HOLLYWOOD — So, Scott Wolf, how do you feel about joining the cast of "Everwood" this season?
"I'm excited," Wolf said. "It's a great show."
But it means you have to move to Utah, where the show is produced. How do you feel about that?
"I'm excited," Wolf said. "I think Utah is a beautiful place. My wife and I love it."
That Scott Wolf is one excitable guy. The former "Party of Five" star is certainly enthusiastic about his return to series television.
"I really do think this is a wonderful show with great characters," Wolf said. "I'm happy they asked me to be part of it."
He plays Jake Hartman, a handsome (naturally) young man who's looking to move out of congested Southern California to pristine, smalltown Everwood. Which coincides with Dr. Harold Abbott's (Tom Amandes) need to lease out his former office space, now that he's going into practice with Andy Brown (Treat Williams).
What Harold doesn't realize is that Jake is a doctor who'll set up a competing practice.
"It's a great setup," Wolf said. "We'll be having some conflict, I'm sure."
And not just with Harold. There are some romantic complications in the offing, too.
"Yeah, they've told me a little bit about that as well," Wolf said. "That's definitely coming."
Wolf and the producers are a bit coy about that. But it's clear that Andy is going to finally realize he's attracted to next-door-neighbor Nina (Stephanie Niznik), but Jake will be, too.
"There aren't that many female characters in the town," said creator/executive producer Greg Berlanti with a laugh. "You do the math."
Wolf is certainly pleased to be playing a grownup this time around. Still boyish looking at 36, his "Everwood" character's age isn't certain. But it's not like when "Party of Five" began and he was 26 playing 16.
"It's certainly not a bad thing to look young, especially as an actor," he said. "And I loved playing Bailey (on "Five"). But I'm looking forward to playing this guy, too."
Wolf and his character are a welcome note in the third-season premiere (8 p.m., Ch. 30) — a bit of comic relief in an otherwise heavy episode. Ephram (Gregory Smith) is back from his summer at Juilliard in New York, but it's obvious something is wrong.
C'mon, you didn't expect his new relationship with Amy (Emily VanCamp) to go smoothly, did you? There'd be no drama in that.
And there's plenty of drama as Andy deals with his decision not to tell Ephram that his ex-girlfriend, Madison, is pregnant. Andy gets a letter from Madison, and it's not what he was hoping to hear.
Much of the hour is spent setting up the third season. Which gets off to a promising start.
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com