In some ways Kevin Nealon's character in Weeds represents every guy's dream.

Okay, not the bit about his life falling apart and practically everyone hating him. It's more of an attitude thing.

"Doug is a guy who absolutely thinks of himself before anyone else," Nealon said. "He's just seeking self-pleasure."

In that regard, Doug Wilson might be one of the most honest characters on TV today.

"And this is a guy who used to be an accountant," Nealon said. "I'm sure if any of those people were audited, they'd end up in prison."

The fifth season of Weeds makes its Canadian debut Sunday on Showcase. Season No. 5 already has aired in the United States on Showtime, which is the network of origin for the series.

Weeds stars Mary-Louise Parker as middle-aged widow Nancy Botwin, who started selling marijuana as a way to maintain the lifestyle to which she and her two sons had grown accustomed. Through the past four seasons, though, Nancy's world has become increasingly complicated and dangerous.

Nealon's character, Doug, started out merely as a steady customer of Nancy's. But he since has become a virtual member of this bizarre family, even as his own family life, business relationships and reputation have been obliterated.

Surely this role has gone in different directions than Nealon initially anticipated.

"I didn't really have any expectations for the character," said Nealon, 55. "I basically was going with what they had on the paper.

"But as the show kind of evolved, I started adding and embellishing things. And it kind of became more of a full, fleshed-out role. I think I brought a good deal of that to the character."

In the fifth-season premiere, a pregnant and vulnerable Nancy ponders her fate with Mexican crime boss Esteban (Demian Bichir); Isabelle (Allie Grant) discovers that her mother Celia (Elizabeth Perkins) isn't exactly worth a fortune as a hostage; and Doug, Andy (Justin Kirk) and Silas (Hunter Parrish) contemplate a new direction for a weed business of their own.

Nealon first became well-known to TV audiences through his stint on Saturday Night Live from 1986 to 1995. He said he's still a fan of SNL, although he admitted he doesn't watch it religiously any more.

"I see it occasionally," Nealon said. "I love the show, I feel a closeness to it, it's kind of like my alma mater. I like Fred Armisen, I think he's really good. And Kristen Wiig is good."

Looking back, the weekly stress of being on SNL for almost a decade must have prepared Nealon for just about anything in the entertainment biz, right?

"Pretty much," Nealon said. "Once you do live television like that, in an institution like Saturday Night Live, it's kind of like a boot camp for anything else. I mean, how much more high-pressure can anything be?

"So even now, when I do an episodic sitcom of something, and there's an audience there, it's almost as if I don't even notice the audience any more. Because it's taped, you can do it over and over."

In other words, once you've been through war, anything else feels like peace.

"Yeah," Nealon said. "You're just shell-shocked, I think."

Either that or high. This is Weeds, after all.