Wolf Canyon (APTN: Really Real Films, 2009) is a bit too generic to be on APTN.  The show is set on a reservation, and Lorne Cardinal plays a role on the show.  Despite this, Wolf Canyon feels like you could rip the “native” decals off and still have the same show.  This is Kevin Sorbo’s show, pure and simple.

Sorbo plays Rick Denham, a washed-up alcoholic actor.  Denham replaces former star Johnny Wilkes, who has found “greater” success as the star of an independent film.  Denham is also director Quincy Paul’s (Matty Finochio) estranged father.

Lorne Cardinal plays Hoyt Talbot Jr., the out-of-it stuntman.  Diane Wesson-Smythe (Nikki Payne) is the executive producer/Amy Poehler soundalike.  Carol Van Gleason (Barbara Tyson) and Samantha Hollis (Jessica Harmon) are the female cobreasts.

Denham and the other crewpeople try to stave off boredom while shooting on the Horse Head Lake First Nation reserve.  Wolf Canyon sets up a troubled production, somehow remaining in syndication despite itself.  Executive producer Allan Harmon cameos as a production executive who has technically cancelled Wolf Canyon, although the cancellation order is buried by the end of the pilot.

Wolf Canyon is a confusing mix of Corner Gas and 30 Rock.  It’s not as funny or biting as it should be, going for a broad gag every so often.  Sorbo playing a drunk asshole is surprisingly effective casting, but Wolf Canyon lacks a distinctive voice.

I’d rather see a full-on pisstake of cheap, syndicated Canadian television.  Shows like Beastmaster, Painkiller Jane and Blood Ties deserve the Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire treatment.  Wolf Canyon‘s show-within-a-show deserves more air time, as the pilot barely scratches its surface.

Wolf Canyon‘s second episode is currently being written, as APTN mulls whether the show will earn a full season.  Kevin Sorbo has his cadre of fans, so this show’s a lock.  I’m not sure if failed pilots even exist on APTN.

Tales of an Urban Indian will air Thursday, December 24, 8:30 PM ET on APTN East and 8:30 PM MT on APTN West.  APTN North will fling the show out December 26 at 11:00 PM CT.

The show is about First Nations actor Simon Douglas (Darrell Dennis), recently on-the-wagon and bothered by media stereotypes of Native people.  To combat this, Douglas becomes a documentarian.

Tales of an Urban Indian is based on Darrell Dennis’ play, which toured Off-Broadway earlier this year.  The play has existed in some form since 1999, although it’s only hit the American consciousness within the past year.  How the play will translate into a series, God only knows.

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The first episode of Health Nutz airs Sunday, December 27 at 11:00 PM ET (APTN East)/11:00 PM MT (APTN West)/11:00 PM CT (APTN North.)  Former hockey player/currently destitute Buzz Riel Jr. (Kevin Loring) inherits a juice bar from his father.  To keep the juice bar, Riel must stay clean and sober.  Hilarity is scheduled to ensue.

If Laura Mennell’s Facebook page is accurate, Health Nutz has already been picked up for six episodes.  Laura Mennell plays high-class pill/man popper Jennifer Noir in the pilot.  If Health Nutz has already made it to series, airing the pilot at 11:00 PM is odd scheduling.

APTN describes Health Nutz as “the juice-bar version of the hit sitcom Cheers…”  I love how APTN has to point out the hit series status of Cheers, a show which spent its final eight seasons in the Nielsen Top Ten.  I think APTN’s overselling Health Nutz a bit.

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I wasn’t sure if Wolf Canyon counted as an APTN pilot, but it does.  Kevin Sorbo is the name actor attached to the show, which threw me off.  Lorne Cardinal also has a role as Hoyt Talbot Jr.

The show centres around the cast of syndicated time filler Wolf Canyon, which Rick Denham (Sorbo) is the star of.  The object is to compare and contrast the fictitious Horse Head Lake First Nation reserve with production of a third-rate action series.

Kevin Sorbo is an interesting casting choice.  It reminds me of Alan Thicke’s role on jPod, in that Sorbo is playing the asshole version of himself.  Needless to say, Sorbo should know the world of syndicated fluff very well by this point.

Wolf Canyon will air Thursday, December 24, 8:00 PM ET on APTN East and 8:00 PM MT on APTN West.  APTN North will air Wolf Canyon December 26, midnight CT.