"The United Stats of America," on History Gotta love a television show that includes an expert who says, "It's actually safer to eat a sandwich off the toilet seat than your desk." The show is "The United Stats of America," and in it the Sklar brothers, Jason and Randy, are on a mission to kill the common perception that statistics are boring. They explore the numbers behind things you thought you knew and things you ought to know, but this is no blackboard exercise. The opening episode, Tuesday night on History, finds them peering into a wood chipper, poking around in airplane wreckage and fiddling with snakes, all in the interest of elaborating on the topic of the week: How are we most likely to die? The Sklars, who are twins, have done a variety of television work in the past, but they are comedians at heart, and no statistic they uncover can be allowed to pass without a quick joke. How to finish up a segment about which jobs result in the most and the fewest workplace fatalities? "Putting extra toner in your copy machine is not as dangerous as operating a chain saw," Randy summarizes. And Jason adds, "Yeah, you might die inside a little bit, but you're not going to die." Part of the point of the opening episode is to show that what we fear should often be the least of our worries. Snakes? A snake wrangler, after giving Jason some pointers in handling assorted serpents, breaks down the statistics for him: Only a handful of people die from snakebites each year in the United States, and snakebite victims tend to be young, intoxicated men. Mr. Sklar says with relief, "Now I'm realizing hardly anyone gets bit, you've got to be drunk, you've got to be a dude, you've got to be an idiot." As for that line about where to eat your sandwiches, it comes from a doctor the Sklars consult about germs in the home. But neither toilet seat nor desk turns out to be the most germ-covered thing in the house. When the Sklars find out what is - sorry, no spoilers here - their reaction is hilarious. The premiere builds to a droll "death bracket" elimination tournament mocking N.C.A.A. basketball: fireworks versus lightning; spider bites versus bee stings; flood versus avalanche. The ultimate winner, the biggest cause of death of all, isn't much of a surprise, but for anyone who doesn't object to a little black humor, the trip to this factoid will have been surprisingly amusing. United Stats of America History, Tuesday nights at 10, Eastern and Pacific times; 9, Central time. Produced for History by Left/Right. Ken Druckerman and Banks Tarver, executive producers for Left/Right; Dirk Hoogstra, Paul Cabana and John Verhoff, executive producers for History.