If you think the words "surfer" and Denver go together like oil and water, guess again.

In the fall of 2004, a movie crew descended on Denver to shoot the feature film The Surfer King, a teen comedy about a kid forced to move with his mom (Lindsay Wagner) from his hang-10 buds in Oceanside, Calif., to landlocked Colorado.

As these things go, the kid, played by Randy Wayne (Sons and Daughters) lands a job at Hyland Hills Water World, falls in love with a cutie-pie colleague (Keri Lynn Pratt) and is befriended by legendary-surfer-turned-water-park plumber played by veteran actor Alan Thicke.

The movie will make its star-studded debut at 8 p.m. April 5 in the Buell Theatre. Tickets, which benefit three local charities, are $20 and available online at premiere.thesurferking.com.

Stars slated to shine at the premiere include: Wayne, Wagner, Thicke, Gabriel Iglesias and Ben Ziff. More than a thousand local folks will appear in the film.

I interviewed Thicke, the self-described "America's dad," in August 2004 after his on-location filming in Denver.

"The Denver crew had a whole personality and tone that is very non Los Angeles, which is quite refreshing," he said from his Santa Barbara ranch.

"Not that we don't love the L.A. bunch, but there was a sense of cooperation with one another - with everybody jumping in with excitement of making the movie - that was quite infectious."

April 5 will be Thicke's return to the Buell after a successful run in the touring company of Chicago several years ago.

"I had a delightful couple of weeks there," he said. "I got to go and visit the baseball park and hook up with Larry Walker, who is a fellow Canadian. He was kind enough to show me all around the Rockies' universe."

Thicke also had the rare opportunity to play a round of golf with gah-zillionaire Phil Anschutz. "He was kind enough to take me under his wing," Thicke said.

The actor who made a name for himself as the dad in the sitcom Growing Pains, said it's been a challenge to shake his good-guy image.

"It's a curse and a blessing to be typecast," he said.

"The blessing is I'm America's dad and proud of it. There's a big franchise for that in terms of work. Having said that, I still get enough opportunity to play other things. I know people wonder, 'Can he be a bad guy?' For which I refer them to my ex-wife's lawyer."

CONTESTANTS CONTEND: Would-be inventors from the Denver casting call for the ABC series American Inventor will appear on this week's episode airing at 8 p.m. Thursday on Denver's 7.

Thousands of folks who figured they've invented a better mousetrap showed up for last December's Denver casting call. Winner takes $1 mil.

DOGGONE FUNDRAISER: Some of Denver's two-legged foodies are hosting a benefit for their four-legged friends during the second annual Give Paws gala for the Denver Dumb Friends League, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Strings, 17th Avenue and Humboldt Street.

The evening includes a six-course meal from some of Denver's top chefs paired with wines, and a silent auction.

Tickets are $100 per person; reservations: 303-831-7310.

PRAIRIE COMPANION'S RECORD PACE: Tickets for A Prairie Home Companion With Garrison Keillor on May 6 at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland sold out in a record-breaking 13 minutes on Saturday, setting a record for the fastest-selling show at the center since it opened in September 2003.

EAVESDROPPING on two women at Mile High Station: "Have you ever had a Denver Boot?"

"I've had a Florsheim's collection of Denver Boots."