Super Dave Osborne is gearing up for more outrageous stunts.
The accident-prone daredevil, portrayed by U.S. comic Bob Einstein, says he's in talks to resume his televised exploits, and promises they'll be bigger and better than ever.
"Obviously, I have to go pretty absurd," says Einstein, whose misadventures in the '80s as the klutzy stuntman included a fall from the CN Tower and being eaten alive by Mr. T.
"I can't really divulge what we're going to do but it will be absurd, I promise. And you know, now with computer imaging and things like that, you can do a little more. ... I can take it, maybe, another step."
Aside from being utter fiascos, Super Dave's antics were known for their low-budget effects, often involving haphazard contraptions designed by stunt co-ordinator Fuji and featuring flimsy protective padding and harnesses made from "genuine Saskatchewan sealskin bindings."
Stunts would invariably end with a stuffed dummy dressed as Super Dave being crushed, burned, buried, flung or worse.
"I'm able to go into an immediate coma, so I don't remember too much," Einstein says when reminded of his alter ego's dismal record.
Dressed in his trademark red-white-and-blue Super Dave jumpsuit for an interview at a downtown hotel, Einstein readily agrees that the amateur touches of his early skits added greatly to their humour, and even though he's eager to incorporate new technology he insisted that the spirit would remain the same.
Einstein refused to reveal more about the potential series but predicted that shooting would begin next summer in California.
The Los Angeles-born Einstein lives in L.A., but Canadian fans can be forgiven for believing he was a Canuck.
He spent 12 years in Toronto during Super Dave's heyday, appearing regularly on Jon Byner's Bizarre sketch comedy series and later starring on his own talk show, The Super Dave Osborne Show.
Einstein says he thinks back fondly on his time in Canada but admits there were painful moments here, too. Literally.
"You can't do everything I did for all those years and not sustain some injuries," he says.
Much like Super Dave's best-laid plans for over-the-top tricks, Einstein's plans for hilarious mock stunts occasionally ended horribly for himself. He recalled once driving into a scene on a motorcycle and putting his left heel down to stop. His heel broke.
"Which is about as painful as you can possibly imagine," he says. "And I'm rolling around on the ground and the crew and everyone are dying laughing, thinking I'm acting, and the more I yell 'I'm serious!' the harder they're laughing - they're crying," he says, apparently still exasperated.
Then there was the "very arrogant special-effects man" who fashioned a plaster of Paris cast for Einstein's rear so they could shoot an arrow into his pants. The skit involved a golf course built on an ancient burial ground and an annoyed aboriginal man trying to drive Super Dave off the land.
Einstein recalls the special-effects man assuring him that everything would be fine.
"And so he (shoots the arrow) and it goes right through the plaster of Paris, into my behind. And I can't explain the pain of getting a razor arrow shot into your ass," he says.
"And the last thing I did is, I looked over at him before I fell - because I had to complete the stunt - and he gave me a palms-up, like, 'Hey, you win a few, you lose a few."'
In recent years, Einstein has kept busy with guest appearances on Curb Your Enthusiasm (as Marty Funkhouser), the defunct Arrested Development (as Larry Middleman) and the caper flick Ocean's 13 (as Agent Caldwell).
Einstein says he's excited to resume shooting Curb Your Enthusiasm in December, promising more unfortunate hilarity next season.
"I guarantee you, in the first episode another member of my family gets it," says Einstein, whose character lost both of his parents in recent seasons.
For those who can't wait for his alter ego's return, a DVD of favourite Super Dave stunts hits the market on Tuesday. Titled Super Dave's Super Stunts Spectacular, Vol. 1, the 140-minute collection includes the infamous CN Tower debacle, in which Super Dave is accidentally knocked off the top of the Toronto landmark.
It also features the basketball catapult stunt, in which Super Dave tries to stage the highest slam dunk ever but ends up smashing his entire body into the glass backboard behind the net.
Although Einstein says it's been over a decade since Super Dave performed his outlandish feats, the trim 66-year-old says he's ready to tackle new ones and has worked hard at staying in shape and looking young.
"Instead of eating, I do Botox. I have about 1,100 pounds of Botox all over my body," he says.
"It's a body Botox and if it ever cracks, I'm in trouble."