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"Strange Wilderness" takes a talented cast and a promising premise and strands them in the woods with hardly a laugh at their disposal.

The latest in the series of lowbrow male-bonding comedies that probably peaked with "Superbad," "Strange Wilderness" feels as though it has arrived at a party that has just broken up. However, the film's end credits reveal a copyright date of 2006, which suggests that this mess was exiled until it could slip in on the coattails of a trend that might provide it with a forgiving audience.

Make that a forgiving and chemically altered audience.

While alcohol and illicit drugs have played a role in other movies of this ilk, "Strange Wilderness" is pickled in them. There's no way the filmmakers expected people to come in sober and laugh at this turkey. It's not possible, even in a scene that involves a turkey gobbling what no turkey should ever gobble.

Born from a series of short videos created by a couple of former "Saturday Night Live" writers, "Strange Wilderness" has the vibe of a skit that has gone on too long. Steve Zahn ("Sahara," "Daddy Day Care") plays Peter Gaulke, who has succeeded his late father as the host of a TV nature show called "Strange Wilderness."

Where his father mixed science and entertainment with a light touch, Pete bumbles his way through, falling short as both a nature expert and a film-production person. Somehow he has managed to stay on the air, albeit at 3 a.m., but now his station manager, Ed Lawson (Jeff Garlin), has a chance to replace him with a real outdoorsman, the smooth and unscrupulous Sky Pierson (Harry Hamlin), and Ed gives Pete two weeks' notice.

Pete tries to rouse his crew members toward inspiration, hoping that if they come up with a knockout idea for an episode Ed will give them a second chance. But it's only when Pete gets a visit from his dad's old buddy, Bill Calhoun (Joe Don Baker), that the show sees signs of a future.

Bill has discovered that the legendary Bigfoot is living deep in a jungle in Ecuador, and he has a map to his location. He's willing to sell Pete the map for a paltry $1,000, but he needs payment in cash within a week.

Pete has no money, but he sets out in the show's RV with partner/sound man Fred Wolf (Allen Covert of "Grandma's Boy"), production assistant Cooker (Jonah Hill of "Superbad"), cameraman Junior (Justin Long of "Accepted"), auto-mechanic-turned-animal-handler Whitaker (Kevin Heffernan of "Beerfest"), travel agent Cheryl (Ashley Scott of "Walking Tall") and driver Danny Guiterrez (Peter Dante of "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry"). Pete figures they can film other segments along the way, and they'll come up with the money somehow.

Several misadventures later, Pete and the gang are in Ecuador dealing with threats from humans and nature in their own clueless way.

The real-life Fred Wolf (director/co-writer) and Peter Gaulke (co-writer) make "Strange Wilderness" feel half-baked, and not just because of its drug content. The characters are only partially developed. Their backstories and even their purposes within the story are sketchy. The film insists that Pete and Fred are great friends, but there's no chemistry between Zahn and Covert. Scott comes aboard as the token hot chick, but she barely gets any screen time.

Dante is annoying, and Long is nowhere near as funny as he's been in his other comedy projects. The most solid performance comes from baby-faced Heffernan, whose droll delivery as a semi-recovering alcoholic make one nostalgic for "Beerfest." He steals every scene.

Not that it helps. "Strange Wilderness" isn't as strange ---------------- or as funny ---------------- as it thinks it is.