Is Kevin Sorbo the next John Travolta?
OK, maybe that’s an unfair comparison, but it’s the first thing that struck me when I watched the first episode of Wolf Canyon.
Sorbo, who up until this point has been portrayed on TV as a beefcake in Hercules and a commander in the sci-fi series Andromeda, has reinvented himself in the APTN pilot – like John Travolta did in Pulp Fiction.
How does Sorbo do it? By playing a drunken, womanizing lout on a faux syndicated action series called, appropriately enough, Wolf Canyon.
The series follows the cast, crew and producers of the “third-rate” program as they head back into production on Season 2.
Gone is Wolf Canyon’s lead from Season 1; he’s been lured away to Hollywood thanks to success in an independent film.
Left without a star, the producers call on a burnt-out has-been named Rick Denham (Sorbo) who arrives, drunk, in a van on Canyon’s set in a remote area of Canada’s north.
Rick makes an immediate impression on those assembled (Corner Gas’s Lorne Cardinal, comedian Nikki Payne and Harper’s Island’s Ali Liebert all play either cast or crew members) for the first shoot of Season 2.
He stumbles out of the van and throws up. Then he careens into one of the sets and immediately hits on his female co-stars.
Sorbo is laugh-out-loud funny playing against type, something co-creators Tim Stubinski and Mike Marcus were pleasantly surprised about.
“When you think of Kevin, you think of Andromeda and Hercules … you think of him being heroic,” Marcus says on the line from Pembroke, Ont.
“His comedic timing in Hercules was really good, so [it was great] for him to have the opportunity to do full-on comedy … to play someone so completely against his normal type. He ran with it. During the shoot, he thought he wasn’t over-the-top enough. It was kind of funny.”
Says Stubinski, “Rick walks around with puke on him for the rest of the episode and Kevin kept asking if there was enough on his shirt or if we should add more. He was really concerned with whether the puke would play properly or not.”
The two say it was Sorbo’s past history with Wolf Canyon producers Allan and Cynde Harmon on Andromeda that led to him coming on not only as the lead, but as executive producer as well.
“He was the only first choice for Rick as far as the Harmons were concerned,” Marcus says. “Kevin read the pilot, loved it, and was on board pretty much from the start.”
Wolf Canyon is gritty, comparable to Trailer Park Boys rather than Corner Gas. It pushes the envelope with its bawdy humour, ragey characters and grey moral areas. It’s addictive, well-written stuff that leaves you wanting more.
Will Rick soften and stop chasing skirts? Will production commence on this faux show, or be derailed? Will the characters kill each other, or put their differences aside?
I want to know; it’s a pity there is only this one episode to go by. Marcus and Stubinski have a 22-episode arc for Wolf Canyon figured out, and hope that decent ratings – and undoubtedly a pick-up by a U.S. network – lead to a full season of Wolf Canyon.
Until then, just sit back and enjoy this motley crew of individuals, and remember to tell people that you were there when Sorbo became the next John Travolta.
greg@tvguide.ca
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Wolf Canyon debuts Thursday, Dec. 24, at 8 p.m. ET, APTN East/HD; Saturday, Dec. 26, at midnight CT, APTN North
