Hercules is never wrong. In an episode of “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys,” Iolaus asks the immortal hero if he has ever been wrong, to which Hercules replies, “I thought so once, but I was wrong.”

Rather ironically, the man behind Hercules, Kevin Sorbo, had a God-like premonition as he predicted Hercules would be a success before it even became a television show.

Hercules started out as a series of five made-for-television movies. While shooting the second movie, Sorbo, who played Hercules, was involved in a scene with Michael Hurst, who played Iolaus.

“I thought to myself, ‘this is going to be a huge hit. They’re going to make this a one hour show’.”

Sorbo called his manager and agent later in the day to tell them about his intuitive prediction. He asked if the show had been picked up as a television series, but they said “no.” “I said, ‘they’re going to. This is a very unique show with the action and the comedy and the moral messages in every episode. I think this will strike a chord with people and they will enjoy it’.”

Of course, Sorbo was right. Hercules aired for seven years through syndication, at one point becoming the most watched show in the world. “It’s like that voice we have inside our heads that tells us to take a left instead of a right. I think ultimately we should listen to that voice.”

The third season of “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys” will be released as a DVD set on Tuesday. Sorbo partook in the DVD commentary on several of the episodes, in which he watched several of them from season three and recorded his comments. He hadn’t watched them since they aired in 1996, and felt removed from the show.

“It was weird,” he tells andPOP, on the line from his office in Henderson, Nevada. “I enjoyed watching them and it was strange.”

He currently stars in another syndicated show, Andromeda. He wears more clothes in Andromeda, so he doesn’t have to work out as much. Since Hercules stopped shooting, he has lost 20 pounds of muscle.

“I sometimes miss the beefcake look. The chicks did it more.” However, he doesn’t miss the long hours. He used to put in 18 hours a day acting on Hercules and working out. Now, he works 12.

Six months before Hercules went off the air in 1999, Sorbo started looking for his next project. At the risk of being typecast as an actor who could only portray a mythological character, he did not sit around waiting for another job. He almost agreed to be on a CBS show, which sometimes, he says, “I wish I would have done. In syndication, you sort of get lost in the media shuffle. Hollywood doesn?t even blink an eye. We don?t have the publicity machine behind it.”

He was offered the lead role of “Captain Dylan Hunt” on Andromeda. Even though he would be in that same syndicated situation with this show, Sorbo couldn’t turn it down. CBS offered him a 6-episode guarantee, while Andromeda offered him a 44-show guarantee.

To his credit, Sorbo was listed as number three on a list of the top 10 syndicated stars, behind Oprah and Regis. “I just don’t have their salaries.”

Sorbo, 45, appreciates the challenges of playing Captain Hunt.

“It?s a more dramatic role,” he says. “It’s darker. There’s still humour, there’s no question about that. This guy is human. He’s more fallible than Hercules ever was. In some ways, he’s a more interesting character to play from an actor’s standpoint. It’s fun to be able to flex the acting muscle with occasional yet very well written episodes.”

Andromeda’s fifth and final season begins in April. “The studio doesn?t want to do anymore and I’m ready to move on to other things.”

Sorbo hopes to land another CBS-type deal, like the one he turned down in 1999. He also wants to start a feature-film career. He is currently fighting for the rights to two books (he can’t say which ones, fearing someone else might take them before he does), and is trying to get some powerful people behind two other scripts.

Whatever project he tackles next, and whatever stage he is at in his life, Kevin Sorbo will always be associated with the Hercules character. He doesn’t mind that one bit.

“Hercules hit a nerve with people. [The spin-off] Xena never would have happened if Hercules wasn?t a success and there were a lot of other shows which tried to copy the formula of it. We came around just at the right time and had the right cast and crew put together. We got lucky.”

Check out the official Hercules site.

Hercules: The Legendary Journey, the third season, is in stores March 23. The DVD collection includes: audio commentary From Kevin Sorbo and Michael Hurst, behind the scenes interviews, Hercules chronicles and mythology, a photo gallery, direct access scenes, biographies, and trivia.






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