Bruce Campbell gets a new goofy gig

Jack be nimble, Jack be quick - Jack be an egocentric idiot.

Sure, it's a stretch to imagine cool cult actor Bruce Campbell ("Hercules: The Legendary Journeys," "Xena: Warrior Princess," "The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.," "The Evil Dead") playing an early 19th-century moron who thinks he's a sexy international spy.

But that's his goofy gig in half-hour syndicated action satire "Jack of All Trades," premiering tomorrow (9:30 p.m., KTWB-TV).

"Arrogance, ignorance, blowhardedness," Campbell says, describing his simple-minded swashbuckler-character Jack Stiles.

Just picture "Get Smart's" legendarily inept agent Maxwell Smart - with empty-headed matinee idol looks.

"James Bond is far more unassuming than our Jack," Campbell, 41, says from his home in Oregon.

Crafted by "Cleopatra" producers and longtime Campbell collaborators Rob Tapert and Sam Raimi ("Hercules," "Xena," "Evil Dead"), "Jack" is set in the remote Pacific isle of Palau in the East Indies.

Stiles, under orders from Thomas Jefferson, teams with beauteous Brit agent Emilia Rothschild (Angela Dotchin) to thwart despotic Napoleon and his evil brother Governor Croque (Stuart Devenie) who covet that part of the world.

His cover is personal attachÀe to Rothschild, who poses as a wealthy shipping merchant.

Then there's Stiles' other cover - his overblown alter ego The Daring Dragoon. On a mission to thwart a French battleship from reaching its destination, Stiles adopts the persona of the anti-imperialist folk hero - after fashioning a mask from Rothschild's underpants.

And Tapert and Raimi indulge in twisted revisionist history a la "Herc" and "Xena." In future episodes, Rothschild, a whiz at scientific invention, invents the bungee cord, a submarine and a version of pepper spray.

Wacky indeed. Yet Campbell expects "Jack" to be a slow build - "if viewers can find us."

"Jack" typifies the syndie action genre's double-bind. Time slots are usually not choice. Yet such shows are often allowed more time to build audiences than prime-time network shows are.

At half an hour in length, "Jack" flies fast.

"We don't get bogged down in the drudgery of detective work. We just find the bad guy and fight him right away."

Campbell's film and TV career has cruised more slowly. Devotees know him as an edgy outsider, star of cheap, out-there indie flicks "Maniac Cop," "Moontrap" and "Sundance."

"Evil Dead" - Raimi-Tapert's classic, ultra-low-budget horror-flick - jump-started Campbell's cult following in 1983. Then came sequels "Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn" (1987) and "Army of Darkness" (1993).

Warped, witty "Brisco County" (Fox, 1993-94) gave Campbell his first starring role on TV.

Campbell knocked around Los Angeles since 1986, then moved to rural Oregon a few years ago with his wife, Ida Gearon, and children Rebecca and Andy, now 15 and 12.

In between TV and movie roles he does voice-over work for video games.

Campbell also serves as co-executive producer on "Jack of All Trades."