilarious - it's uncut Carrey, in other words, turned slightly rancid.

The movie's premise is simple and pretty much stays that way, despite the efforts of director Ben Stiller and screenwriters Lou Holtz Jr. and Judd Apatow to expand it into a wide-ranging media satire. Recently ejected by his girlfriend, Matthew Broderick's underassertive Steven Kovacs spends all day at his new apartment waiting for the Cable Guy, who naturally shows up while Steve's in the shower and then, basically, won't go away.

Calling himself Ernie ``Chip'' Douglas (the ``My Three Sons'' reference is a tip-off), the Guy juices Steve up with some free movie channels. This means something like blood brotherhood to the lonely Guy, and he's soon insinuating himself into every aspect of his new friend's life.

Steven passively, if reluctantly, accepts the generous gestures at first, even though he clearly can't relate to the Guy's social awkwardness and entertainment preferences - like an evening of fine dining and gladiatorial combat at Medieval Times. Eventually, though, Steve gets up the gumption to heave the Guy out of his life. But the needy fellow isn't about to leave quietly. He wages a techno-terror campaign to win Steven back, growing increasingly psycho along the way.

The Guy himself is set up as a casualty of too much television - as a child, his mom let the tube raise him while she went out searching for a new daddy. This gives the Guy a certain poignancy when he's not driving Steven - and many audience members - up a wall. This pop-culture victim idea also inspires most of Carrey's funnier bits, such as a visionary speech about the wonders of communication technology (``You'll be able to play `Mortal Kombat' with a friend in Vietnam!'') and a spastic karaoke rendition of Jefferson Airplane's ``Somebody to Love.''

Mostly, though, Carrey juts out his jaw, lisps a little and tries to make you uneasy. But it's the thought of this freak taking over your life, more than anything in the performance, that really turns that trick.

Broderick does an expert Jack Benny as the slow-burning Steve, and newcomer Leslie Mann channels Betty Boop's voice as Steve's uncertain girlfriend. Janeane Garofalo has a few droll moments as a bored Medieval Times serving wench, and Stiller himself is the defendant in an ongoing celebrity murder case that combines the telegenic qualities of the O.J. and Menendez trials.

Stiller shoots it all in shadowy, Roman Polanski lighting. Although the story clops along rather than flows, he maintains a good sense of dread throughout. The director is at his best, of course, when lampooning the absurdities of modern culture as he did on his late, lamented TV sketch series.

As for Carrey, it's hard to tell whether he's commenting on his own media celebrity or just letting loose here like never before. Either way, the result is intriguing in a way his straight slob comedy hasn't been. Not as funny, perhaps, but nothing you'd get on basic channels, either.

The facts The film: ``The Cable Guy'' (PG-13; language, violence).

The stars: Jim Carrey, Matthew Broderick, Leslie Mann.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Ben Stiller. Written by Lou Holtz Jr. and Judd Apatow. Produced by Andrew Licht, Jeffrey Mueller and Apatow. Released by Columbia Pictures.

Running time: One hour, 31 minutes.

Playing: Citywide.

Our rating: Three stars