Silly in suits, times three

To hear them talk, it’s no accident that two members of the comedy trio Stella share the same first name.

“It was by arrangement,” declares Michael Ian Black.

“We arranged it,” echoes Michael Showalter.

So why aren’t all three of them named Michael?

“We tried,” insists David Wain, who, with Michael and Michael, is occupied these days with a more pressing matter: bringing their screwball vision to TV in a series named “Stella.”

Premiering at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday on Comedy Central, “Stella” features the madcap misadventures of three men who wear business suits but behave like children held back a couple of grades.

Sharing an earth-toned, kitsch-filled apartment in what looks like outer-borough New York City, they are happy-go-lucky comrades. Think the Marx Brothers but not so manic, the Three Stooges but not so fractious -- or maybe Pee-wee Herman times three, minus the plaid.

Make no mistake, no one’s named Stella. But “Stella” is replete with sight gags, surreal twists and loopy dialogue as each tale unfolds.

Even when taking a break to chat with a reporter at the sprawling Brooklyn loft where their series is shot, they amuse themselves, however deadpan, with the same thing that makes “Stella” tick: serial silliness.

“That’s what we do,” says Wain, who, with his partners, not only stars but also writes and produces. “Silly humor. We’re silly.”

The three have practiced sharply wrought silliness, both together and apart, since meeting at New York University in 1988. A few years later, they helped create the groundbreaking sketch comedy show “The State,” which ran on MTV.

Stella began in 1997 as a weekly nightclub comedy showcase they hosted as a sideline in Greenwich Village until last year.

“The woman who originally booked the room we appeared in was pregnant at the time,” Black recalls, “and if it was a girl she planned to name the baby Stella. So we appropriated that name for the show. We thought it was classy.”