To anyone worried that the HBO drama "Big Love" might give the LDS Church or Utah's image a black eye - wait until you see what's next. 

While the controversial series thus far has been tame in its portrayal of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, several upcoming episodes take some hilarious - and I think fair - swipes at Mormon culture and procedure. 

As we all know (unless you've been living in a ward basketball gym), "Big Love" is HBO's new one-hour drama about a polygamist living in Sandy. Bill Paxton plays Bill Henrickson, owner of a chain of home-improvement stores who juggles a growing business, three wives and seven children.

Since the debut of "Big Love, which airs Sundays at 11 p.m., polygamists and anti-polygamists, along with LDS Church leaders and rank-and-file Mormons, have expressed concern about how the series portrays our corner of the world.

In the last couple of weeks, critics of the series - most of them Mormon - launched an e-mail campaign protesting the series and sent hundreds of complaints to HBO. 

Well, they'll have something to complain about now. In the April 23 episode, Bill seeks the help of a marketing team to advertise his stores. In one hysterical scene, the marketing executive pitching her idea to Bill and his partner shows them a picture of a frumpy woman whose sacred garment lines are showing. The marketer points out that Utahns will respect the woman because she wears temple garments. 

Another scene that might steam LDS members involves two Mormon missionaries who visit Nicki, one of the sister wives played by Chloe Sevigny. 

The two are portrayed as pushy, self-righteous and suspicious church representatives who won't take "no" for an answer. When Nicki literally kicks them off the porch, one of them pulls out a notebook and jots down her address as an "uncooperative." 

"So what?" you non-Mormons might be asking right now. In my experience as a non-Mormon, I've met some missionaries who behaved that way, though not to the degree shown in that scene. 

In one storyline, the Henricksons' neighbor, a Mormon ward bishop, and his wife befriend the youngest sister wife, Margene (Ginnifer Goodwin). 

They're portrayed as nice but overly perky and nosy people who subtly try to get Margene to learn more about church doctrine. In one especially funny scene, the three go to dinner and - you never see this in a TV restaurant scene - order diet Sprite and 2 percent milk. 

Anything can be parodied - even religion, death, disability or ethnicity - if the parody is truly funny and contains a kernel of truth. 

Will some Mormons be offended by these scenes? Probably. Whether that will add fuel to the furor over "Big Love" is hard to say. 

I don't think it should. After all, Mormon missionaries have been the target of some pointed parody, from "Saturday Night Live's" hilarious skit about missionaries trying to convert an Olympic skier on the slopes to the outrageous story of "Orgazmo," a movie about a missionary who becomes a porn star. 

If we take a good, hard look at ourselves and Utah culture, we realize there's plenty to laugh at. And we're the ones who should be laughing the loudest.

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