PASADENA, Calif.

Look! Up on the TV! It's a guy in a unitard! It's a woman wielding bananas! It's the stars of "Who Wants to Be a Superhero?"

The reality show debuts on Sci Fi Channel at 9 p.m. July 27, and it may become summer's most enjoyable guilty pleasure.

The six-episode series features 11 geeks in homemade costumes competing to have comic-book god Stan Lee, the show's host, create a comic book about them. (Sci Fi Channel will make a TV movie about the winning superhero character, too.)

Some of the characters are recognizable comic-book types (The Iron Enforcer, Levity, Feedback) and then there are the others, like Fat Momma, a large woman who wears doughnuts on her belt, and Cell Phone Girl, who wears a cape and carries a phone (it's unclear how this makes her "super"). There's also Monkey Woman, who sports bananas at her hips and screeches a monkey-like bark, and Major Victory, a dead ringer for Mr. Incredible, who exclaimed, "Hello, citizens, carry on," when meeting the press Thursday afternoon.

They're a motley but fun-loving crew (read their individual bios at www.scifi.com/superhero), and many of them have been dreaming about the chance to play a superhero for many years.

"I used to dress up as a kid in San Francisco as Batman with my sister," explained Chris Watters (a k a Major Victory). "Then I moved to Modesto. That didn't work out too well."

Monkey Woman (Mary Votava) said she was a tree-climbing tomboy growing up and her siblings always called her "a little monkey," which motivated her character. Nitro G (Darren Passarello) works in a comic-books store and has been developing his character for five years. Fat Momma (Nell Wilson), on the other hand, knew nothing about comics. Her 14-year-old child heard about the show, and she decided to create the character using a write-what-you-know philosophy.

"I'm fat and I'm a momma, so I'll be Fat Momma," she said. Wilson even wrote a rap-like theme song: "Fat Momma, Fat Momma, I'm here to save the day. Fat Momma, fat momma, I'll take your food away."

Executive producer Scott Satin said each of the superhero characters is an extension of the person beneath the costume.

"We knew we couldn't test who can fly the highest or who's the strongest or who can stop a locomotive with their pinky," Satin said. "What we looked at with Stan was that every superhero that's ever been created has the same qualities on the inside, whether it's compassion, intelligence, courage, selflessness, integrity, etc. Those are all qualities in every superhero, and those are human qualities, so those we could test."

Lee and Satin also dropped a hint about a twist that could emerge during the series.

"Every super villain that has ever been out there started out as good," Satin noted. "That should give you a little hint of what we're talking about."

Billboard campaign

If you've noticed some bizarre billboards around Pittsburgh with sayings such as "I'm a hot toe picker" or "I pooted" or "Clowns hate tangelos," each on a red background, just ask a child what they mean.

Turns out these are all lines uttered by characters on Cartoon Network series. The billboards are part of the channel's summer marketing campaign.

Cartoon Network general manager Jim Samples said the summer onslaught is timed for when children are out of school and to promote new episodes of signature series that are airing every weeknight at 7 p.m.

After the words-only teaser campaigns, the sparse billboards will be replaced with giant images of Cartoon Network characters and the network's logo.

For the record, "Toe Picker" and "Pooted" are from "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends" and "Clowns" is from "The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy."

Channel surfing

A&E will finally air the next season of "MI-5" at 11 p.m. Fridays beginning Sept. 15. ... USA Network has renewed singing competition "Nashville Star" for a fifth season to begin in January 2007. ... Cable network G4's "Attack of the Show" will report from San Diego's Comic-Con 8 to 10 p.m. Friday and will air specials at 7 p.m. July 24 and 25. ... Bravo has renewed "The Real Housewives of Orange County" for another eight episodes airing later this year. ... Canceled Comedy Central series "Crank Yankers" is getting another shot on MTV2, which ordered eight new episodes. ... TBS has ordered a pilot of "Late Night Buffet," a late-night talk show starring puppets created by The Jim Henson Company. ... That didn't last long: Meadville native Alison Irwin was the first person evicted from the house on "Big Brother: All Stars" this week.

Tuned In Journal

Party descriptions, more news and behind-the-scenes reports from the press tour can be found online at www.post-gazette.com/tv/tunedin/. News from the CBS press tour will be posted this weekend.

TV Q&A

This week's TV Q&A responds to questions about WPCW in high definition, Andrew Stockey and "Sex and the City." Read it online at www.post-gazette.com/tv.