E-Mail This Article to a Friend THIN PREMISE New FX show raises ire BY DEIRDRE FULTON

Who says bulimia isn’t funny? Well, some actual bulimics say so. But that hasn’t stopped the FX network from airing a new sit-com depicting thirtysomething men and women who suffer from eating disorders.

"It’s ridiculous, and it’s demeaning to people who have eating disorders," Kristin Tyman, director of project management at the Massachusetts Eating Disorder Association, in Newton, says of the show Starved. The organization sent an e-mail to its 3000 members, encouraging them to boycott the show. "It’s repulsive.... Things like this can potentially help people fall into eating disorders."

But Eric Schaeffer, the show’s creator, director, star, and writer — who himself has battled eating disorders — has a different take. "Many of the story lines in Starved are derived [from] my own personal experiences and from other people I know who struggle with the disease," he wrote in an e-mail statement.

Schaeffer calls the National Eating Disorders Association’s campaign against the show "self-aggrandizing," and contends that "contrary to their statements, it is possible to produce a comedy series about a serious issue that is humorous, yet treats the subject matter in a respectful and poignant manner."

Yet a visit to the FX Web site does in fact raise the question: why? Everything from the characters (such as bisexual Billie, a recovering anorexic and aspiring singer/songwriter, or Adam, "an active bulimic and a stubborn NYPD cop") to the show’s absurd logo (which squishes the four main actors into a very large doughnut with sprinkles) seems, well, not funny. But the icing on the cake has to be the trailer, which depicts Sam — an "anorexic/compulsive overeater" and commodities trader — rummaging through a garbage can for ... chocolate cake. Slapstick comedy this isn’t.

Starved premieres August 4 at 10 pm on FX. Visit www.fxnetwork.com, www.medainc.org, or www.nationaleatingdisorders.org for more information.