Beck/Smith Hollywood

‘Grey’s Anatomy’ has suffered a 12 per cent viewership dropoff this season, making it one of a trio of aging ratings giants (‘CSI,’ ‘Desperate Housewives’) that have taken double-digit hits in 2009-2010.  Show creator Shonda Rhimes has another medical drama on the way taking her attention.  And Katherine Heigl is gone.  It’s enough to make fans feel McQueasy.

But fear not. Chandra Wilson is full of assurances: ‘We know we are a solid anchor for Thursday night and I know that our intention is to continue to make a great show.’  She notes, ‘The actors have two more years on our contracts and the writers are confident they have two more years of story.  After that they could write and write and cross that threshold where they keep going, like ‘Law & Order.”

That would suit the actress, who’s won four Emmy nominations and a SAG Award for her portrayal of one-of-a-kind surgeon Miranda Bailey, just fine. She says she’s definitely still enjoying the show and putting her all into it, ‘every single minute, every single day, every single script that comes down. There’s always something new to look forward to, a new angle, something about my character that’s interesting.’ And she doesn’t take it for granted. ‘Looking at things as an actor, everything is temporary. It’s my seventh year at ‘Grey’s,’ but to me, it could all end tomorrow. I might have been the one to get hit by the bus, because that could have been a big ratings-getter.’

Chandra just got recognized with another NAACP Image Award — she now has four — this time for directing.  It was her first ‘Grey’s’ stint behind the camera, so the honor was ‘very unexpected and flattering’ she says.  Her second episode as director aired recently and gave her the intriguing task of directing her own love scene with hunky Jason George.

What a dream job!

‘You would think, right?’  She laughs.  ‘It was an interesting line, about the romance and about Bailey’s first kiss with him.  I got to do a lot of playing with choices with the cameras.  That was an exciting day.’  But alas, George is headed off to Shonda Rhimes’ new show, ‘Off the Map,’ so is Bailey in for heartbreak?  That’s the pilot,’ notes Chandra.  Then she adds, ‘We try to keep some things inside our family.’

Jill Scott is one busy mother, with ‘Why Did I Get Married Too’ opening April 2, preparations for her concert tour with Maxwell that starts in May, and her baby boy about to turn one year old.  She manages ‘with a lot of help,’ she lets us know.  ‘My family members have joined together to help me take care of my son while I’m working, and I have two nannies who normally travel with me.

‘He’s a little guy, but he takes a lot of energy.  He’s into everything.  I get exhausted, so I didn’t want just one nanny, because I knew, just like me, nannies get tired too.”

The single mom adds with a laugh, ‘I now have an entourage — and it has nothing to do with me being a vocalist or an actor.’

Besides her tour with Maxwell, she’s set to be part of Lilith Fair — and expects to keep on touring for the better part of a year at least, in support of her soon-due ‘The Light of the Sun’ album.

She was delighted to get back with her ‘Why Did I Get Married’ cast mates — who’ve all stayed in touch since the first movie — for Tyler Perry’s new sequel.  Their reunion was as if no time had passed, she says, except, ‘there was a shadow, we had a shadow.  Damita had had a loss and we didn’t know exactly how to deal with that,’ Scott recalls, referring to Janet Jackson, a.k.a. Damita, and the death of Michael Jackson.

Production on the movie was temporarily halted after Jackson received the bad news about her brother.  When she returned, says Scott, ‘We just decided, in unison, to give her space and to respect whatever feelings she was feeling.  If she wanted to be quiet, we’d step back.  If she wanted to talk, we’d be there.  I think she did find escape in her work.  She definitely did.’

THE VIDEOLAND VIEW:  Roselyn Sanchez has been busy filming the ABC pilot ‘Cutthroat’ about a Beverly Hills soccer mom who runs a family drug cartel.  A homemaker with an illicit side business may sound like a familiar premise, but Sanchez tells us it’s different from ‘Weeds’ — or so she thinks.<P>’I love Mary-Louise Parker, but I’m not actually very familiar with ‘Weeds.’ I’ve heard it’s similar but their show is cable so they are able to push the envelope more.  We’re aiming to make it something more comedic and relatable.  This is about an amazing mother but she’s forced to take over her family’s business and she doesn’t want to,’ explains Sanchez.  ‘I’m really excited about the show.  It was the only pilot that had a female lead that was Latina so I was really happy when I got it.’

When not filming, Sanchez and her husband Eric Winter have been very involved in several charity organizations.  Not only are they both spokespeople for Operation Smile, but she also recently hosted a triathlon in her home of Puerto Rico, which raised money for the San Jorge Children’s Foundation.  ‘I wanted to do something that involved fitness and health but also raised money.  It’s definitely become the biggest athletic event in Puerto Rico and it’s something we want to continue to do every March,’ says Sanchez, who flew out fellow celebrities Nick Lachey, Vanessa Minnillo, Kellan Lutz, and Annalynne McCord to participate.  ‘It was tricky fitting in the training with work and the swim part was especially hard. I told the producers they better have an IV waiting for me at the end.’  Luckily she finished with flying colors!

INNOVATION NATION:  Marlee Matlin Tweeted this week that if she can’t get conventional networks interested in her documentary/reality show about a 15-year-old hearing teenager and his deaf parents and siblings, she’s going to take it straight to the web.  She plans to launch the pilot on YouTube next week.  ‘Watch for it,’ she says.  Matlin also is giving a presentation at Google headquarters on Tuesday (3/30) she reports, regarding putting captioning on YouTube.  Go, Marlee, go!  Some people talk, and some people get things done.

ON A MUSICAL NOTE:  Mary Lynn Rajskub, who stars in Fox’s ’24,’ is busy these days working full-time and being a mom, but the actress/comedian tells us one of the most relaxing things she gets to do is play the guitar from time to time.  In fact, she and writer Karen Kilgariff used to be a part of a comedy singing/guitar duo and while they no longer perform together, Rajskub says she’s grateful she learned how to play.  ‘If it weren’t for Karen, I wouldn’t have done that at all.  I can barely play, but there’s something so cool and sweet about singing along with somebody. You feel like you’re expressing something but you’re doing it together,’ notes Rajskub of the experience.  ‘I was terrified to do it but it’s such a cool release.  You get to mix storytelling with song.  If you get a chance, learn a couple of chords and get with your friends and play a little music for fun.’

BEAUTY LIVES:  Talk about a glamorous assignment.  Dior is preparing a huge new campaign encompassing the entire brand, to be seen on networks, cable, internet and here and around the globe   Casting forces have been on the lookout for look-alikes for Marilyn Monroe, Ava Gardner, Marlene Dietrich, Grace Kelly and Lady Diana — as each icon appeared in her prime — for the campaign.

With reports by Emily-Fortune Feimster

The tackier Michelle “Bombshell” McGee turns out to be, the more it’s clear her affair with Jesse James has scored a permanent place among Hollywood’s biggest cheating scandals. Coming to light mere days after beloved American Sweetheart Sandra Bullock won her Oscar for “The Blind Side,” Bullock’s husband’s extra-marital dalliance with McGee looks worse and worse the more her heavily-tattooed bod appears all over the internet, TV and tabloids, along with her claims of 11 months of sex with James while Bullock was none the wiser. We’ve learned that she’s a fetish model who’s done girl-with-girl and Nazi photo spreads and taught her child the Nazi salute.

Jesse, you cheated on Sandra Bullock with THIS?

This mess is shocking, embarrassing, tawdry and sad – adjectives that apply again and again as we look back on the Top 10 Most Notorious Hollywood Cheating Scandals of the past 20 years:

NANNY TELLS ALL
“’He felt so lovely. We kissed and kissed for what seemed like ages. I was thinking, I cannot believe this. Jude Law is snogging me!’” That’s a breathless Daisy Wright, remembering in her diary what was going through her mind the memorable night her status changed from nanny of Jude Law’s children to playmate of the actor himself. After a night of passion, they awoke to find one of Jude’s children by the bed, crying “Daddy, daddy. I had a bad dream.” Law’s nightmare was just beginning. When his ex-wife, Sadie Frost, heard from said child about his nanny shenanigans, she fired Daisy. Daisy then took her story to Fleet Street. Steamy details of her sexcapades with Law emerged, including her description of a tryst atop a pool table. London, not to mention the rest of the world, snickered. Mind you, Law was engaged to Sienna Miller at the time. They split. But what goes around comes around — and around — in the case of Jude Law and Sienna Miller, apparently. In 2008, it was Miller’s affair with married father of four Balthazar Getty that got the headlines, along with paparazzi pics of the actress topless with Getty. Now, nearly five years after the whoops-a-Daisy imbroglio, Law and Miller are a couple again.

RUNAWAY BRIDE
In 1991, “Flatliners” leading man and leading lady. Kiefer Sutherland and Julia Roberts, planned a suitably Hollywood wedding for June. It would be a studio soundstage shebang and a swarm of stars and other power players would be on hand. Except…suddenly news broke that the wedding had been called off and, snap, Julia turned up at a hotel in Ireland with none other than Jason Patric – Kiefer’s friend! It was subsequently revealed that Julia had discovered Kiefer had been having a side relationship — with a stripper named Amanda Rice! The situation was lose-lose all around, except for the gossip media, which had a field day all summer long. Roberts landed in the hospital with the flu – for five days. She finished “Hook” on strained terms with Steven Spielberg, and the crew nicknamed her “Tinkerhell.” In recent years, Sutherland has said he holds no grudge against Roberts – “I commend Julia for seeing how young and silly we were…even as painful and as difficult as it was.” However, he still has no use for Patric. Roberts, of course, starred in another Hollywood cheating scandal a decade later when she hooked up with married cameraman Danny Moder, who split with his wife to be with Roberts. She and Moder wed in 2002 and they have three children.

BRANGELINA
“Brad & Angelina Get NAKED Together!” screamed a tabloid headline in May, 2004, while the couple was making their “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” action comedy – and his Mrs. was Jennifer Aniston. The romantic leads were making out off-camera as well as on, if you were to believe the tabs, which also reported that Aniston was going out of her mind with jealousy. Denials flew, but in Spring 2005, Aniston filed for divorce and “Brangelina” was seen vacationing on a beach in Kenya. “Team Jen” and “Team Angie” t-shirts became hot items on the internet. Jolie was, after all, the woman who had taken Billy Bob Thornton away from Laura Dern, the woman who had talked openly of her bisexuality and sex play with knives, the woman who had given her own brother a sexy-looking kiss when she won a Golden Globe. This femme fatale appeared the antithesis of girl-next-door popular Jen. The Jolie-Pitt affair still rankles in some quarters – even though Angelina and Brad are known for philanthropy and actively concerned in international relief…and even though they’re now the parents of six children. In 2008, Jolie’s comment to the New York Times essentially confirming for the first time the fact that she and Pitt had fallen in love while making “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” was met with jeers.

WOODY AND SOON-YI
The public disgust quotient was high when news broke that 56-year-old auteur filmmaker Woody Allen was having an affair with 21-year-old Soon-Yi Previn – his de facto step-daughter, since he’d been in a relationship with her adoptive mother, Mia Farrow, for 12 years. Poor Mia had discovered the truth in a shocking way, when she came across nude photos of Soon-Yi that Woody had taken. Court battles over custody of Woody’s and Mia’s adopted son and daughter and their biological son followed – with Mia accusing Woody of inappropriate behavior with the seven-year-old daughter. “I hope you get so humiliated you commit suicide,” wrote their adopted son, Moses, in a letter to Woody that was read in court. Although his popularity plummeted, Woody has since said that Mia’s discovery of the pictures set in motion a positive turn in his life. “The heart wants what it wants,” he explained of his relationship with Soon-Yi. He married her in 1998 and they have two adopted daughters.

THE MUG SHOTS SEEN ‘ROUND THE WORLD
Hugh Grant was thrust into international stardom in 1994 with the release of “Four Weddings and a Funeral.” He and his long-time lady, the gorgeous Elizabeth Hurley, became known as a chic and witty celebrity couple. Then, in 1995, he achieved a different kind of public attention, picked up in an L.A. Vice Squad sting operation along with a Hollywood hooker who called herself Divine Brown. Their mug shots showed up everywhere, and the jokes flew. Days later, Grant turned the tide of public sentiment in his favor in a matter of minutes, when he surprisingly decided to keep a “Tonight Show” date to promote his next movie – and sat there looking like an abashed schoolboy when Jay Leno hit him with “What the hell were you thinking?!” Grant told Leno, “I think you know in life what’s a good thing to do and what’s a bad thing, and I did a bad thing. And there you have it.” He exuded a combination of possible contrition and naughty charm and provided a template for effective celebrity apologies thenceforth. He paid a $1,180 fine and did an AIDS education program, but the embarrassing scandal left him relatively unscathed. He made up with Hurley and their relationship lasted ‘til 2000.

AMERICA’S SWEETHEART STUMBLES
Meg Ryan’s fall from adored cinema sweetheart was swift and complete when her affair with Aussie bad boy Russell Crowe became public knowledge. The two hooked up while they were making 2000’s “Proof of Life” — despite the fact she had her nice little family waiting for her at home: husband Dennis Quaid and their eight-year-old son Jack. Openly traveling with Crowe, the girl from “Sleepless in Seattle” and “When Harry Met Sally” inspired disappointment and downright anger in former fans. The Crowe-Ryan affair lasted only months. She and Quaid divorced in 2001 after a nine-year marriage. In 2008, Ryan finally told InStyle that she wasn’t the first to cheat in that marriage, that “Dennis was not faithful to me for a long time, and that was very painful.” But by then her years as a Hollywood box office attraction had become fading memories.

HALLE BERRY’S HUBBY, THE SEX ADDICT
Sandra Bullock may feel a sad sort of sisterhood with Halle Berry. While Halle was in the Oscar season spotlight prior to her “Monster’s Ball” win in 2002, her then-husband Eric Benet was cheating on her. For awhile there, it had seemed Halle had gotten it right with her hunky R&B star mate. She’d grown close to his daughter and their relationship had flourished. But there had been troubles for a long time, it turned out. The revelation of Benet’s affair with singer Julia Riley led to his checking himself into Arizona’s The Meadows for sex addiction rehab. A barrage of headlines followed: Is sex addiction real? Is it a ploy of Eric’s to get back into Halle’s good graces? How prevalent is sex addiction? In 2003, the couple split for good. In 2008, when David Duchovny checked himself into rehab for a sex addiction (but not because of any affairs! His publicist insisted!) Benet told New York magazine he wished Duchovny good luck with that, but he, Eric, wasn’t really a sex addict. So then, how did he account for his behavior? “Stupid-ass mistakes,” said Benet. Yeah, they don’t have rehab for that yet.

PLUS ONE HUSBAND, MINUS ANOTHER
To say Anne Heche has a checkered romantic past is like saying Kirstie Alley’s weight has fluctuated – quite an understatement. So when Heche followers learned that she’d taken up with her “Men in Trees” leading man, the handsome James Tupper – despite both being married to others at the time – it didn’t come as a total shock A public and very bitter divorce from her cameraman-turned-realtor ex-husband Coley Laffoon ensued, including Heche calling Laffoon a lazy a—on David Letterman’s show. (Laffoon is the father of Heche’s son Homer, 8, and Tupper is daddy to her son Atlas, 1.) You may recall that Anne met Laffoon when he was doing camera on a comedy show project for her then-lover Ellen DeGeneres. Before she and Ellen got together, she was known for having broken Steve Martin’s heart Tupper would like to get married, but Heche says she likes the idea of having permanent fiancée status.

MATERIAL GIRL SPORTS YANKEE SLUGGER
The nasty Madonna/Guy Ritchie divorce included all the gossip about her relationship with New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez — whose wife reportedly left him because of the Material Man-taker as well. Or, as Time magazine put it in July, 2008: “The relationship that appears to have helped unravel the six-year Rodriguez marriage involves no mere Vegas stripper or D-list country star. This couple is fighting about the only woman on earth who can top A-Rod in both net worth and push-ups — Madonna.” There were photos of Madge and A-Rod together, reports of their traveling to Mexico. But for all the attention and damage their relationship created, it was called an affair of the heart and spirit rather than infidelity. Curious.

YOUR CHEATIN’ HEART
The “CSI: Miami” hunk tells us that things are “finally starting to calm down and be the way the way they’re supposed to be” – more than a year after reports emerged of his and LeAnn Rimes’ relationship becoming more than professional on the set of their “Northern Lights” Lifetime movie. He was married to model Brandi Glanville, mother of their two young sons, and LeAnn was married to her one-time backup dancer Dean Sheramet. There were the predictable denials of an affair, then there were Cibrian’s and Rimes’ marital splits, then their respective divorces. Saying she felt she no longer knew Cibrian, Glanville said she told LeAnn, “You can have him.” “I think things happen for a reason,” Cibrian, now openly with Rimes, told us. “I’m just focusing on work and focusing on my family.” — Stacy Jenel Smith

‘Let’s Make a Deal’ has proven to be a major strain for Wayne Brady.

‘Having 300 people yelling your name is harder vocally and physically than I ever imagined,’ says the actor, singer, comedian and game show emcee.

‘Trying to be heard in front of hundreds of screaming people is more difficult than one could realize.’

He adds, ‘There’s nothing more draining then having a whole room of people wanting to be picked. Everyone is there to have fun, but by the end of the day it’s about money and that almost always brings on desperation in some people.’

He continues, ‘Some people are there to have a blast, others because it’s their last chance and they may be there to win money for mortgage payments. They might get mad at me for picking the wrong door. It’s an amazing study in humanity.’

Brady says that compared to ‘Let’s Make a Deal,’ the ‘Don’t Forget the
Lyrics’ show he hosted was a cinch.

‘With ‘Lyrics,’ we could crank out five shows a day. ‘Let’s Make a Deal’ is a bigger, more elaborate show and takes a lot longer to shoot.’

‘Deal’ has put such a strain on Wayne that he is under a doctor’s supervision and there are times when he is on ordered vocal rest. He has no idea how much longer the ordeal will continue.

‘I am the host — they don’t tell me anything,’ he reveals. ‘All I know is that we’re shooting for the next five weeks, and then I don’t know when or if we’re coming back. We haven’t gotten a pickup order yet.’

THE BIG SCREEN SCENE: With Timothy Olyphant’s first-rate ‘Justified’ series launching this week, producer Graham Yost had blue rubber WWED bracelets sent out to members of the press. The letters stand for ‘What Would Elmore Do?’ as in author Elmore Leonard, on whose work the show is based. Yost says the writers are so enamored of Leonard’s style, WWED is their mantra while penning scripts.

Filmmaker Charlie Matthau is another of Hollywood’s vast legion of Leonard devotees — and the man who aims to bring Leonard’s ‘Freaky Deaky’ before the cameras this summer after a long and winding journey through development hell. He calls ‘Freaky Deaky’ ‘my passion project — Elmore Leonard’s favorite and best novel. For years I’ve been tracking it. Quentin Tarantino optioned it after ‘Pulp Fiction,” Matthau recounts. ‘He developed a script but didn’t write it. Then we got very lucky because Quentin decided to do ‘Rum Punch’ instead. That turned into ‘Jackie Brown,’ so he did let the option go on ‘Freaky Deaky.’ Then John Malkovich got hold of it, so again I thought I would never get it. But John is involved in so many different projects, a couple of years went by and the option lapsed.’

Matthau, whose work includes the critically-admired ‘Grass Harp’ and ‘Mrs. Lambert Remembers Love,’ was just about ready to camp out on Leonard’s doorstep at that point. ‘About the time Elmore was about to turn 90, he was hearing from yours truly at least once a month, nagging him for the rights. I think partially to get rid of me, he gave it to me.’

Matthau (son of the late Walter Matthau) has since turned his persevering ways toward financing and has come a long way in that regard, he tells us. Also, he has a lineup of actors who’ve expressed a desire to be involved. Again, that Leonard cachet is a powerful lure in Hollywood. He’d especially like Chris Tucker. ‘It’s almost like Elmore was channeling him when he wrote this in 1988. If you went to God and said, ‘Create a script for Chris Tucker that is perfect for him,’ this is what He’d come up with.’

Or at least, what Elmore Leonard came up with.

FROM THE INSIDE LOOKING OUT: Standup comedian Jim Norton, who’s a sidekick on the Opie and Anthony radio show, gets to meet famous people everyday, but he tells us he still gets star struck when meeting some of the greats.  ‘I completely do.  I am a boob,’ says Norton with a laugh.  ‘KISS were at Sirius doing something else and I know Gene [Simmons] because I roasted him and Paul [Stanley] recognized me because he knows my act. Gene was just being casual with me because we’ve spoken quite a few times, and even though I know those guys know me, I literally couldn’t talk. I’m just a blithering idiot around people I admire,’ he admits.  ‘But that’s the fun part of the job.  It’s just great to be able to sit down and talk to my heroes.’

MULTI-MEDIA STARS: Looks like juggling time for Lucy Liu, who is busy with her Broadway role in ‘God of Carnage’ — and is also set to play Andrea in ‘East Fifth Bliss,’ which goes into production mid-April starring ‘Dexter’s’ Michael C. Hall. ‘Bliss’ was originally expected to go before the cameras last fall. The indie black comedy has Hall playing a 35-year-old man who gets romantically involved with a former classmate’s 18-year-old daughter.

And feature filmmaker Brett Ratner’s thinking small screen right now; he’s about to shoot the pilot for ‘Chaos,’ his Fox TV drama starring Freddy Rodriguez with Tim Blake Nelson on board. Casting notices have it that the show deals with rogue CIA operatives ‘who combat bureaucratic gridlock, rampant incompetence and political infighting.’ Obviously, it’s a fantasy, folks.

With reports by Emily-Fortune Feimster

Tom Bergeron’s working his acting chops on the set of ‘Castle’ this week in an episode that, as he puts it, ‘takes a page out of the whole Conan O’Brien-Jay Leno imbroglio’ — with Tom playing the host of an 11:30 comedy and talk show ‘who believes that the guy with the 12:30 show is gunning for him.’

The back story on how the ‘Dancing With the Stars’ and ‘America’s Funniest Videos’ host wound up on ‘Castle’ is as much fun as the episode sounds like it will be. Tom reminds that ‘DWTS’ is the lead-in show for ‘Castle,’ and that stars Nathan Filion and Stana Katic have been in the audience of the live dance competition to promote their series. Tom’s become friendly with them. ‘I told Nathan I was a fan of ‘Firefly’ and introduced him to my wife.,’ he tells us.

‘Independent of that, I ran into Jonathan Frakes and Genie Francis at the Starbucks near my house just about two weeks ago, after not having seen them for a couple of years. I told them I’d recommended them to our ‘Dancing With the Stars’ casting people, because with Jonathan’s sci-fi background and Genie’s in soaps, they bring in two different fan bases.

‘Then Jonathan said, ‘I can do you one better. I’ve been directing ‘Castle,’ and I’ve recommended you to the producers for an acting role.”

One call led to another — ABC head honcho Steve McPherson was quick to get on board — and Bergeron wound up center stage in the episode, airing April 12, called ‘The Late Shaft,’ with Fred Willard as his sidekick, and Bill Bellamy as his rival. Not only that, but all this camaraderie and mutual admiration has led to Bergeron serving as host of ‘An Evening With Castle’ with the producers and cast tonight (3/16) at the Paley Center for Media in L.A.. He’ll finish shooting his scenes as late night comic Bobby Mann on Thursday (3/18), then go right into preps for the new ‘DWTS’ season launch Monday (3/22).

MEANWHILE: Bergeron is excited not only by this season’s lineup of dance competitors — including Pamela Anderson, Niecy Nash, 80-year-old former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, pilot Jake Pavelka of ‘The Bachelor,’ Olympic Gold Medal-winning figure skater Evan Lysacek, Erin Andrews of ESPN, Kate Gosselin and Pussycat Dolls leader Nicole Scherzinger. He’s also looking forward to getting in step with his new cohost.

Tom was in on the casting of Brooke Burke to replace departing Samantha Harris. ‘Brooke, based on everything — her experience doing live TV, not only as a host, but her unique experience on the show as someone who has won — was a slam dunk. It will undoubtedly feel different since Samantha and I did eight of the past nine seasons together, but I have no doubt it will be good.’

CAN YOU SAY ‘WORKAHOLIC’?: Five episodes into shooting the third season of ‘In Plain Sight,’ star Mary McCormack says, ‘I could use some sleep. I’m not going to lie.’ The ‘In Plain Sight’ team keeps up an even more hectic pace than stars of broadcast network hour dramas, since the hit USA Network cable series is shot on a more compressed schedule. Add to that she has her five-year-old and two-year-old daughters with her in Albuquerque, where the show headquarters — while her husband, producer-director Michael Morris, toils away in L.A. on his show, ‘Brothers and Sisters’ — and it’s no wonder she’s sleep deprived.

‘I don’t know how we’re doing it,’ she says. ‘We haven’t had a vacation together, ever. Not one. One of us always working. And we’ve been together almost 10 years. Last year for my birthday, we planned a whole thing on the Mexican Riviera. We had our plane tickets. Then the swine flu hit and we couldn’t go. Who knows? Maybe when our girls go to college we’ll sit on a beach and do crosswords.’

Except for the swine flu, McCormack isn’t complaining, however. She’s actually all revved up about the new season, debuting March 31 — with guest stars including Donnie Wahlberg, Tess Harper, Allison Janney, Rita Moreno and Steven Weber. ‘It’s hard to walk that tightrope of doing a half-funny, half-dramatic hybrid. Sometimes we’ve gone too dark. I think it took us a while to figure out. But now we’ve got it. We’re doing it successfully. Our show has really grown up and gotten better and better,’ she says. They also have a new director of photography, ‘and he’s making it look like a feature, He’s lighting it different. The tones and the color are different, more real. It’s the edgiest show on USA. Now the look matches the content.’

ON ANOTHER FRONT: ‘Psych’ costar Corbin Bernsen is busy, busy, busy. He’s wedged a couple of promotional events in-between preps for his ’25 Hill’ labor of love — a movie he wrote and is producing. It’s based on the true story of a friendship between a boy who lost his military man father in Afghanistan, and an old veteran who lost his firefighter son in 9/11, and how the two team up to compete in a soap box derby. He’s wrapping up casting with shooting to get underway before month’s end.

With reports by Emily-Fortune Feimster

Demi Lovato, who is dating Joe Jonas, has fueled speculation and opinions amongst bloggers and fans across the internet and through the teen mags – with their appearances (along with his brothers and new sister-in-law) at two Oscar parties unleashing a fresh fusillade of photos and commentary. The 17-year-old beauty seems to be taking it all in stride.

She tells us such attention “used to be a problem for me. I used to feel like I had to hide more things. But the more I’m in the spotlight and the more comfortable I am about how I deal with fans, the less I’m bothered by it. There’s still a line between what want to share with them and what I don’t in my dating life,” she adds. She does say, “I’m very happy.”

Fans can count on romance blooming for Demi – on her “Sonny With a Chance” Disney Channel show, which has its Season 2 premiere Sunday (3/14). Her TV comedienne character has gone from tiffing with rival series star Chad (Sterling Knight) to mutual crushes. In Season 2, “The romance with Chad grows,” she lets us know.

Being a hot commodity, it’s not surprising It Girl Demi has had offers for feature roles. She says, “I would love to do features one day. It’s definitely one of my goals and I’ve definitely had opportunities, but when we make up my schedule we basically have it prepared a year in advance. And if there’s a choice between trying to make time to do films or do music, I’m always like, I’d rather rehearse for a tour, or perform, or record. Music is my first love.”
Lovato has had two successful albums out so far and has toured extensively – including lots of time on the road with The Jonas Bros. The sequel to their hit “Camp Rock” – with herself and Joe as the romantic leads – wrapped production in October and it will debut this summer. “The second one was so much fun,” she says. “It was great going back to those characters and having everyone together again.”

FROM THE INSIDE LOOKING OUT: Regina King, who’s featured in the big-screen comedy “Our Family Wedding,” opening today (3/12), is looking into other feature projects that might not have been possible for her to consider if her “Southland” series hadn’t moved from NBC to TNT. With a shorter season on cable, “You have more opportunities to maybe do two movies as opposed to just one” over a series hiatus, she notes.

“When you’re an entertainer, you do a little bit of everything. I have a production company, and this move allows more time to develop and actually bring projects to light,” she adds. “If you’re constantly growing and evolving in this industry, the natural place to go is to produce your own project.”

“Our Family Wedding” has America Ferrera and Lance Gross as a bride and groom whose fathers – Carlos Mencia and Forest Whitaker – are feuding, with that added dimension of a union taking place between a Latino family and an African-American one. Says Regina, “I play a friend of Forest and Lance’s family. You cannot get much better than working with Forest. We had an awesome time.”

Meanwhile, she’s pleased with her “Southland” police drama’s move for other reasons. “I think we’ll now finally do what we started out to do. One of the things we hear more than anything from officers is that they feel like the show is really real so we want to stay honest,” notes King. “I think the show is pretty gritty as it is now, but being on TNT does afford us the opportunity for less bleeps when it comes to language and it allows us to be slightly more dark, which I think is a good thing.”

Another good thing is that King tells us we’ll be seeing a lot more of her character Detective Lydia Adams as well. “The writers have definitely written her complex, like a real person is. It’s fun to be able to play a character that is not written as an after thought.”

THE VIDEOLAND VIEW: Critical and viewer response to Fox’s “Sons of Tucson” comedy that premieres Sunday (3/14) won’t alter the course of the show – at least for this season. That’s because all 13 episodes are already in the can. Star Tyler Labine sees advantages and disadvantages to getting all the shooting done before the show’s debut. “It’s strange, I’ve done both. We shot the first season of ‘Reaper’ while we were on the air. It didn’t premiere to stellar numbers, so right away the network was on us, you know?” he recalls. “It was like, ‘Here’s what we need to do. We need to mention the devil at lest 12 times in an episode and you have to do this and you have to do that,’ and it became a very formulaic show in the beginning, because they were afraid to let us explore the mythology.”

In “Tucson,” he plays a slacker type who gets hired by a trio of boys to pose as their dad – while their real father is in prison.

SMALL WORLD: John Wells’ untitled medical pilot goes into production later this month for CBS. It’s about doctors and nurses who treat destitute patients here and abroad out of a portable hospital. The medicos each have their own dramas that they left behind. Interestingly, “Law & Order: SVU” exec producer Neal Baer, a doctor, has done that kind of work himself. He used to write “ER” episodes for Wells.

With reports by Emily-Fortune Feimster

Diahann Carroll is diving into preparations this week to bring her “The Lady … The Music … The Legend” one-woman show to Palm Springs to be filmed as a PBS special. It’s the latest high-profile turn for Diahann, who also has her ongoing commitment to USA Network’s “White Collar” as well as two upcoming Lifetime movies. The still-glamorous septuagenarian is surprised herself to be in such demand.

“I’m very proud, pleased, happy and thrilled to be working like this as I approach…” she pauses, laughs, then sings, “the time of my life.”

She’s certainly been having the time of her life, adding a best-selling autobiography and a “Grey’s Anatomy” Emmy to her long list of stage, screen and TV achievements over the past couple of years.

Right now, she’s putting together an orchestra to rehearse with in L.A. for “The Lady…The Music…The Legend.” There’ll also be wardrobe to work out with Bob Mackie.

“For stage, Bob was always kind enough to be there for me,” she notes. “He’s a genius. Anyone who could take Cher’s body and turn her into what he’s turned her into — so gorgeous and appealing. And now he’s working with Pink, which I think is a wonderful combination. My gowns are not so extreme as that.”

Her live performance next month is a benefit for the Annenberg Theater at The Palm Springs Art Museum, with the TV special planned for summer debut.

Meanwhile, Diahann plays mama to “Rescue Me’s” Daniel Sanjata as he brings to life crime novelist Patricia Cornwell’s detective Wil Garano character in back-to-back movies. “Patricia Cornwell’s At Risk” and “The Front,” air April 10 and 17, respectively.

And then there’s “White Collar” and her part as the savvy and soigné widow who shares her home with con man-turned-crime fighter Neal Caffrey (Matt Bomer) “I’m having an absolute ball on that show. She’s a great character and I love the company,” says Diahann. “It’s so great to be around, people who are a bit – just a bit — younger than you and me.”

FROM THE INSIDE LOOKING OUT: Benjamin Bratt turned a lot of heads at last year’s Sundance Festival, playing a Latino father who finds out about his son’s hidden homosexuality in “La Mission.” Audiences will get a chance to see the flick, when it premieres in theaters April 9. Jeremy Ray Valdez, who plays Ben’s gay son in the film, wants us to know, “We had five screenings at Sundance and got standing ovations at every one. It just strikes a chord with people – not just with gays and Latinos, but all cultures are responding to it.”

He adds, “It was a project that I was really passionate about. As actors, we want to act in roles that are meaningful to us and the character is saying important things
and that’s what this script has. It’s just a beautiful story. I hope people take away from this film the possibility of change and unconditional love.”

The experience was certainly a life-changing one for Valdez. He tells us he’s lucky to have found a new role model in Bratt. “I can’t say enough good things about this guy. He’s super genuine, a family man, very down to earth, and cares about
everyone around him. He gives you everything he’s got as an actor,” says Valdez. “I actually got engaged while we were filming and you hear so much negativity in the Hollywood community about being married and cheating so to see him be so loving with his wife and kids, it made me hopeful with my marriage.”

CHANGE OF PACE:   It’s been a busman’s holiday for 17-year-old Adam Hicks while he’s been on hiatus for his Disney XD series, “Zeke & Luther.” The affable red-haired actor has been busy doing five episodes of “Jonas” for the brothers’ upcoming new season.

“My character on ‘Jonas’ is completely different from Luther. He’s the cool guy who has all the input on all the parties in California, the guy who shows them around,” Adam reports.

The new season of the skateboard-centric “Zeke & Luther” comedy premieres Monday (3/15), with an episode in which Zeke (Hutch Dano) jumps a shark, literally. Soon their hiatus will be over, and Hicks says he feels ready to get back to work on his own show.

“It’s funny, when you’re working, you get home and the first thing you do is go to sleep because you’re exhausted. You can’t wait for a break. Then when you get a break, you can’t wait to get back to work.”

ON THE GOOD FOOT: Hollywood’s legendary 92-year-old marathon-running publicity man Julian Myers is staging a Four Myers Generations run Saturday (3/13) — with 12 of his family members from near and far in the Lakewood, CA Sheriff’s Family Fun Run

It’s all about promoting AmigoDay, the monthly day of conscious friendliness launched by Julian and wife Patsy years ago. Those longing for kindness and civility should consider joining in AmigoDay the first Sunday of every month. Requirements are simple. “Just greet anyone anywhere, your way, any month’s first Sunday,” explains Myers, a gentleman of the old school, who has worked with innumerable stars, all the studios, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the TV academy through the years.

He’s hoping all three of his great-granddaughters will run, but considering that the youngest one is a mere 1 ½, that may be asking a bit much. Even for a Myers.

With reports by Emily-Fortune Feimster

Scott Hamilton is conferring with surgeons “to get as many opinions as possible” before he decides what course to take with his latest physical challenge.

“In December I took a fall and tore up my shoulder so I have to have surgery. I’ve never had that happen before,” says the beloved Olympic Gold Medal-winning skating great. Having completed his latest turn as rinkside commentator for NBC last month, he reports, “With my responsibilities with the Olympics, January and February were almost gone so today was the first day I was back on the ice and my shoulder was really limiting me. I’m hoping to get it repaired this month. I can’t sleep so it’s time to get it fixed.”

If anyone can make that happen, it’s Scott, a survivor of testicular cancer and a brain tumor. He talked to this column last year about his amazing journey from pot-bellied and unhealthy shape back to performance-ready form after five years away from the ice – thanks to grueling hard work. The public will get a chance to see some of that journey tonight (3/8) on the Bio Channel’s two-hour special, “Scott Hamilton: Return to the Ice.”

“I figured if I’m going to put myself through this much agony, I might as well document it,” says the 51-year-old Hamilton with a laugh. “I never anticipated going back to skating ever, but I was letting myself fail physically. I wasn’t pushing myself to be as healthy as I could be. The first six months back were frustrating because I didn’t have anything. I was trying to get my body to get to the point where I could try stuff,” he explains, “but there were elements that were a part of this process that weren’t ever in my skating career before – fear and uncertainty. I’d go to do something and I’d almost start laughing because I couldn’t figure out how to make my body do it.”

Finally Hamilton was back to skating an hour a day and he performed for the first time at his 10th annual cancer-fundraising show “An Evening With Scott Hamilton and Friends.” Now his shoulder injury has him sidelined once again for a few months.

Jason Dolley

A LITTLE OLDER, NOT EXACTLY WISER:  

Disney Channel heartthrob Jason Dolley, 18, takes a step toward maturity with the April 4-debuting “Good Luck Charlie” – about a household in which the teenagers take care of their baby sister while the parents are away at their respective jobs.

“They’re sort of going for a ‘Full House’ kind of feeling with this show,” says Dolley, “something families can watch together. It definitely resembles a classic family sitcom. We get to have, like, family dynamic stuff that goes on. The things that come up on the show are real-life conflicts. I think it’s a balance of things that kids will like and adults will like. It’s awesome.”

Dolley, who played the mop-haired Newt Livingston on the Channel’s very broad, very kid-oriented “Corey in the House” – and goofed around in a chicken suit in its “Hatching Pete” movie last year – admits he was anxious to get back in the game. “’Corey in the House’ ended kind of abruptly and I was kind of disappointed that it was over. Working at the Disney Channel was so awesome, I was like, ‘I want to get in there and do more of that.’ Then this script came to me and it’s a more grown-up character and a more authentic show and I thought, ‘Wow, this is the best of both worlds.’”

But his new character isn’t exactly a model of responsible near-adulthood.

“P.J. is the oldest brother in the household. His heart’s in the right place, but I guess it’s like his little brother puts it: ‘He’s not very “thinky.”’ P.J. easily misses things. He’s not dumb, but he’s a little bit in his own world.”

THE SHAPE OF THINGS: Julie Benz is proud to have the body to play a stripper on “Desperate Housewives” at age 37. The former “Dexter” leading lady tells us, “I’m an exercise junkie. I also feel like, my mentality is, I embrace who I am and where I’m at. I don’t consider myself be to be extremely thin. I’m very physically fit, but I’m not like this anorexic thinness. I’ve got these thighs and I’ve got this a– and I love to eat.”

AWARD TO THE WISE: Sure, there are lots more disappointed Oscar nominees than there are winners this morning, but those illustrious nominations still mean an awful lot. Ernest Borgnine, who was selected to receive the Publicists Guild’s Special Award of Merit in recognition of his long career at the organization’s 47th Annual Awards Luncheon last week, points out, “I didn’t win the Emmy last year (for his guesting on “E.R.”). But I always feel like if you’re nominated, they’re at least thinking of you. I thought being nominated was just as good,” claims the 93-year-old Borgnine. The Oscar winner for “Marty” (1955) does go on to say, however, “I do have that big golden fella that I won and nobody can take that away from me.”

With reports by Emily-Fortune Feimster

E! Channel sensation Kendra Wilkinson looks incredible in her February OK! Magazine spread — a song of physical perfection, in fact, for a woman who just gave birth Dec. 11. But not to hear her tell it.

“I can’t say I’m back yet. I’m dieting. I’m going to get better,” says the knockout blond, who went from being one of Hugh Hefner’s girlfriends on “Girls Next Door” to love and marriage with Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Hank Baskett on her own “Kendra” show – to motherhood with the arrival of Hank Baskett IV.

She credits helpful lighting and photography for her dazzling look in the British mag. Meanwhile, “I’m under a lot of pressure to get back in shape for photo shoots and stuff like that. They don’t understand that it’s not that easy to get back in shape,” she complains.

“Actually, I had this doctor come over yesterday, to my new house in Tarzana. . The doctor rubbed on my belly and said ‘There’s always going to be that small little pooch because your uterus is shrinking,’” Kendra recounts.

“Once a week I do hardcore training and stuff,” continues the 24-year-old San Diego native. “I breast feed. I have to have some fat in me. Breast feeding, you burn off so many calories.”

“Kendra’s” new season launches March 14, and she considers it “ten times better than last season” – which is saying a lot, considering what a ratings winner has show has been for E! already.

Despite the challenges, Kendra says motherhood is “the best thing that’s ever happened to me. It’s so great to be a young mom. I can guarantee, if I’d waited 10 yeas to have a baby, I’d be in so much more pain and stuff. I feel like Supermom. If I need to lift a stroller down the steps, I lift it myself. I’m young and strong.”

The best part of all: “The bond between us, the love. He knows I’m his mom now. Every time I walk away he cries, which is painful and a negative thing, but also, every time I’m there, he laughs and smiles. Besides Hank, I’m the only one my baby can recognize and have that immediate comfort with. Wherever we go, if I’m there, he’s happy.”

NEW STEPS: “Dancing With the Stars” judge Carrie Ann Inaba tells us she’s ready to interview some celebrities this weekend at the Oscars as part of her co-hosting gig for the TV Guide Network’s “Live on the Red Carpet.” However, for a “shy” girl from Hawaii, it’s not as easy as it may look.

“I’m not familiar with celebrities. I don’t go out with the Hollywood crowd. I live kind of a quiet life so I thought this job would be exciting,” says Inaba of taking the hosting gig. “It’s really exciting, but it’s a challenge. It’s a whole new world for me because I’m naturally a shy person. I dance. I never liked speaking as much, but then I found myself being a judge and speaking a lot more than I wanted to. Now I’m on the red carpet speaking to celebrities. I get a little nervous because I’m just a girl from Hawaii. It’s bizarre,” she notes. “I have to face my fears of being shy and initiate conversations with people I’ve admired and respected my whole life. It’s an honor to get to interact with them and I just want to do it justice so I study a lot for this job.”

In fact, Inaba tells us she’s been brushing up on all of the Oscar-nominated movies in hopes of being more than prepared for the big day. “I took a couple of weeks off for the Emmys so I could study every single person I could on TV. I spent about two months studying for that. I have to say, I love school and part of being this red carpet host has to do with studying,” explains the acclaimed dancer, who seems to be getting better and better as she goes. “I know I’ve got to speak a little slower. I saw how excited I was so I’ve got to keep that more on the inside and be a little cooler on the outside,”
she adds with a laugh. Hey, it’s the Oscars. Everyone’s excited.

BAD MAN RISING: Dean Norris, familiar to “Breaking Bad” fans as Hank, the amiable blowhard DEA agent brother-in-law of Bryan Cranston’s character, works a whole different set of chops on tomorrow night’s (3/5) episode of “Medium.” His guest role is “the creepiest I’ve ever played. He’s a recidivist child molesting rapist kind of a guy. He’s the brother of the main detective, Scanlon (David Cubitt),” the actor reports.

Norris has been enjoying a busman’s holiday since “Breaking Bad” wrapped production for its March 21-debuting third season in January. He’s also just finished work on a “Lie to Me” episode, and hopes to do more guest roles before the regular TV season is over. “It’s just so much fun. The characters are generally different, and you get to go in there and do a fun, interesting story. You notice, you’re seeing movie stars guest-starring on shows these days,” he points out. Norris shows his funny side in “Cop Talk” videos you can find on YouTube and the AMC website. Those cops he’s seen with in the goofy bits are really cops who are really his buddies, he lets us know. But Norris’ Hank will be anything but funny this coming season, the actor tips. Look out.

NOT THE SAME OLD SAME OLD: Another pilot on the way is ABC’s “Off the Map,” about three doctors who are running a medical clinic in the middle of a tropical rain forest, using limited resources and lots of improvising. The characters are pretty Nina, sexy and tough Indian-American Michael, and brilliant, easily entertained Otis, all of whom left their pasts behind when heading out to the jungle. Sounds interesting.

With reports by Emily-Fortune Feimster

(originally published November, 2009)

With Fox’s ‘Glee’ turning into an outright phenomenon, will stories of runaway egos and cast discord be far behind? Not if you ask Mark Salling, who plays Puck, the bad boy who’s been hard trying to be good — and winning over viewers’ hearts, if not the heart of his beloved Quinn (Dianna Agron).

He makes it clear, ‘It’s a good group of people.  No one does drugs.  Everybody’s really solid.  I can only speak for myself, though, and being that I’m 27, I think I’m a little too old to be so foolish as to squander everything away.’

Chris Colfer, who plays the flamboyant gay singer Kurt, is only 19, but he isn’t likely to lose his head over the sudden fame, either. He has too deep a sense of responsibility to his character, who’s quickly taking on iconic status. Chris does tell us he feels the show has already been life-changing, though, with thousands of fans showing up for public appearances these days, in addition to a flood of fan mail. The troupe even found themselves singing the national anthem at the World Series. ‘What an honor, to sing an American classic for an American classic,’ he says.

The show’s viewership is more than 8 and a half million and climbing. Sales of ‘Glee’ recordings on iTunes and traditional stores are so brisk that Reuters called them something for the beleaguered recording industry to feel joyful about this holiday season.

Cory Monteith is feeling joyful as well. The handsome 27-year-old plays football star-turned Glee club stalwart Finn Hudson (also the presumed baby daddy of his girlfriend, Quinn’s, gestating offspring). Monteith still can hardly believe he’s getting the chance to sing on television at all , considering he had never sung before getting cast on the Fox show.  ‘I’ve had zero training whatsoever.  This is the first thing I ever did with singing,’ admits the Canadian actor.

‘I’ve been a drummer all of my life so I have played music,’ he adds. ‘For me to now have this platform and to have the opportunities that this show is presenting me is a dream come true.’

Monteith admits that the musical demands of his role were a little intimidating at first. However, even a few weeks in he could tell a big difference with his performing.  ‘What you feed grows.  What you work on improves,’ he notes.  ‘It’s just gotten better and better.’

He also admits, ‘There’s a lot more acting than I thought was required originally with this character,’ as former best friends Finn and Puck literally came to blows on this week’s episode.

He goes on, ‘Finn’s got a certain naivety about him.  I really get the humor that the naivety creates.’

The older generation of ‘Glee’ stars is certainly benefiting from the show at least as much as the newcomers. At this year’s Emmy Awards, Best Supporting Actress winner Kristen Chenoweth predicted that ‘Glee’s’ Jane Lynch will be accepting an Emmy statuette next year, for her portrayal of the tough, mean, manipulating, mercurial, unpredictable and — just possibly — loveable underneath it all Coach Sue. Scores of critics and fans agree. As much as the ultra-talented actress-writer-comedian-singer has impressed audiences with her work in the past — especially in such Christopher Guest and Judd Apatow comedies as ‘Best in Show’ and ‘The 40-Year-Old Virgin’ — Coach Sue is a landmark in her career.

And then there’s the lynchpin of the entire ‘Glee’ machine, Matthew Morrison—a.k.a. Spanish teacher cum Glee club leader, Will Shuester. Hard as it may be to believe now, Morrison says there was a moment he wasn’t sure whether it was going to happen.

‘I wanted the part, but I was kind of scared of it.  TV musicals haven’t really done well in the past.  I knew it was going to be really, really bad or wildly successful. There was no middle road for this kind of show.’

Fortunately for him, the series took that latter track. Morrison, who previously starred in the Broadway productions of ‘Footloose,’ ‘Hairspray,’ and ‘South Pacific,’ to name a few, now has a way to bring all his performing skills to TV.

As he puts it, ‘I’m doing everything in this show that I do well.  I get to showcase my singing, my dancing — it’s like the perfect show for me.  If I could have written the perfect vehicle for myself, this would be it.’

As for the future, they’re all hoping ‘Glee’ continues on its present path with creator Ryan Murphy for a good long run.

And after that?

‘I’d love, love, love to do Broadway,’ says Chris Colfer. ‘I grew up doing community theater. I love doing show tunes, or theatrical anything — moving set pieces. I’m like a circus type. I’ve also always wanted to get into writing and screenwriting. I’m not sure where I’ll find myself in the future.’

It would seem the sky’s the limit.

(“Glee” returns April 13, 2010)

Emily-Fortune Feimster and Stacy Jenel Smith