Evan Adams a natural on Buffalo Tracks

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The best in Aboriginal talent from across the country is coming to your television set every Friday, on Buffalo Tracks.

The hour-long talk show, hosted by Evan Adams, is broadcast on APTN, and has quickly become the network's highest rated show. Adams, who is better known as an actor than as a talk show host, became involved in the show through his past work with Buffalo Tracks producer Gary Farmer. The two had worked together on the movie Smoke Signals, and Farmer thought of Adams when he was looking for a host.

Adams said he was initially reluctant to take on the role of host because of the time commitment involved in taping a weekly show. Although he continues to work as an actor, his main focus right now is on his studies at the University of Calgary where he is a third- year medical student.

"I originally said, 'I couldn't do that. It's like, way too many shows, and I'm in medical school,' Adams said, but Farmer found a way to work around his schedule.

Once a month, Adams takes "an extra long weekend," flies out to Brantford, Ont. where the show is taped, and tapes five episodes. By mid-December, 26 episodes of the show will have been produced.

With such a compacted shooting schedule, Adams said some production days can be grueling, but he doesn't get much sympathy about it.

"People don't listen to me when I say, 'Oh yeah, shooting a talk show is really hard.' 'Oh, shut up. You've got your own show. It looks like fun,'" he said.

When asked about any moments from the show that stick out in his mind, Adams doesn't hesitate before answering.

"For me, when I think of the show, I think of the beginning of the show, when the camera first goes on, and I go 'Hi, welcome to Buffalo Tracks.' It's such an important moment. I kind of chat for a couple of minutes, and set the line up, basically set the tone for the whole show. That's really, really, really hard-a hard place to be in. You're trying to be funny, trying to be warm, trying to communicate lots of information and ideas, and try and keep this monologue in my mind. Chatting about this and that, this and that. It's rough. It's like being in an exam."

Although he's host of the show, Adams said he has no input as to who the guests are going to be.

"I ask for people once in a while, make suggestions, but the ultimate decision is left up to the producers," he said, adding that some of the people on his wish list will be showing up in upcoming episodes.

The reaction to the show from viewers has been very positive, Adams said, judging from the messages sent to the show's web site.

"We get so many people writing in, saying how they like it. I think people respond to the guests. The guests are pretty cool," he said.

Although Buffalo Tracks is attracting a following, Adams doesn't think he can count many of his fellow medical students among the show's fans.

"Oh, they think it's pretty silly," he said when asked what the other students think of his extracurricular activities. "But I think the majority of them think I'm just lying. They think I have a personality disorder and I'm lying, and I say, 'No, really.' Of course, if they ever turned on the TV they might actually see me, but none of them have TVs, and none of them have time to watch TV, so my outside life is not apparent to them, whatsoever."

He can, however, count his family members among the show's loyal viewers.

"My Mom watches it religiously. So do my nephews and nieces. They just think it's hysterical. I don't know why. My nephew, who's four, is going to be five, he usually has, like, a cartoon character on his cake, has asked for me this year. He thinks I'm a cartoon character. It cracks me up. They like to watch it. They think it's pretty silly sometimes," he said. "I tell a joke about my family every show. They love it. They think it's very, very funny."

In addition to Buffalo Tracks and medical school, Adams is also finding time for some acting projects. He's a regular on a series called "Thee Arms of Mine," which airs on CBC on Friday nights, and has filmed an episode of Da Vinci's Inquest, which should air soon.

"I'm playing a crack head in that. It's pretty funny," he said.

He's also thinking about doing a new film in the new year, he said, "but I don't know how I can do it."

"Pretty soon I will be a clerk, that's a medical student in their final year. I start my final year in March. And for that I need to be completely available for the hospital. I won't be able to shoot at all," he said. "I'm going to try really hard not to work."

As for his future as a television talk show host, Adams is waiting to see what comes his way.

"I never really thought about being a talk show host. I thought about being an actor, or a doctor. I can't say talk show host was on my list of things to do. And at the beginning, people would say, 'boy you're really a natural. You were born to be a talk show host.' At the beginning, I didn't quite know if that was a compliment or not. But now, I'm deciding, 'OK, thank you, that's nice.'"

"I want to be a dramatic actor," he says, hamming it up, enunciating the words as a true thespian would. "And I want to be a good doctor. And we'll see what else I can fit in. I'm hoping to have a personal life, sometime before I'm 40. That would be nice. That would be good."

As for the here and now, Adams is hoping the viewing audience is enjoying the show as much as he is.

"The show is good Indian fun. I think all the Indians in the world should watch it," he said.

Buffalo Tracks airs three times on Friday-the original broadcast at 2 p.m. EST, is repeated at 8 p.m. EST and at 2 a.m. EST.