DURING the dayglo early ’90s, Pauly Shore was the man. As the Weasel, a ringlet-sporting slacker, he prompted a generation of teens to pause between syllables of words – as in “this is may-jor” and “hey buhdee” – and was MTV’s most recognizable Veejay.

He even had his own genre of movies: the Pauly Shore Movie. Whether you liked them or not, you’ve probably seen “Encino Man,” “Bio-Dome” and/or “Son in Law.” And despite being universally panned by critics, the movies actually made money at the box office.

But my, how the mighty have fallen. These days, Shore can’t seem to catch a break. Since his 1997 Fox sitcom, “Pauly,” was cancelled, he’s become the butt of jokes from people who never even saw the Weasel in action.

What’s a guy to do, kill himself?

Actually, yes. In the 2003 black comedy “Pauly Shore Is Dead,” which he wrote, produced and financed himself, Shore fakes his own death on the advice of the ghost of Sam Kinison, thinking that he’ll be more famous after he’s dead. Everyone from Eminem and Sean Penn to the Hilton sisters and Chris Rock were tapped for trash-talking cameos.

As bizarre as this sounds, the truth is that Shore’s a successful standup comic. He rakes it in when he tours comedy clubs, as he’ll be doing at Carolines from July 28 to 31. Beginning tonight at 10, he’ll also have a new TV show, TBS’ “Minding the Store.” The show follows the trials and tribulations of Paul Montgomery Shore – yes, PMS – the son of Sammy (a comic who opened for Elvis) and Mitzi Shore, as he runs his mom’s legendary Comedy Store, where people like David Letterman, Jim Carrey and Richard Pryor got their starts.

Q: You’re offering a dollar to anyone who doesn’t smile, laugh, giggle or grin during tonight’s episode of “Minding the Store.” Isn’t that kind of dangerous?

A: I’m a dangerous guy. I just thought it was funny. After the moneyback guarantee with “Cinderella Man,” I called TBS up and said, “Why don’t we do the same thing? If no one likes the show, they get a dollar.” They checked it out, and said they could do it. That’s the campaign: If you don’t smile, smirk or laugh, write in to TBS and they’ll send you a dollar. But it’s only good up to 250,000 people, after that we’ll be like, “OK! We got the point!” We’re going by the honor system.

Q: You’re seeing a sex therapist. Are you really a sex addict?

A: I wouldn’t say I am. It’s been blown up in the show to make it entertaining. I think it’s really funny; it’s very Woody Allen. But I’m at this place in my life where I would like to meet a marriageable type girl, so meeting with the sex therapist is setting me up so I don’t make the screw-ups that I’ve made in the past. Almost like an alcoholic going to a bar and ordering a club soda, instead of a shot of whiskey.

Q: Is what we see on the show your current reality?

A: It’s an exaggeration of the truth; it’s not a reality show. It’s not a documentary about Pauly Shore – it’s based in reality and messed with so it’s entertaining, like “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” There are a lot of documentary-type reality shows out there that are kind of pathetic, like a train wreck and I didn’t want to do that, I wanted to do something different, keep it light.

Q: Doesn’t it bother you, making fun of the state of your career the way you did in your recent “Entourage” cameo?

A: People’s image of me as this “has been” or that I haven’t been around, I play into that – I make fun of it because I have a sense of humor about it. If you look at [the movie] “Pauly Shore Is Dead,” you’ll see how harsh I am on myself because I think it’s funny, I’m going for the joke. Pain brings out the comedy and at the end of the day, it’s about making people laugh – that’s my MO.

Q: If your parents weren’t in the comedy business, what would you be doing with your life?

A: I’d probably be a street dancer or mime in Paris or something. I would probably be living in Europe – I’d be Johnny Depp’s Kato [Kaelin] out in France. I could be taking care of his tomatoes. I could still be a mime if “Minding the Store” doesn’t work out.

Q: Are you doing the TV show because you need the money?

A: Oh no, if I want to go out on the road and tour, I can make a lot of money. That’s why I’ve been able to live my lifestyle, which hasn’t changed since the ’90s. My house and my cars and stuff like that are things that I’ve maintained for a long time. Just because I went away, doesn’t mean that I lost everything. That’s people’s funny preconceived notion; I’m not saying that it’s not true for a lot of actors or musicians, but for me it’s not – I’m a multimillionaire. You can put that in the headline.

Q: The Pauly Shore that we see in the show isn’t the slacker happy “Weasel” that most people remember. What happened?

A: Ta-da! When I first came on the scene in the early ’90s, I was who that guy was. Fast-forward 15 years later, and I think it would be pretty pathetic if I was still that guy. I’m not the David Lee Roth of comedy – you know what I mean? I’m still crazy and wild, but I’m the sloweddown version. I’ve matured. Now I’m a Jewish guy that drives a Mercedes, stays home and watches CNN. I go to the Russian spa a lot, take my spinning class and eat my sushi. You’ll see, on the show, I’m not that funny – I’m the straight person on the show, and everyone else around me is kind of outrageous.

Q: Where’d the old Pauly Shore go?

A: He’s in my closet, in my house in the Hollywood Hills. Sometimes I pull out the whole outfit, like late at night. Sometimes I’ll put on the lava lamp and play some old Warrant and be like “Yeow! The Weasel!”

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The score

Age: 37

Favorite Movie: “At Close Range.” Sean Penn’s badass in it, and it’s one of his great movies. It was a time when

he was going through a lot of turmoil and it comes out onscreen.

Favorite Food: Definitely sushi – spicy tuna handrolls with avocado. I’m addicted to it.

Favorite type of music: I love the hip-hop stuff – Eminem and his crew – it gets girls and guys going, everyone partying, it’s a good time. I also love the old Alice in Chains stuff.

Best memory from growing up at the Comedy Store: The times when Richard Pryor would show up, sit there, drink his little Courvoisier and have a cigarette before going on stage. His presence was pretty unbelievable.

The Pauly Shore movie you should watch: “Jury Duty.” I like the stuff with Stanley Tucci in the third act. He’s a great comedic actor, and when you’re doing comedy and you play off of someone like that, it’s really funny.