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Kristin Cavallari, Photo MTV

If you thought “The Hills” was full of drama before, Kristin Cavallari tells us you ain’t see nothing yet!

The former “Laguna Beach” star has taken the place of Lauren Conrad on the MTV show, which returns for a new season Sept. 28, and she’s already stirring the pot.  “I didn’t really watch ‘The Hills’ before.  When I decided to do it, I watched like three episodes.  I just thought it needed a little bit more action.  It was kind of boring before,” claims Cavallari, who is on the bad side of cast member “I’m just trying to make it more fun and exciting.”

When asked how the cast felt about her coming on the show, Cavallari responds, “I think it took a little getting used to for everybody.  It obviously created a little bit of drama in the beginning and now I think everybody is pretty cool with it, except for maybe Audrina,” she notes.

“We don’t even see each other so it’s not like we’re fighting.  I’m indifferent when it comes to Audrina.”

So what could possibly make two girls break out the claws?  “Because of Justin Bobby.  Because of a boy,” she adds of the supposed “love triangle” with Cavallari and Audrina’s ex-boyfriend Justin Bobby.  “I can’t really tell what’s happening there.  People will have to wait and see.”

Two people she is excited to share the screen with are the show’s resident villains Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt, who got married at the end of last season.  “I get along with them great.  I actually introduced them four years ago,” she reminds.  In fact, Cavallari has no problem with their shady reputation.  “I think it’s funny.  The thing is, you can’t really knock them because everyone is still talking about them so obviously they’re doing something right.  They love attention.  That’s what they want – they want people to talk about them.”

MONEY AND MORE MONEY:  Self-made billionaire Daymond John reports, “I’ve been very happy with the choices I’ve made so far” – as one of the title investors on ABC’s “Shark Tank.”  He points out, for example, that Tod Wilson’s sweet potato pie business from the first episode recently sold “4,000 pies in eight minutes on QVC — and it’s the worst possible time of the year for him.  His website used to get 90 hits a day.  Now it’s getting 6,500.  And business in his store has increased 1,000 per cent.  It shows the show is viable.”

Yes, and the fact that “Shark Tank” came back from almost tanking with a stunning 38 per cent ratings jump from its premiere to its second installment shows that, too.

“I’m a skeptical person, but the history of ‘Shark Tank’ and [its Japanese sister show] ‘Dragon’s Den’ speaks for itself.  This is 120 per cent authentic.  We are real, and this is purely our money.  I think that’s why the show started to pick up,” he stresses of the program, now airing on Monday nights, in which inventors, small business owners and other wanna-bes try to convince the panel of real-life entrepreneurs to give them funding.  “We don’t know anything about the contestants before we come in.  We’ll be told, ‘This is Catherine and John from Ohio and they have an interesting product.’  That’s all.  Some of these negotiations take an hour and a half,” he says.

John may be considered tough and even “snake like,” as one of his fellow entrepreneurs on the show put it, since he has a way of undercutting them at the last minute.  But he does have a soft spot for the contestants as well.  “I would have failed at that stage,” says the man who started his globally successful FUBU clothing line by sewing tie top hats himself on his mom’s sewing machine.  “Some I identify with because of their struggle, because they’re not prepared.  Then there are the ones who come so prepared I think, ‘My God, I don’t think I even know as much stuff as they know now.’”

THE MOTHERLY TYPE: With Warner Bros.’ “The Lottery Ticket” set for an October production start, they’re casting subsidiary roles in the feature that stars Ice Cube and Bow Wow – including that of Bow Wow’s character’s grandma, described as a matronly, “sanctified African American woman in her fifties.”  There are also an assortment of vicious, hardened criminal types to be cast in the story of an aspiring designer in the ghetto who finds he’s got the winning $370 million Lottery ticket – but has to wait through a weekend for the lottery office to open before he can be declared the winner.  Things get dramatic after word gets out about his ticket.

They’re also working on casting the mother – a Mercedes Ruehl or Lorraine Bracco type is what they have in mind — and grandmother of Barry Minkow – for the feature film that’s in the making about the convicted ZZZZ Best con man-turned-pastor who assists the FBI in anti-fraud cases.

With reports by Emily-Fortune Feimster

Director F. Gary Gray is taking a lot of pleasure in the fact that that his upcoming “Law Abiding Citizen” thriller is going to show moviegoers new aspects of both Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler.

“The chemistry between them reminds me of the onscreen chemistry you got with Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins in ‘Silence of the Lambs,’” Gray says.

The film has Butler as a man who goes on a stunningly planned spree of revenge after one of the men responsible for his family’s killing is set free in a plea deal — arranged by Foxx’s district attorney character.

“A lot of times when you hear Gerard Butler’s name, people go into how great-looking he is or how much of a ladies man he is,” Gray observes.  “I think with this, people are really going to get a sense of how much range he has as a serious actor.”

And they’ll get to see Oscar winner Foxx in a role that might previously have been considered “Denzel-like.”

MEANWHILE: Gray has jumped on the Twitter thing in a big way, Tweeting news bites, photos and video throughout production of the “Law Abiding Citizen” psychological thriller.  And now, he’s fallen into using the new medium as a marketing tool.  With the picture in post-production en route to an October premiere, Gray has announced his own contest in which the winner – the person who brings the most followers to Gray’s web page — will get to come to the “Law Abiding Citizen” premiere, complete with travel and accommodations provided.

F. Gary Gray, director of Overture Films' "Law Abiding Citizen"

“There’s been a great response from all over the world,” says Gray, whose credits range from “The Italian Job” and “Be Cool” to his unforgettable video for TLC’s “Waterfalls.”  “It really is exciting, and you know what’s really funny?  It wasn’t something that was planned by the head of marketing.  It just kind of happened.  You start to develop a digital kind of relationship with the Twitterers.  It’s reciprocal.

“At any given time, you have access to thousands of opinions, and you can get constructive criticism — mostly constructive,” he goes on.  “That’s pretty hard to beat.  No middle man, no conduit.  It’s not filtered.  It’s raw, real time response.  It’s important for artists to keep their fingers on the public pulse.  This is an effective way to do it.”

Gray has also been doing what might be called Twitter tutoring – answering followers’ questions about how to break into the movie business, about how to get cast in films, about writing, directing – in addition to queries about working with stars like Ice Cube, Queen Latifah, Charlize Theron, John Travolta, Vince Vaughn and many more.  “Last night, I had a marathon Twittering session, a little over two hours.  That was ok, I was at home, I had a snack,” he says.  “I didn’t actually plan it, not at all.  It was just one of those things.”

THE VIDEOLAND VIEW: With Chevy Chase returning to NBC as part of the buzz-worthy fall comedy “Community,” he let it be known at the recent TV critics’ press tour that he’d like to guest host “Saturday Night Live” again – which would be his first such guest hosting in years.

He elaborates that “I may do it now because I have something to plug.  I’ll ask my guys to get on Lorne’s a—,” he says, referring to show producer Lorne Michaels.  “I love going in there and hosting…I’ve watched it with this cast, and been there with this cast because I love these kids, they’re like my kids now, you know.  I think it’s a very good cast.”  As far as the show bringing back memories, however, Chase admits, “Once you lost John (Belushi) and Gilda (Radner), it was tough.  I mean, just emotionally.”

Chevy not only has “Community,” the junior college-set comedy with Joel McHale, coming up.  There’s also next year’s big screen “Hot Tub Time Machine” with John Cusack.  “And it’s wonderful, a lot of fun,” he tells us.  “I play the repairman. The hot tub time machine goes a little berserk and leaves these guys in the ‘80s.  I can’t tell you much more.”

THE HOLLYWOOD HILLS ARE ALIVE: Funny lady Melissa Peterman is bracing herself for the Sing-Along “Sound of Music” show at the Hollywood Bowl Saturday (8/26).  The event is all about the audience’s shared experience, she points out, complete with folks dressing up like Maria Von Trapp, the nuns and other characters – or even objects — from the beloved musical.  “When I first got involved, I knew there was a costume parade, but I didn’t know the degree people went to.  There were costumes that looked like they came from Broadway…The parade took two-and-half hours,” she recalls.  That was four Sing-Alongs ago, and the former “Reba” costar says things move along faster now.

“One of my favorites – I think it was two years ago – the guy dressed up as the carburetor.  It was giant, like 8 feet tall.  I think he won.  Another good one was the guy who came dressed as a plumber with a tag that said ‘Chris’” – Christopher Plummer.  “The big drag queens are amazing and the little kids are so much fun.  It’s a wonderful mix of all sorts of people, families and single people, all ages,” she adds.

With reports by Emily-Fortune Feimster

Toni Colette, Emmy nominated for her portrayal of a woman with multiple personalities on Showtime’s “United States of Tara,” admits that she finished up the first season of the dramady feeling plain exhausted.  And what’s more, “I was ready to go relax, but it took a long time to stop thinking about the show.  It took a couple of months.  I’ve never really experienced that before.”

Toni Collette in "United States of Tara" (Photo from Showtime)

The fact she couldn’t shake “Tara,” she figures, has more to do with the intensity and duration of the season’s production than the fact she’s playing five characters — Tara and her alternate personalities.

“I think of the films I’ve worked on, the longest schedule was maybe nine weeks.  This was really the longest, most involving shoot that I’ve ever worked on, so that probably had something to do with it.”

She’s not complaining.  “It is challenging, but only in the most positive way.  It’s not in any way vexing,” adds the Aussie actress, who rose to fame in such fare as “Muriel’s Wedding,” picked up an Oscar nomination for “The Sixth Sense,” and has a long string of films including “In Her Shoes” and “Little Miss Sunshine.”

The “Tara” team has just started work on Season 2, and Toni says, “I’m going to hold my breath and come up for air in three months.”

She will, however, be making time to go to the Emmys.  She doesn’t know yet what she’s going to wear.  “It may turn into a mad scramble closer to the day, but not at this point.”

VROOM WITH A VIEW:  “Sons of Anarchy” star Charlie Hunnam says that the series about a Northern California outlaw motorcycle club has changed his life.  But he’s not referring to being the youngest series star on FX or anything like that.  He’s referring to how “The love of motorcycles is now going to be with me forever.  It’s not something I had coming into this project,” says the handsome 29-year-old British actor.

Charlie Hunnam FX photo

He knows they’re dangerous.  “I’ve already had friends who I’ve lost through motorcycle accidents.  But for me, there’s no freer feeling in the world than taking off on a bike.”  In fact, he’s planning a 10-day motorcycle trip with his girlfriend as we speak, with a custom set of wheels provided for him by the Eagles Nest Harley-Davidson dealership in Lathrop, CA.

“They’re giving myself and other cast members a bike, and they did those bikes up for us as well,” reports Hunnam.  For himself, it’s the Dyna Superglide – “the ride of every self-respecting outlaw” — with “a head pipe on it to make it louder.”

We’d love to see “Anarchy” fans’ double takes if they spot Charlie roarin’ up next to them on the highway.

With production of the second season complete, the blond hottie is looking at movie prospects for fall.  And, he reveals, he is planning to do a feature with none other than “Sons of Anarchy” creator Kurt Sutter.  “He’s going to make a movie the beginning of the year and has super generously offered me a role.”

MEANWHILE: Hunnam tells us that acting in Season 2 of the acclaimed FX series has been less difficult for him than Season 1 was.

Sutter originally devised “Anarchy” using the framework from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” – which it has grown out of.  That put Hunnam’s Jax character in the position of the passive prince, but he grew more and more fired up as the season went on.

“It’s difficult as an actor to play confusion,” Hunnam observes.  “This year has been much simpler.  I’ve had a very clear idea of what I was going to do.  A lot of decisions were made at the end of last season, when the character became clear in motivation.  It became a little bit easier, and more fulfilling because of that – because I was more confident of the choices I made.”

SINCEREST FORM OF FLATTERY: Heidi Klum tells us she hasn’t watched “The Fashion Show” – the Bravo knockoff of her “Project Runway” that was put together after “Runway” departed for its new home on Lifetime.  However, she makes clear, “I have to say, I have no hard feelings for people who are doing their own thing.  I’m not b—-ing and moaning that there is someone who wants to do what we did or anything like that.  It’s the right of anyone to do what they want to do ultimately it’s the viewer who has to decide what they want to watch.  If they want to watch ‘The Fashion Show,’ they watch ‘The Fashion Show.’  If they want to watch ‘Project Runway,’ they watch ‘Project Runway.’  I think ultimately it keeps us on our toes, wanting to be the best and be out there making it work — to keep working hard and producing a good show, and being true to our concept we started with.”

Heidi can afford to be generous.  The Isaac Mizrahi-led “The Fashion Show” hasn’t come close to pulling even half the numbers “Runway” used to get on Bravo – while “Runway” promises to be a monster hit for Lifetime.

With reports by Emily-Fortune Feimster

Ernest Borgnine on "ER"

Ernest Borgnine may be 92 years old, but he’s keeping up a pace that could scare a man half his age.

The “Marty” Oscar winner just wrapped up work on “The Genesis Code” big screen drama with Louise Fletcher and Fred Thompson in Michigan, and he leaves next week for New Orleans to start work on the comedy “Snatched” — his 202^nd picture.

He’s also been busy this summer with book signings for his recently-launched “Ernie, the Autobiography.”  “I love being out meeting the people!” he enthuses.

He helped launch “Another Harvest Moon,” his ensemble drama with Anne Meara and Cybill Shepherd, at this month’s Rhode Island International Film Festival — where Lifetime Achievement Honors were bestowed upon him.  And he squeezed in a visit to Naval Station Newport, where he went through boot camp some 74 years ago.

“This time, they were saying, ‘What can we get for you, Mr. Borgnine?’  None of the finger-pointing and ‘Hey you’s!’ I remember from before,” says the Navy veteran of 10 years, including WWII.

With all that going on, he’s barely had time to celebrate his Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama.  He tells us he and wife Tova will definitely be on hand to see whether he’ll win the honor for his portrayal, on the final episode of “ER,” of a man whose wife of many years is dying.   He played it with such honest simplicity, it was a four hankie job, for sure.

“It was hard in the sense that it never happened to me and to make it look like it was real, I had to really dig into my heart and my head,” he says.  “It turned out fine.”

So fine, he got nominated — while returning stars George Clooney, Eriq LaSalle and Noah Wyle did not.

“I know,” he says and smiles.  “I shouldn’t gloat, believe me.”

Nevertheless, Ernie’s competition is fierce – Michael J. Fox on “Rescue Me,” Ted Danson on “Damages,” Jimmy Smits on “Dexter,” and Edward Asner on “CSI: NY.”

He assures, “I’m just glad I was nominated.  I was also nominated for the Golden Globe and I missed out on that one.  People were saying they were sorry, but I said, ‘Hey, man – I won the nomination!  Are you kidding?’”

BAD BOY: Moviegoers who remember Daryl Sabara as Juni, the cute younger brother of Robert Rodriguez’ “Spy Kids” movies, are in for a paradigm shift of perception if they see him in “World’s Greatest Dad” starring Robin Williams, opening tomorrow (8/21).  Sabara plays the teenage son you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy, a profane and mean-spirited kid whose departure from this earth could only improve it.  So how did writer-director Bobcat Goldthwait come to know that the 17-year-old actor had this ability to play rotten?

“Daryl is a funny guy.  He came in and lied, saying he wanted to play Andrew, the sweet kid in the movie” – when in fact, he had his sites set on terrible Kyle instead.  Bobcat let him read for the latter, and found “he was such a convincing creep – a teenage Gary Oldman, you know?  I had him come in again just to meet with him.  I needed to know he wasn’t really a jerk.”

Goldthwait also tells us there was a surprise when it came to casting Robin Williams as the beleaguered, bereaved title parent in the truly twisted black comedy that was a Sundance Festival hit.  According to Goldthwait, Robin recently confessed, “he thought he was going to help me out and do a cameo.  But then he read the script and said, ‘I’d like to be the guy.’  It really changed everything.”

These days, Goldthwait does stand-up if he needs to support his efforts as an auteur filmmaker.  Admits the show business veteran once thought of as a way-too-out-of-control comic, “The early part of my career, I had the kind of career you usually have when your career is ending.  Having a new career now at 47, I have much more appreciation.”

READ NO EVIL:  Joan Rivers, the queen of jabs, tells us she has one big secret to her success.  If you’ve written something about her, she wants no part of it.  “I don’t read it.  I absolutely don’t read it.  I don’t read good reviews and I don’t read bad reviews,” admits Rivers.  “Obviously I’m told about good reviews,” she adds.  “I know when it’s been a good show and I know when it’s been a bad show.  I don’t need an outsider to tell me.  I can come off stage and tell you how it was and what went wrong a lot faster than somebody else can say it.  I’m sure they say terrible things about it.  I don’t need it.  I don’t need to look at it.”  So, there!

Rivers currently can be seen enjoying the high life with some fellow hard workers in the TV Land series “How’d You Get So Rich?” “We go to their houses and we see all of their toys.  It’s fascinating how differently they spend their money. One man made all this money so he bought himself a Lamborghini for every day of the week,” she says.  “I think it’s very uplifting that in this day in age you can do it if you’ve got the right attitude and the right product.  But it teaches you a good lesson that you’ve got to work for it or win the lottery.”

A WEIGHTING GAME: Angie Dickinson was one of those perpetually perfectly lean ladies in her heyday on small and big screen, but now the still-beautiful septuagenarian complains that she’s 20 pounds overweight.  “If I lost 20 pounds I’d be more viable.  I’m serious about that,” she says.  “I watch ‘The Biggest Loser’ and I am so enamored of those incredible people, how they shame themselves and go through whatever it takes to get in shape.  I could no longer get out there in a little top and shorts.  They expose their worst sides and I admire them beyond belief – but I still don’t lose the weight.”

With reports by Emily-Fortune Feimster

Derek Luke is surprised that word has already gotten out about a gay paramedic character being among the personalities on NBC’s soon-due “Trauma” series.  He says he doesn’t even know which character it will be.

Derek Luke and Kevin Rankin in "Trauma" (Photo By Mitchell Haaseth/NBC)

Could it be Derek’s guy, Boone?  “Not that I know of,” says the actor, who’s playing a family man fraught with issues at work and home.

What he does know is, “As actors, we’re excited. We want the show to be sophisticated, not just surface and one-dimensional.  I appreciate getting a chance to see different ideas and beliefs, and the effect people have on each other.”

He wants to learn what is going to happen from the scripts alone.  “I keep telling them, ‘Wait.  I want to have my own reaction.’”  As far as the gay character’s reveal, “It’s supposed to be in the next couple of scripts.  I’ll have to find out who’s who.”

With a busy career in features – and credits ranging from “Antwone Fisher” and “Glory Road” to this year’s “Notorious” (as P. Diddy) and “Madea Goes to Jail” — Luke wasn’t in the market to do a series when “Trauma” came along.  Peter Berg, who directed him in “Friday Night Lights,” is, however, executive producer of the high-octane “Trauma” show about paramedics who are first responders at catastrophes.  That made all the difference.  Luke recalls that once he met with Berg, he found himself saying, “Dude, I for sure at first was convinced I was not going to do the show….’”

Berg “made me pretty comfortable.  You know what?  Pete is invested in this.  He didn’t steer me wrong in ‘Friday Night Lights.’  He totally had my attention.  And, you know, it’s Pete Berg’s style, no matter whether it’s TV or film — it translates.

“Me and my wife kind of deliberated, and I came to a verdict myself,” he says.

Now he’s happily pulling long, grueling days on the San Francisco-set show:  “I love my job.  I love my life!”

How many episodes have they done?  “I thought I shot 13 but I heard we only shot three,” he jokes.  “I feel like I shot a season already.  We’re starting number four.”

SOURCE OF INSPIRATION: Music is definitely on the front burner for 17-year-old Emily Osment – what with her new “All the Way Up” single out, a video on the way next week, an extended play version of the tune coming up in October, and her first album for Wind-up Records on the way.  Wind-up, Emily reminds, is the alt rock-heavy label of “Evanescence and Creed — so I have to keep up that rock image for them…I think I’ve started in a good way.”

Meanwhile, however, fans of her best-known character – Lilly Truscutt of “Hannah Montana” – would no doubt like some reassurance about her acting plans.

“We’re doing season four next year.  We’ll get back on our really cool soundstage,” she notes  Osment points out that she and Miley Cyrus and the rest of the young cast’s characters are being allowed to grow, “in a good way.  This time between seasons allows the writers to see what we’re going through – and then they can parallel it with stories on the show.  We give them a lot of good stuff,” she says.  Indeed.

TRYING ON A NEW HAT: Voice talent extraordinaire Carolyn Lawrence has performed characters ranging from Cindy Vortex of “Jimmy Neutron” to the so-taboo-even-Adult-Swim-banned-it “Moral Orel” – to Sandy Cheeks, the rootin’ tootin’ Texas-born squirrel buddy of “Spongebob Squarepants.”

Now she’s trying her hand at producing, with a project called “Monstroville.”  Lawrence reports that her in-the-works the animated flick is about “your basic hard-working family who happen to be ghouls and monsters.”  Her “Spongebob” castmate pals including Tom Kenny have already agreed to lend their voices to the indie.
MEANWHILE: The 2004 “Spongebob Squarepants” feature grossed $141 million on a $30 million budget.  So you’d think another “Spongebob” flick would be in the planning.  But it’s not.  “We wish,” Lawrence says of the cast’s feelings about a follow-up film.  “The problem is, because of the way we function, the same team of writers and animators did both the series and the movie – so when we did the production of the movie, we had to stop production of the TV show.  It gets kind of complicated.”

With reports by Emily-Fortune Feimster

Lilly Rush as Kathry Morris in "Cold Case" Photo: Mitchell Haddad/CBS ©2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Fans of “Cold Case” can expect detective Lily Rush to take a turn off the straight and narrow in the forthcoming seventh season of the CBS drama.  That’s the word from series star Kathryn Morris, who tells us, “There’s a lot of questionable activity for Lily this year.  All the best heroes have that fork in the road, you know.”

Morris acknowledges that last season wound amid talk of “Cold Case” being “on the bubble or whatever, but we were not.  We were cranked up 30-40 per cent in the last leg,” she says, referring to the series’ ratings.  “And we had this really explosive season finale” — with Lily’s car being forced off a bridge into 40 feet of water.

“It was really cool to be able to complete that and it really raised a whole new set of questions for everyone,” adds Morris.  “So now every character has something that they’re going to be delving into.  For Lily, well, the justice system has always worked for her, but now she’s finding out that no, it isn’t really working for her as it has for all the victims that she takes care of things for.  Now she can take things into her own hands and I think she’s going to blur the lines a little bit.”

THE INSIDE TRACK: English singer-songwriter David Gray shot to fame in the late 90s with his breakout album “White Ladder,” including such hits as “Babylon” and “This Year’s Love.” With his newest album, he’s hoping he can finally match that success.

“With your first breakthrough thing, I don’t think you can recreate it.  It was fairytale that wrote itself with me in the middle of it.  All you can do is try to create something of equal potency,” says Gray, whose album “Draw the Line” hits stores Sept. 22.

Gray has a new band, which, he says, “has given me a completely new lease on life.  There’s this sort of bulletproof feeling that I’ve got when I’m inside the music that we’ve made,” he tells us.  “‘White Ladder’ will always be something that will be there.  It’s a benchmark thing that you’ll always be pigeonholed into, but I’m trying to get out of the cage for Chrissakes.  This is certainly my best shot at it,” he adds with a laugh.

Also featured on the album are two duets with Jolie Holland and Annie Lennox, who Gray says added a breath of fresh air to the project.  “Oh, that was brilliant. We were a bunch of cynical bastards sitting there in the studio not knowing what it was going to be like.  We needed the other voice to be able to finish the song and Annie just blew us away.  She was like a gale of positive energy from the moment she came into the studio.  There was no ego or nonsense.  She just threw her heart and soul into it because she wanted it to be as good as it could be.”

Gray begins his US tour with the album starting Oct. 23 in Boston.  “The gigs are the best part of it…I’m just fanaticizing about getting out there and playing.”

NO REGRETS: Some TV stars aren’t too thrilled about constantly being associated with their most memorable character, especially years after the show has been off the air.  But “A Different World” star Darryl M. Bell tells us he takes it as a compliment.

“With six years in primetime as one of highest-rated shows on television and 17 years of syndication, we still get recognized pretty frequently.  Not only am I flattered by it, but I embrace it,” says Bell, who is currently starring on Fox Reality Channel’s “Househusbands of Hollywood” with his longtime girlfriend Tempest Bledsoe of  “The Cosby Show.”

“We’ve all taken great pride in the legacy that ‘A Different World’ left, which was doubling the enrollment in historically black colleges and universities.  That’s always been amazing,” notes Bell.  “I can’t tell you how many young men come up to me and tell me the show is the reason they went to college or went to a black college.  It’s been one of the most gratifying things about the work that we’ve done.”

It also helped pave the way for many other African American shows of its time.  “It was a precursor to ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel Air,’ ‘In Living Color,’ ‘Martin,’ ‘Living Single,’ and all the other shows that opened the door for more African American shows on television,” he says.  “The late 80′s was a magical time for African American shows in television.  For whatever reason, the fact that that door hasn’t stayed as opened in today’s environment as we would have liked is unfortunate.  Hopefully that will come back.”

NOTE WORTHY: Nia Vardalos, who collaborated with Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson to make “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and “My Life In Ruins,” wants us to know, “They are very normal people.  They are so down to earth.  They have managed to achieve a very humble existence in this cesspool of a town, so I admire them for that.”

With reports by Emily-Fortune Feimster

Debonair actor George Hamilton says he’s amazed at how well the movie “My One and Only” turned out — but

Renee Zellweger and Chris Noth in "My One and Only"

admits he’s not so sure his mother would have felt the same.

In fact, says George of the feature, which is loosely based on his colorful mom’s adventures during his childhood, “I don’t know if my mother would agree with the movie at all.  I think in some strange way she probably wouldn’t have gotten the casting.”  That’s Oscar-winning actress Renee Zellweger as Anne Deveraux, a.k.a. George’s mother.

“I think she would have loved the fanfare but she’d say, ‘I wouldn’t wear that hat and why is she wearing that dress?’  My mother was much to do about the exterior.  She divorced one husband because he wore brown shoes after 6:00,” he tells us, adding that Zellweger of course has the good looks — she just doesn’t look like his mother.  “If I had been left to it, I might have gotten someone with more similarities to my mother, but at the end of the day, they wouldn’t have had the talent that she has.  What’s amazing about this picture is Renee gave a performance that really told the truth about my mother and made my mother come alive – whereas my mother would have played it externally.”

The movie, which also stars Kevin Bacon, Chris Noth, and Nick Stahl, has a national release in select theaters starting Sept. 4.

“I’m not in it and maybe that’s one of the best things that could have happened to it,” says Hamilton with a laugh, but he and his late, longtime pal Merv Griffin produced it.

“Years ago Merv and I were talking about doing something and I told him this story about my mother deciding that she was going to find every boyfriend she ever had in order to find a father for us and a husband for her.  She was going back 30 years of her life in this odyssey across the United States trying desperately to keep our family together.  She would talk about this guy being the most attractive man at Yale and we’d go to a restaurant to meet him, and my brother and I would stay in the car, and she’d come out and say, ‘Oh, he let himself go.’  It happened one after the other.  We finally realized all we had was each other.”

WHEN HUMILIATION IS A GOOD THING: Kelsey Grammer is back with a new ABC sitcom after a short-lived stint on Fox last year, but can he get past his extremely popular Frasier Crane character?  “When you play a character for as long as he did and it’s such a beloved character, of course people have that in the back of their minds, but I think a lot of the reason that character is so beloved is Kelsey himself,” says his new “Hank” co-star Melinda McGraw.  McGraw plays Grammer’s his wife in the comedy about a Wall Street executive who loses his job and reconnects with his small-town family.  “He’s so good at playing that guy who is having to overcome humiliation, which is a lot of what comedy is.  I have no doubts people are going to be able to look beyond that and enjoy him in this character.”

Meanwhile, “Mad Men” fans, who have eagerly awaited the show’s second season, want to know if McGraw will be reprising her role as John Hamm’s steamy mistress Bobbie Barrett.  “That’s a revolving door over there so that door is always open.  They’re very secretive and we’re never allowed to talk about it, but we don’t mind because no one wants to ruin it for the fans.  It’s a show where people look forward to finding out what happens,” notes McGraw.  “I loved playing that woman.  She was unique for that time.  It wasn’t until I was playing her that I realized this was the character I’d been waiting my whole life to play.”  Hopefully that won’t be the last of her!

FROM THE INSIDE LOOKING OUT: Robert David Hall s grateful to be back to work on the 10^th season of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” yet is aware “It’s a tough time.  All my brother and sister actors are struggling.  I love working on the show, but I’d like to see other people working as well.”  At the forefront of his concerns are actors with disabilities, for whom Hall has advocated tirelessly, having served in positions including that of chairman of the Performers with Disabilities Committee of the Screen Actors Guild

Hall, a double amputee himself, was in Washington, D.C. during hiatus at the invitation of President Barack Obama., “to celebrate the 19^th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.   And I was asked to speak to some disabled artists at the Kennedy Center.  I worked the night before, caught the redeye — my wife went with me – and we had the day of our lives in Washington.”

Hall reports that before the Prez gave his 20-minute speech at the anniversary event, “when he came up to the podium, he looked down at me and mouthed the words ‘C.S.I..’  I don’t know that he watches the show, but it was nice,” says Hall, who’ll see Obama again this fall when he’s honored for his civic contributions.  Hall adds that “We were seated in the first row and there were all these senators and cabinet people and it really was overwhelming and awe inspiring.”

Especially for Hall, who grew up in D.C. and remembers lots of  “mandatory field trips.”

NOT RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES: When Lifetime’s “The Honeymoon” movie turns up on the cable channel, chances are people will be reminded of the July case of murder on the high seas involving Robert McGill, who’s accused of doing away with wife Shirley while cruising off the coast of Mexico.  However, the planned telepic – which has the husband disappearing from a ship and the grieving bride eventually coming under suspicion – was in the works before the McGills set off on their ill-fated voyage.

With reports by Emiliy-Fortune Feimster

“King of the Hill” fans hoped Fox execs would change their minds about canceling the animated series, but star

Kathy Najimy, (Photo from Kathy Najimy offical website)

Kathy Najimy, who provided the voice of Peggy Hill, says it’s definitely over.

“Isn’t that terrible?  It’s the worst thing in the world. That was the best job I ever had,” says Najimy of the cancellation.  “I wasn’t surprised because they canceled us before and then they brought us back.  This time when they canceled us, I thought they might bring us back” – but it didn’t happen.  Still, “There’s always a chance they could sell it to another network,” she adds.

The final episode airs Sept. 13.

The actress-playwright-director-activist has plenty of other things on her plate as she’s currently penning a one-woman show and has a guest starring stint on Lifetime’s hit dramedy “Drop Dead Diva” Sunday (8/23).  “Margaret Cho emailed me and said, ‘Come do my TV show in Atlanta.’  She’s a person who, when she says come, I come.  I don’t even ask what it is.  I show up, get in a costume, and do what she says because she’s so brilliant,” gushes Najimy.  “At some point after you’re 20, you start caring about the quality of your experience.  The last thing I want to do is be involved with egos or stress. There was no drama there except in the script.”

The show hit a strong chord with the actress, who has always been an advocate for women’s issues.  “This show is great for Lifetime.  I think people want to support anything that sort of levels the field of all the craziness that’s going on with women and their bodies.  Brooke [Elliot] herself is such a surprise,” she adds.  “We’re not used to somebody coming from Broadway that we don’t know in TV land, and she has such a charming, easy way about her.  The truth is, it’s terribly difficult to play a model who has died and comes back in the body of a normal-sized lawyer.  She does it with such ease that we don’t question it.  I’m a big fan of hers and from what I’ve read from the reviews, America has really responded to her as well.”

FULLY DEVELOPED: It’s a different Jennie Garth than we’ve seen before on Candace Bushnell’s Sept. 10-debuting web series, “The Broadroom.” “I play a woman executive.  That was a fun thing for me – to step into my maturity a little bit and play someone my age.”

Jennie, who’s 37, could easily get away with playing years younger, but she’s not trying to.  She points out that her and husband Peter Facinelli’s daughters are now ages 12, six and two.

The couple have been juggling parental duty with their various assignments – she also has an as-yet-undetermined number of “90210” episodes to shoot this season, while he’s busy making the third film in the “Twilight” series, “Eclipse,” and will go into “Nurse Jackie” shooting as soon as he’s finished.

They have to make their schedules work, Jennie tells us.  “We have three little people depending on us.  You know, when he’s working I take it all on, because I’m not going to leave them with someone else.  That’s our job.”

LIFE IS TWEET: A funny thing happened during intermission at one of the Jonas Brothers’ recent L.A. concerts – when suddenly there was an outbreak of audience members spontaneously flapping their hands at the Staples Center.  Turns out it was the work of “Wizards of Waverly Place” star David Henrie, who was there taking in the show (so were teen faves Aly & A.J.) and communicating with his Twitter followers.  The 20-year-old actor instructed his fans who were on hand: “If ur on Twitter scream and wave ur hands like ur on fire.”  He then shot a photo of the audience from his seat and posted it, then Tweeted, “Wave ur hands and scream if ur in this pic.”  Others could only wonder what kind of mass insanity was taking hold.

“The Biggest Loser” host and “Days of Our Lives” actress Alison Sweeney is a frequent Tweeter.  She tells us, “It’s so much fun for interacting with the fans, sharing stories, taking photos at awards, I love it.  I get to see their reactions, or watch shows together, or even just talk about Shark Week or whatever.”  Naturally, her soap followers are a strong presence.  “Obviously there are fan groups who have different kinds of conflicting opinions about the show and my character’s love life.  It’s great to get that kind of feedback.”

With reports by Emily-Fortune Feimster

Dennis Hopper and Eric Roberts (photo from Starz)

Eric Roberts tells us, “I hope to retire young, in the next year and a half or maybe two years.”  For real?  “I probably will.  Unless someone offers me my own series and it’s incredible, I think I’m going to hang it up in about a year and a half – because, you know, Hollywood is run by lawyers not by artists, and I don’t find that terribly appealing.”

But in the meantime, he’s certainly not showing any signs of slowing down.  Right now, he’s busy filming Starz’ “Crash” series, in which he’ll debut next month playing a billionaire entrepreneur who has designs on bringing an NFL franchise into Los Angeles.  He also just finished his role on Sylvester Stallone’s big-screen “The Expendables.”  The movie shot in Brazil, L.A. and New Orleans, and Roberts describes production on the action picture as rigorous and then some.  Or, as he puts it, “It was a $#@%!! every day.”

Roberts did a lot of his work with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin in the picture that also features Stallone himself, Dolph Lundgren, Bruce Willis, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Terry Crews and a cameo by Arnold Schwarzenegger — in a tale of mercenary soldiers on assignment in South America.  “I’m telling you, Steve Austin is one of the greatest cats on the planet.  He’s my new best friend and I mean that.  I love that guy to his bone marrow,” Roberts says.  “He’s the coolest, nicest most generous man I think I might have ever worked with.”

The series has him working with the also cool Dennis Hopper, “an old, dear friend,” says Roberts — as well as Ross McCall, “an actor I’m crazy about.”  “Crash” will keep him working in New Mexico for the next seven weeks.  He likes the people, but “every day around 1 o’clock it’s 105 degrees or more,” he points out.

No wonder visions of retirement are dancing in his head.
Says the actor, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in the 1985 “Runaway Train,” “Ever since they gave my Oscar to the wrong guy, I keep working as hard as I can because I realize, I’m a workaholic.  It makes me happy.  That’s what I do.”

ON THE PERSONAL SIDE:  It’s been all over the news that Candy Spelling chose not to attend her granddaughter’s first birthday party upon discovering that it was being set up for daughter Tori’s Oxygen reality show, “Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood.”

To hear Tori talk about her life on TV, however, is to get the impression that  having the cameras around is no big deal to her – and it’s the same with her offspring.

“Liam figured it out pretty early on in his life.  For one, he’s bonded with all of the cameraman,” she tells us.  “Even with the paparazzi, he’d play with the camera, but now he’s over it.  Now Stella has stepped in and is hamming it up.”

While some might get tired of the lack of privacy, Spelling says it’s not as bad as people think.  “People always say to me, ‘Is it weird having cameras in your face 24 hours a day,’ and it’s not.  It’s not what people think.  It’s not like a regular television show,” she explains.  “It’s reality so it’s a very small crew and they become like family to you.  They’re more like flies on the wall so I forget they’re there.  I just go about my life.  And they’re obviously not there 24 hours a day.  We have down time alone with our family.  I really have enjoyed the experience.”

WOMAN ON THE SCENE: “Two and a Half Men” is set to return Sept. 21 and this season we’ll be seeing a lot more of Charlie Sheen’s onscreen love interest.  Actress Jennifer Taylor, who plays his fiancé Chelsea, has been made a series regular, so does this mean marriage for his bachelor character?  “I hope.  I’d love to be there forever,” says Taylor, who has had various small roles on the show since the pilot.  “I think it’d be interesting if they got married.  People could see Charlie’s character stumble along through everything that it entails.  I think that’s more interesting than being the same thing over and over again.  You can still preserve the essence of his character but in a committed relationship.”

No matter what happens, though, Taylor is just excited to be a more permanent member of the popular show.  “I never thought when I had a small part on the pilot that it would lead to me being a regular seven seasons later.  When I heard, I thought maybe it was a joke because they told me on April Fools Day. I was pleasantly surprised,” she says.  “I’ve kept different journals over the years and one time I wrote that I wanted to be a regular on a Chuck Lorre sitcom after working with him on a pilot like 10 years ago.  It’s literally a dream come true.  I feel like the pressure is on, though.  Now I have to earn my keep!  I’m just going to take everyday I’m here as a gift and just hope it keeps going.”

ASTUTE OBSERVER: Legendary writer Budd Schulberg, who died last week at age 95 leaving a legacy of great work (“On the Waterfront,” “The Harder They Fall,” “A Face in the Crowd,” etc.) was truly one of a kind.  The Oscar winner gave us a great many insightful comments through the years.  Marilyn recalls his observation that society had changed so much that the hot, young up-and-comers in Hollywood bought copies of  his “What Makes Sammy Run” because they considered the unethical central character Sammy Glick a hero — and wanted to be just like him.

With reports by Emily-Fortune Feimster

Joely Fisher was relieved when she learned that her Fox sitcom “Til Death” had been granted a fourth season — but she’s certainly had plenty of other things happening at home to keep her mind off business.  For one, she’s got five kids to look after, including a recently adopted daughter named Luna.

Joely Fisher and Brad Garrett in "Til Death" (photo from Fox)

“I have two stepsons who are 23 and 21.  Skylar, who I gave birth to, just turned eight.  I have a 3½-year-old daughter, True, who I gave birth to as well, and I have an adopted daughter now who is almost 11 months old.  I run the gamut of issues from 23 to 11 months.  I go from changing a diaper to double dating.  It’s crazy,” she notes, but Luna has certainly been a much-welcomed addition to their full house.

“We talked about it before and we told the kids this may happen, and it happened very quickly because we went through a private adoption [agency], and they work in particular with emergency cases where there’s a baby and it doesn’t have somewhere to go,” she explains.  “We had done all the proper channels but this baby came along and she was meant to be ours.  She’s a joy.  We’re all in love with her.”

Now Fisher is back to work with TV hubby Brad Garrett and the rest of their “’Til Death” team, and has high hopes that they can turn things around for their funny sitcom.

“We didn’t know whether we’d return.  It’s a show that most people stomped into the ground and thought was buried so it was a lovely surprise to hear we were coming back,” she says.  “Considering what’s happening in television, it’s a good thing.  There are great scripts coming and a new show runner.  And luckily there isn’t a whole lot of pressure.  We can only do better.  We can’t really go down from where we are.”

Edie Falco in Nurse Jackie (photo from Showtime)

GOING THE EXTRA MILES: With her “Nurse Jackie” due to resume production next month, Edie Falco is bracing herself for the biggest challenge she faces as the star of the Showtime series – “the hours.”  The hours of work were really crazy long during the first season.  I didn’t have the stamina to start with, and I kind of worked up to it,” she admits.  “In the beginning, my knees would literally buckle at the end of the day.”

Even so, despite playing the title character, she balks at mention of the fact she is now carrying a show.  “I never thought of it as ‘carrying.’  Carrying has a ring to it that sounds sort of oppressive,” she says.

“Even when I was on ‘The Sopranos,’ I was sad when they’d talk about something funny that happened when I wasn’t there.  Now I’m in every scene, every day.  I’m a bit of a control freak, so it works out perfectly,” she notes with a smile.  “It’s as I would have it.”

Falco is looking great — tan and relaxed — these days.  She took a leave from her seaside family vacation to attend this week’s television critics press tour, where we caught up with her at the CBS-Showtime-CW party.  “I am resting up as we speak,” she said.

As for what viewers can look forward in the life of her pill-popping emergency room nurse to this coming season?   “More of the same.”  She smiles. “But a little bit different.  I’ve been offered opportunities to get a little peek into what’s happening next year, but I’m not interested,” explains the actress.  “I’ll wait until the scripts are ready.”

HE ADS:  Jonathan Goldsmith is having a blast with his role as Dos Equis’ Most Interesting Man in the World.  He tells us he loves the character, is being greeted with a smile wherever he goes, and considers the hit campaign “an absolute blessing” in his life.  But as far as those internet sites in which people concoct their own funny “most interesting man” tidbits, he admits they’re not really for him.  “I have no computer skills,” says the avid sailor, who lives on his boat.  “People will call and tell me about them, and I’ve looked a couple of times.  But when one of them supposedly had me as a porn star, I tuned out.”  The journeyman actor has a long list of film and TV credits (“Go Tell the Spartans,” “MacGyver,” etc.) – but only his beer is XX-rated.

THE SECRET’S OUT: Looks like the big winner of “The Secret Life of The American Teenager” is John  Schneider, who departed the ABC Family series earlier this year and his character was snuffed out in a plane crash.  The Brenda Hampton-created drama started off looking almost like a TV counterpart of the touching, first-class film, “Juno,” boldly going into the territory of a 15-year-old girl’s surprise pregnancy.  But this season there’ve been some hilarious bits that, unfortunately, weren’t intended to be funny – such as baby John’s tremendous growth spurt.  It appears as if he went from newborn to at least a year old between seasons, a time jump that would have been okay, except it also means that Molly Ringwald’s poor character has been pregnant around 13 months or so, and counting.  And somehow the gang has moved from merely being obsessed with sex to soapy silliness surrounding sex.  A randier bunch would be hard to imagine – and that’s not just the high schoolers on the show, it’s the “adults” as well.

Those public service spots regarding teen sex are looking mighty disingenuous these days.

The shark’s been jumped.

With reports by Emily-Fortune Feimster