Toss him a shotgun. Pass him a sword. Replace his hand with a chainsaw. Hear him yodel. He is The Man With That Superhero Chin: Bruce Campbell, fearless in his quest to entertain. Campbell's ugly-American superhero schtick has been perfected to a precise art, most notably with his likable-rogue characters, Ash (from The Evil Dead Trilogy) and Autolycus (on the syndicated shows Hercules and Xena). In fact, he is so flawless and adept in these roles that constant scuttlebutt surrounds him, touting him as the lead role for every popular comic book ever made. Spiderman, Superman, Darkman, Batman -- you name it, Campbell's name has mysteriously become attached, usually by eager, expectant fans. Unfortunately, this is just wishful thinking, says Campbell, as every single one of these rumours are untrue.

But fans have no need to fret or rally for Campbell to land roles. The actor is keeping very busy on his new and rather unconventional television series, Jack of All Trades, which premiered in syndication last January. "Take Get Smart, F-Troop, Wild Wild West and Moonlighting and put them in a bag from 1802, shake it up and you've got Jack of All Trades," he says, describing the show's premise. Campbell plays the title role, Jack Stiles: "He's the first international spy -- sent to the East Indies by Thomas Jefferson to team up with beautiful British spy Emilia Rothschild, and halt Napoleon's advance."

Jack of All Trades was created by Eric Morris (The Pretender, Spy Game, The Outer Limits) and is made under a familiar name -- Renaissance Pictures. Although this company nominally belongs to Robert Tapert and Sam Raimi, never far behind is Bruce Campbell. The cherished triumvirate have been longtime friends since their high school days in Michigan, where they experimented and honed their craft in fifty plus amateur films on an old Super 8 movie camera. One half Three Musketeers and one half Three Stooges, Jack of All Trades is another campy romp, filled with exaggerated sound effects and very distinct Raimi/Tapert humour (e.g. a rollicking theme song by dancing bar maids, pirates, soldiers and parrots), all in the similar vein of Renaissance's Hercules and Xena.

The self-conscious, non-serious style of Renaissance Pictures television has allowed for Campbell to show off his broad comedic chops. The example that immediately springs to mind is his farcical impression of executive producer Rob Tapert in a couple behind-the-scenes parody episodes of Hercules. Likewise, one week on Xena, the spirit of the Warrior Princess inhabits the body of Autolycus: Prince of Thieves, yi-yi-yi-yi-yi battle cry and all. "Since both portrayals were utterly absurd, I think they were both fine with it," says Campbell when asked whether he received critical feedback. "With Rob, the only similarity of my character to him was the he had red hair as a kid. In Lucy's case, I think she was happy to have us fill in for her so she could recover from a broken pelvis."

There's no doubt that Campbell's characters have a great deal of charisma. But the likes of Autolycus, Ash and Brisco (of Fox's defunct western series, The Adventures of Brisco Country Jr) also tend to be very caustic, even chauvinistic at times. How can a Campbell hero declare things like, "C'mon She-Bitch! Let's go!" and still be swooned over by vast female audiences? "Well, look deep and you'll find redeeming qualities in all of them," surmises Campbell, theorizing on why his characters are adored equally by both sexes. "At the end of the day, each will do the right thing. Aside from that, I think as flawed characters, they're a little easier to relate to than the ideal hero type."

Not that the these are the only characters that Campbell can play. The actor has proven his dramatic range in some very straight, serious guest roles on Homicide, American Gothic and The X-Files. While some actors live in fear of typecasting, Campbell doesn't feel that there are any parts of his personality that can't be expressed within any character, particularly with his new incarnation in Jack of All Trades. "Jack falls under the 'likable rogue' category, but there's a dash more hero than normal. He's a blowhard, but he can almost back it up and he always comes through in the end, but just barely," explains Campbell. "Jack is also on the right side of the law which makes him a little more normal. He's the ultimate hybrid of every character I've ever played." And forget any complaints of being pigeonholed. The roles that Campbell plays are, ultimately, his choices. "I like the broad stuff better, and I love going to work every day under these circumstances," he adds.