Beck/Smith Hollywood

Kevin Eubanks

Kevin Eubanks laughs and says “I don’t have an answer for that” when asked whether he’d guest on Jimmy Kimmel’s or Conan O’Brien’s show once he finishes the last month of his 18-year stint with Jay Leno and “The Tonight Show.”

He acknowledges, “It’s going to be so different, not seeing each other and sharing a stage every day” with Jay.  However, the man whose comedic takes have saved many a lame joke through the years, tells us he really doesn’t know whether their friendship will go on:  “We’ll see.  I hope so.  You know how the business is, how people start to become isolated in whatever project they become involved in.  It’s a stressful period in the country and people are busy.”

Eubanks admits the “Jay Leno Show” prime time failure took a toll  “This might be weird to say, but the biggest challenge of that time, to me, was not having input into what the new show was.  Now, having said that, I know it wasn’t my place to have any input, so I wasn’t asking or looking for it — should we do this, do that.  But that was in my mind.  When the show started unfolding, you’re wishing someone would listen to an idea.  But it was like, ‘Everybody’s got an idea right now.’” 

He adds, “You feel like you’ve been in a place so long, and part of that community so long – my opinion might be valid.  I wish I’d had a little more say.  But I held back – just focusing on my department, the music – and that was really difficult.  It was so unexpected.”

Still, he says, “It seemed appropriate and proper to be there at 11:30 and do whatever I could to get the show back to where people remembered us,” before taking his leave.

Eubanks doesn’t know exactly what he’ll be doing next beyond his work as Artistic Director for the Thelonius Monk Institute’s Jazz in the Classroom program.  An avid cook – vegetarian — he’s been approached with ideas including a reality show in which he’d be seen preparing dishes with some of his celebrity pals.  Will there be a Kevin Eubanks tell-all book about the “Tonight” experience?

He laughs.  “If there’s one of those, it won’t be from me.”

AND YOU THINK YOUR JOB IS HARD:  Spike TV’s hit show “Deadliest Warrior” – the non-scripted series that pits history’s greatest warriors against one another – is back for a second season and Dr. Armand Dorian says it’s better than ever with all new warriors, bigger tests, deadlier weapons and more unprecedented matchups.  

“The show is definitely amped up this season.  When you look back historically, you have warriors who could have never been pit against one another and to be able to do that and bring in true trauma, it’s just fascinating,” notes the E.R. doctor, who is brought in to analyze the lethal potential of each attack on the human body.  In fact, the show has made him somewhat of a rock star at home.  “I am my nephews’ hero.  When I go pick them up at school, the kids think I’m the coolest guy ever.  They’ll come over to our house and ask, ‘Are you the guy on ‘Deadliest Warrior?’  It definitely has a huge following.”

          Besides getting to explore his inner kid, Dorian says he also likes the fact that they are tapping into some of today’s best technology.  “We’ve got so much technology that I’m able to apply real trauma knowledge to these match ups.  I can tell you if it’s a cut, if it’s hitting a significant artery, and if this guy going to die in an hour or instantly,” he explains.  “We also get to impart information to the audience and they’re learning without even realizing they’re learning.  That’s one of the coolest parts of the job for me.”

          THE LANCE SHOW:  With Diane Lane set to play matriarch Pat Loud in Gavin Polone’s HBO movie that aims to show the behind-the-scenes drama of the making 1973’s “An American Family” documentary series, the production’s hot into casting of her son, the late gay icon and arguably the first reality TV star, Lance Loud.  What a role. 

You may recall that young Lance made his sexuality quite obvious, and caused a national stir, during the course of the documentary that saw him leave home and head for New York and the world of pen pal Andy Warhol.  Critics were not kind, one describing him as “an evil flower.”  His response, on Dick Cavett’s show:  “That was the one that really hurt. But I took two aspirin and it went away.”  He also complained about the way he’d been depicted and editing on the series that had cameras following his affluent Santa Barbara, California family for a year — as it fell apart before viewers’ eyes.   Follow-up editions took the new wave rocker and music writer all the way through his death at 50, at his behest, in the 2003 “Lance Loud! A Death in An American Family.” 

          BENEFITS VS. BENEFITS:  You had to wonder whether anyone was going to blink – what with filmmaker Ivan Reitman plotting his big screen “Friends With Benefits” even as Ron Howard and Brian Grazer and the folks at their Imagine Entertainment were readying a “Friends With Benefits” TV series pilot.  And considering there’s already a “Friends With Benefits” independent movie.  Oh, those trendy pop culture phrases involving sex with no strings!  Well, now Reitman’s movie is officially untitled.  They’re still planning a May production start with Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman and a cast including Kevin Kline and Olivia Thirlby.

With reports by Emily-Fortune Feimster

Jon Gosselin

by Stacy Jenel Smith

Jon Gosselin agrees with the rest of us:  he is a jerk.

The man whose former girlfriend Hailey Glassman was inspired by him to coin the term ‘mantrum,’ popped up at the West Side Jewish Center in New York last fall to issue his mea culpa to Rabbi Shmuley Boteach before a crowd of 150.

Humiliating his soon-to-be-ex-wife and the mother of his eight children, Kate Gosselin, by publicly carrying on relationships with three different women while they were still married, he said, ‘was a huge mistake, because if she would’ve done that to me, I would have been extremely pissed off.  Not because our relationship is over, it’s almost like a stab in the back.  And now that I think about it, it was a very wrong thing to do. I definitely regret it.’

Ha, now that he thinks about it.

The ‘Jon and Kate Plus 8′ baby daddy also said that ‘Half the stuff I’ve done, if I look at my moral compass, I shouldn’t have done.  I know that but I did it anyway.  It’s like fame canceled out conviction.’

He’s told his kids he’s sorry for not being there.  He wants to apologize to Kate in private.  And there it is — another celebrity apologia complete.

It’s practically become a new art form — or at least a public relations extension course possibility:  How to do the ‘I’m sorry’ circuit to make everything all better after screwing things up.  Learn to craft those heartfelt words that will get you or your client off the hook.   Here are 10 methods employed by the Sorry Celebrity pros:

David Letterman

1.  Deflect attacks by making self-deprecating remarks, especially if they’re funny.  David Letterman, who came clean about his sexual relationships with female staffers during his grand jury testimony about an alleged extortion attempt against him, acknowledged on his show that his behavior had hurt his wife ‘horribly.’   Then he added, ‘Right now, I would give anything to be hiking on the Appalachian Trail.  I got in the car this morning — and the navigation lady wasn’t speaking to me.’  Talking about the autumn weather, Letterman added that he’d spent the weekend ‘raking my hate mail….And it’s cold, too.  I mean chilly outside my house, chilly inside my house.’

Kanye West

2.  Get emotional.  Did you see Kanye West apologizing for disrupting Taylor Swift’s MTV Video Music Awards acceptance speech on the premiere installment of Jay Leno’s prime time show?   You ended up feeling sorry for HIM.  Kanye’s an enormously gifted man, but he’s making himself more widely known for these awards show outbursts than his performing.   ‘I feel like Ben Stiller in ‘Meet the Parents’ when he messed up everything and Robert De Niro asked him to leave,’ he wrote on his blog.  ‘That was Taylor’s moment and I had no right in any way to take it from her. I am truly sorry.’  (So he didn’t learn after pulling similar shenanigans over Gretchen Wilson’s American Music Awards win, or Justice vs Simian’s at the MTV Europe Music Awards?) When his written statements didn’t cut it, he went on with Leno, who got him all choked up by asking what his mom would have said.

3.  Join in with the crowd and say things about yourself that everyone else is saying.  ‘There is no excuse, nor should there be any tolerance, for anyone who thinks or expresses any kind of anti-Semitic remark.’  Yeah!  You tell ‘em, Mel Gibson.  In the long written apology following his slur-infected diatribe upon being arrested on a DUI charge in 2006, the star also acknowledged, ‘I am a public person, and when I say something, either articulated and thought out, or blurted out in a moment of insanity, my words carry weight in the public arena. As a result, I must assume personal responsibility for my words and apologize directly to those who have been hurt and offended by those words.’  True, but despite the fact the incident was expunged from his record in October after Mel successfully completed the terms of his three-year probation, lots of people aren’t forgetting.

4.  Claim insanity.  Yes, you read above that Mel Gibson invoked the I-word as part of his good guy image reclamation efforts.  Others have rolled out the ol’ temporary insanity ploy as well.  Michael Richards, acting as if he was personally baffled over his hurling of the N-word during an onstage tirade at L.A.’s Laugh Factory in ’06, was quoted saying, ‘I’m not racist — that’s what’s so insane about this.’

5.  Blame the media.  This was part of Sharon Stone’s approach when she offended China by with her statement, on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival, that maybe the deadly earthquake that had just taken place there was karma for the country’s ill treatment of Tibet.  ‘Yes, I misspoke,’ one of her statements acknowledged.  ‘I could not be more regretful of that mistake.  It was unintentional.  I apologize, those words were never meant to be hurtful to anyone, they were an accident of my distraction and a product of news sensationalism.’  Well, she’s just lucky she wasn’t dealing with the Chinese media.  The country’s official Xinhua News Agency’s response to her ‘accident’ was to declare Sharon the ‘public enemy of all mankind.’  They don’t kid around.

6.  Say it’s all about your art.  When Christian Bale went on the Kevin and Bean show on  L.A.’s KROQ FM radio station to apologize for his (recorded and widely replayed) profanity-laden tirade against a ‘Terminator’ crew member last year, he said his freak out was due to the intense nature of his craft.   He was in the midst of playing John Connor trying to save the world, okay?  Who wouldn’t be uptight if someone got into their @#!$ eye line?   Nevertheless, Bale (who made up with the crew guy) gets points for appealing self-effacement, saying, ‘Feel free to make fun of me at my expense. I deserve it completely.’

7.  Blame youthful inexperience.  When teen star Miley Cyrus showed up looking like a modern day Lolita in Vanity Fair in 2008, her Disney Channel reps were quick to issue a statement saying ‘that a situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines.’   ‘Course, Annie Liebovitz had nothing to do with those provocative pics Miley took of herself that got onto the internet around the same time.  Miley herself asked fans’ forgiveness, saying in a statement that she hoped they ‘understand that along the way I am going to make mistakes and I am not perfect.’

8.  Go into rehab or therapy.  It not only says, ‘I’m sorry,’ but also that it was, kind of not your fault, because of your addiction to alcohol, drugs, gambling or what have you.  Gibson and Richards did it.  Kanye’s been talking about it.  And after it became public that David Duchovny was having his own real-life sex addiction problem that threatened his marriage, the ‘Californication’ star went into rehab for that.

10.  Call on God.  When serious trouble calls for serious remedies, you have to go all-out.   With fans reeling from reports that Chris Brown had been charged with two felonies — assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury and making criminal threats — against then-girlfriend Rihanna last year, every base of showing remorse had to be covered, including religion.  In his public apology in August, the hip-hop star stated, ‘I have done a lot of soul searching over the past several months. I’ve talked with my minister and my mother and I’ve spent a lot of time trying to understand what happened and why… As many of you know, I grew up in a home where there was domestic violence. And I saw first-hand what uncontrolled rage can do. I’ve sought and continue to seek help to ensure that what occurred in February can never happen again…I can only ask and pray that you forgive me please.’

Steven Weber NBC Photo

With ABC’s new “Happy Town” wreaking its own brand of havoc on Minnesota’s friendly image, Steven Weber makes it clear he knows that the real Land of 10,000 Lakes is “a lovely place.  I don’t think they’ll take the show personally,” he adds, smiling.  “Certainly people could ascribe all sorts of meaning to it as a metaphor – as the dark underbelly of the United States, for instance.”

Actually, more people are likening the moody mystery series to “Twin Peaks.”  The show turns on a series of unsolved kidnappings in an outwardly serene Minnesota hamlet. “I’ve worked on several Steven King projects and I’ve had, I guess, a taste for this kind of stuff since I was a kid — spooky stuff,” says Weber, who starred in the TV miniseries version of “The Shining,” and did a turn on “Nightmares and Dreamscapes.”  That is, of course, in addition to his eclectic collection of Broadway, film and TV credits ranging from “The Producers” to “Wings.”

The 48-year-old actor notes, “I was looking for a role that interested me rather than a show.  At my advanced age I want things that I can sink my teeth into. Not the affable womanizing guy, I’ve done that.  I’ve done a lot of pricks in suits as I call them.  I think I think the fact that this guy has a genuinely tragic core — even though the show has a kind of a supernatural cast to it — there’s something very basic and terrifying in a real sense about him.  He’s suffering through the loss of a child.  He’s obsessed by the vacuum created by the child’s disappearance.  Especially being a father myself, it’s a terrifying thought for me.”

He was also attracted to the “Happy Town” cast including Sam Neill and Frances Conroy.  “I’m very interested in collaboration, in a communal creative process, especially with guys who’ve had such varied and successful careers.”

A GOOD VINTAGE OF FANS:  Fred Willard got a surprise last week when he answered his door and found a group of visitors from France there waiting for him.  “They’d hunted me up somehow and brought me a bottle of wine, and asked for my autograph.  There were four men and a woman.  They said they were big fans.  One of them said to me, ‘It is a pleasure to you.’  And his friend corrected him and said, ‘It is a pleasure to MEET you.’  It was very nice but I wouldn’t want things like that to happen too often,” admits the funnyman.

Well, no, but Willard’s getting another jolt of TV exposure the next two weeks, including turning up as Ty Burrell’s character’s father on “Modern Family” this week.  “I’m a little cornier than Ty, I think, but you can see the connection,” Willard tells us.  Seen previously in a quick Skype holiday phone call, Willard’s character now appears in the flesh, having driven his van from Florida across the country to give his beloved dog away to his son and family.  “My character’s wife in allergic to the dog,” he lets us know.

Will Dad be back?

“They said it’s possible.  The trouble is my character lives in Florida.  I suggested they go down to Disney World for a week.  Ty loved the idea.”

Willard does a whole different type of turn on NBC’s “Chuck” next Monday (5/3).  He and Swoosie Kurtz play a married couple of spies sent by the government to teach Chuck (Zachary Levi) old school spying techniques.  “But we seem to double cross and triple cross them – and so much for spy lessons.”  He adds, “It’s the kind of role I’ve always wanted to play.  Not out-and-out funny.  And I just loved working with Swoosie.”

FROM THE INSIDE LOOKING OUT:  Victoria Justice, who many might remember from “Zoey 101,” now has her own television show, Nickelodeon’s “Victorious,” in which she plays a singer at a performing arts school.  The 17-year-old tells us that with her new busy schedule, she’s trying to find the right balance between being a teenager and being a working actress, but so far, so good.

“The show takes up 95 percent of my time but it gives me some time to hang out with friends or go out to dinner with my cast.  Sometimes it’s tough because friends will be like, ‘Hey, do you want to go to a movie,’ and I have to say no because I have an interview or have to learn lines or I have rehearsal, but I love doing what I do and I think I would be bored if I wasn’t doing it,” says Justice.  “I’m most happy when I’m on set or when I’m at home hanging out with my family or friends and I don’t have to worry about wearing makeup or being all dressed up.”

In fact, she claims her life couldn’t be any less Hollywood.  “I live a pretty normal life.  It’s not all glamorous or anything like that.  Plus, I have a great support system.  They’re never going to let me think I’m better than anybody because it’s just ridiculous to go there.”

CASTING CORNER:  They’re rounding out the cast for – why? – Johnny Knoxville’s “Jackass 3.” Among the roles still being set: a “hottie babe of a girl” who’s a quick thinker with a comedy background; an older woman with comedy experience to play a grandmother; and another funny femme to play “an overweight, loose woman.”  For the latter, they want either a “white trash or African-American mama.”  You can just tell what the movie’s going to be like already, can’t you?

With reports by Emily-Fortune Feimster

John Schneider

John Schneider’s heart goes out to his Children’s Miracle Network cofounder Marie Osmond on the loss of her son – perhaps even more than she’s been aware.   He has a heartbreak of his own. His nephew was killed two years ago, something he hasn’t talked about until now.

Although their contact has been limited to emails in the wake of the suicide of her 18-year-old son, Michael Blosil, in late February, Schneider says he did bump into her ex-husband, Bryan Blosil, Michael’s father.

“Being a dad myself, my first thought was ‘Oh, my God.  How is he taking it?’  Not just the loss of a child, but a loss in that way – such a tragic, tragic thing.

“This seems to be happening so much these days.  How many kids, teenaged people, have we lost through suicides in the last 356 days – in the spotlight and not in the spotlight?  Obviously it tells us how much kids are going through now,” notes Schneider, whose CMN has reportedly provided more than $3.2 billion in funding for children’s hospitals, medical research and community awareness of children’s health issues since its inception in 1983.

“With teenagers, there’s always something going on and it’s good to remember, don’t take it lightly.  I tell my kids now, ‘Look, if you get yourself into a place, for whatever reason, that you don’t think you have anyone to talk to, you can always talk to me.  Sex, drugs, guns — anything.  You will not shock me.  I am here for you no matter what.’”

Schneider has three children — daughters Leah and Karis, and son Chasen — and he and his wife Elly brought their teenaged nephew Andre into their home and family around six years ago.  He told us at the time that Andre “had been raised in several difficult situations, and we wanted to give him a better opportunity.  He was not unloved, he was just untethered, so we stepped in, and we’ve got him now.”

When asked how Andre is doing, Schneider is suddenly quiet.  When he speaks again, he is clearly emotional.

“He went back to Tucson and got in with a bad crowd.  He was a good kid, but got with the wrong people, and he died at 21.  It was — an incredible waste.”

Asked about the circumstances, he replies, “His life was taken on purpose.  It was two years ago.”  And he adds, “My daughter still wears his ring around her neck.”

Schneider hasn’t spoken about Andre’s passing until now, but feels it’s just as well that it comes out at this point.

He stresses that he aims to stay close to his kids – all of whom are involved in show business.  Chase is familiar to fans of “The Secret Life of the American Teenager,” on which Schneider used to costar, as Joe, that opportunistic whiz kid who sells schoolwork.

“I texted my son this morning,” notes Schneider.  “He had a big test today.  ‘Hey buddy — ace that thing.’”

Chase’s success is all the more noteworthy as he’s dealt with challenges related to Aspberger syndrome.

His daughters are also doing well.  “They’re all big now.  They’re a terrific bunch,” he says.

Schneider has been extra busy with his professional life of late.  The Spike TV special he executive produced, “Crash Test: Real Wrecks, Real Stakes” – showing how expert stunt drivers re-enact spectacular car crashes for court cases – is airing tonight  (4/27) and he has appearances coming up on “Leverage,” TV Land’s New “Hot in Cleveland” (with Betty White), his ongoing “90210” character and possible new Spike comedy series, “The Back 9.”

No matter how busy he gets, however, “I want my kids to know I’m there for them, waiting to catch them if they screw up, need an arm to hit or just be there to talk.”

Hector Elizondo and Garry Marshall

Garry Marshall got laughs, Rosie O’Donnell scored a coup, Kevin McKidd warmed audience hearts and significant, meaningful work was honored at the 14^th Annual Prism Awards in Beverly Hills the other night.  The event highlighted films and television shows that accurately depict and bring attention to substance abuse and mental health issues – and although there were somber moments, a celebratory mood prevailed.

Introducing the category of Performance in a Comedy Series with his long-time pal and movie good luck charm, Hector Elizondo,” Marshall quickly dispensed with his scripted lines, informing the audience that there was no band, but “there’s a guy with a harmonica backstage to play you off if you go too long.”  (“The cue card guy is going crazy,” he observed.)   Marshall mentioned, among other things, that he and Elizondo play softball together in a show business league — seniors division. “If you hit a double, they let you take a nap.  If you score a home run, you get free Lipitor.”

Elizondo and Tony Shalhoub won the Prism Award comedy series performance category for their work in the much-missed “Monk,” in which Elizondo played the therapist for Obsessive Compusive detective Adrian Monk.

Rosie O’Donnell won Prism honors for her performance in Lifetime’s “America” — out of a field including Sigourney Weaver, Jessica Lange, Kimberly Elise and Drew Barrymore – in the category of Performance in a TV Movie or Miniseries.  She played a therapist in the poignant movie about a teenager caught in the foster care system.

McKidd’s portrayal a doctor fraught with post traumatic stress syndrome due to his tour of duty in Iraq on “Grey’s Anatomy” won the Prism Award for Performance in a Drama Series Multi-Episode Storyline.  He admitted to having been insecure over whether he could pull off the demands of the role when Shonda Rhimes first talked to him about it, and subsequently dove into researching PTS by reading and talking to veterans.  He thanked Rhimes and his leading lady Sandra Oh, ABC and his wife for making it all possible.

Among other highlights of the evening was a reunion of ‘I Dream of Jeannie’ stars Larry Hagman and Barbara Eden, and the inauguration of the Adam ‘DJ AM’ Goldstein Recovery Advocacy Award, presented in his memory to his mother.  Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Timothy Hutton and Dr. Phil were also among the honorees at the event, produced by the Entertainment Industries Council (EIC) in collaboration with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and FX.  Look for The Prism Awards to be shown as an upcoming television special on FX.

Daymond John ABC photo

Branding expert Daymond John talks a lot about the success stories of branding when it comes to products and companies.  How about naming celebrities that do a great job of branding themselves?

“The Kardashians,” instantly replies the “Shark Tank” star.  “They automatically come to mind.  You’ve got to think about it – they actually are really not known for anything…”  So true!  “…and yet they’ve become America’s sweethearts, America’s ‘Brady Bunch’ of today.”  What a scary idea.

He continues, “Kim has become a fashion icon, a beauty icon.  They can brand family, they can brand Hollywood, they can brand beauty.  None of it has to be because they sing or dance or anything else.”  As John notes in his first book, “Display of Power: How FUBU Changed a World of Fashion, Branding and Lifestyle,” “We all have the same engine under the hood.  It’s just that some people understand how to tap into that power.”

Kim Kardashian

John is certainly tapping into his power in a major way.  He’s keeping up with the demands of his own FUBU business empire while on the road promoting his powerful new “The Brand Within” book – wherein readers learn how they, too, can make hay via branding.  He expects to stay just as busy traveling, speaking, meeting and appearing for the next couple of months.  He says he’ll know within six weeks what’s in store as far as the next season of his addictive ABC “Shark Tank” show, in which entrepreneurial wannabes and inventors endeavor to get John and his fellow sharks to invest in their wares.

Kirk Cameron

It’s been six years since “The Passion of the Christ” made history with its $611 million world-wide box office gross, its groundbreaking church-based promotional roll-out and its rendering of proof that there was an audience for a great Christian film.  After that, there was a spurt of activity toward faith-themed movie and TV productions in Hollywood.  So what’s happened?

Some things did indeed get made.  “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe” became a roaring success for Disney with a $745 million worldwide box office take, sequels and merchandising galore.  New Line’s “The Nativity Story” took in $604 million.

Then there are the film and TV productions that don’t have Christian themes, per se, but do express faithful ideals and might not have gotten made – or made quite the same way – had it not been for the industry’s recognition that there is an underserved segment of the audience out there hungry for inspirational fare.  “Amazing Grace,” the historical film about British abolitionist William Wilberforce (Ioan Gruffudd), counts church regular Patricia Heaton among its producers.

Tyler Perry’s comedies contain the family values he and his devoted audience, made up largely of African-American churchgoers, hold dear.

The Christian film niche market is busy, with dozens of active production companies bringing forth a stream of product.  The most successful of those in terms of box office is Kirk Cameron’s “Fireproof,” which surprised everyone with a domestic gross of more than $33 million in 2008 – the highest of any independent film that year, followed by $28.5 million in DVD sales.

David Nixon, who was one of the producers of “Fireproof” as well as its popular predecessor, “Facing the Giants,” has “Letters to God” now in release.

He directed the film, based on a true story, about a cancer-stricken boy named Tyler (Tanner Maguire) whose daily prayers to God take the form of letters that have a profound effect on the mailman who ends up with them (Jeffrey S.S. Johnson), a man facing his own demons in life.  His decision about what to do with the letters, in turn, inspires a whole community.

Robyn Lively plays Tyler’s mother.  The actress, whose credits range from “Teen Witch” and “Twin Peaks” to “Saving Grace” tells us that “There was a whole different vibe on the set from any I’d been on before, from the start of the day to the end.”

How so?  “Well, starting the day off with prayer, for one thing,” she says.

“One night, my nephew had an accident and was being rushed to the emergency room.  I was panicking and so upset, and then one of the producers came up to me and asked, ‘Would you mind if we prayed for you?’  And I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh – thank you.’  A whole group of people came over and were praying for my little nephew.  It was amazing.  My sister-in-law was so touched when I told her about it.”  Her nephew is fine, she adds.

More films of interest to Christians are on the way as well, including Roland Joffe’s “There Be Dragons,” for which a full-fledged church-based marketing campaign is already being planned for next year.  Set at the time of the Spanish American War, it’s about a journalist who is investigating a candidate for sainthood, and discovers a personal tie to the prospective saint, as well as dark family secrets.  Charlie Cox, Wes Bentley and Dougray Scott star in the film, which will show the Catholic Opus Dei organization in a different light than it was in “The Da Vinci Code.”

The true-life saga of a band of courageous Dutch WWII heroes will get a fresh look in “Return to the Hiding Place,” which is due to shoot in July in the Netherlands, Texas and Michigan.  It revisits the story of Corrie ten Boom and her family, who hid Jews in their home until they could be smuggled out of the country via the underground –from the vantage point of one of the resistance fighters.

And coming up on Easter for NEXT year is “The Resurrection of the Christ,” planned for shooting in Israel, Morocco and Europe for distribution by Samuel Goldwyn Films (which also brought us “Amazing Grace,” “Fireproof” and this year’s “To Save a Life,” by the way).  Indie producer Billy McKay — whose credits include “Billy: The Early Years,” the Billy Graham biopic — told Variety that the movie “is as much about the key players as it is about Jesus.”  Expect to see more about Pontius Pilate, Herod, Caiaphas and Judas.  Plus, according to McKay, “We want to bring in the Gladiator dimension of the first century against the political milieu of the time.”

Gladiators, good idea.  Always good for box office. – Stacy Jenel Smith

Tim Allen

Tim Allen tells us he was all geared up to start filming “Wild Hogs 2” in a few weeks and he’s disappointed by Disney’s decision to put the movie on hold.

“This is Hollywood; we don’t know why they put it on hold.  Disney is going through a top management reshuffle.  They’ve reshuffled seven of their big movies. You’ll have to ask Disney because none of us know why,” he says.  “We were supposed to start June 1. The crew and the rest of us were ready to go so everybody was very disappointed.  I think Disney has their own reasons and I try to stay out of that.  The economy may be a part of it.  You just think, ‘Boy, what’s that about?’”

For now, Allen can be seen hosting the TV Land Awards airing Sunday (4/25). The fun show honors the casts of “Glee,” “The Love Boat,” Charlie’s Angels” (including a special tribute to Farrah Fawcett), “Everybody Loves Raymond” (complete with Brad Garrett cracking jokes about his buddy and former boss, Ray Romano), and “Bosom Buddies,” featuring the reunion of Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari.  Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner, Betty White and Billy Crystal are among the stars who grace the show as well.

“It’s not something I would normally do, but I really dug it. I was nervous because I wasn’t sure if I could do this,” admits Allen.  “It’s a tough group. The audience is there to get awards.  They’re not really there to laugh so I had to work that audience.  They weren’t giving it up easy.  You had great comedians up there like Bob Newhart sort of going like, ‘What?’”  Luckily Allen was able to win the crowd over in other ways. “I love big openings and it’s a big opening.”

In true TV Land fashion, the show ends on a big note as well.  “It has a very emotional ending.  They did a ‘Glee’ sendup with television stars who have great voices” – including Joyce DeWitt, Jimmie Walker, Marion Ross, Marilu Henner, David Hasselhoff, Shirley Jones and more.  However, in the process, we happened to find the one person in America who’s not familiar with the hit Fox show.  “I do not watch ‘Glee.’  I made a joke there where I said, ‘I wish I could say I’m a big fan of ‘Glee.’’  The glee club was not something I was in any way involved with.  It just wasn’t my gig.  I was more of a shop guy.”  Boy did that pay off!

Helena Mattsson

GETTING TO KNOW YOU:  Gorgeous Swedish actress Helena Mattsson seems to be taking her “Desperate Housewives” murder this week at the hands of serial killer Eddie (Josh Zuckerman) in stride.  “When I learned about it, I thought it was going to be really cool because it was so unexpected.  I was excited to shoot it,” says Mattsson, who played Felicity Huffman’s gold-digging wannabe daughter-in-law, Irina.  Mattsson says she had a blast on the campy serial, “one of the few shows I actually followed from the beginning.  It was surreal to join this series where I felt like I knew everybody by their characters already.”

The Stockholm-born 26-year-old blond beauty came to L.A. at age 19, having been singled out in London casting sessions as a contender for a Warner Bros. pilot – and she stayed.  “I was all alone when I came here.  I had a backpack and that was pretty much it.  I didn’t speak English and I didn’t drive, so I took the bus.  It was pretty rough.  I’ve learned a lot since” – including how to speak English with an American accent.  Mattson, who has racked up credits in episodic TV shows and movies like “Surrogates,”  adds, “My passion has been driving me.”

She’s just finished an independent film, “Audrey,” and is doing voice work on a 3D animated film based on a Scandinavian fairy tale at Warner Bros.  And next, she’ll be seen in Robert Downey, Jr.’s summer biggie, “Iron Man 2” – which does take the sting out of that “Desperate Housewives” strangulation thing.

NEW TALENT TIME:  Robert Rodriguez has a tough act to follow – his own – as he prepares to shoot “Spy Kids 4: Armageddon” with new kids in the title roles, now that Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara are no longer kids.  We hear that for this “reboot” of the popular and ingenious film series, he’s been seeing girls and boys to play 10-year-old twins, a brother and sister who are very competitive.

And casting is underway for DreamWorks’ modernized remake of  “Fright Night,” with principal characters Charley, Amy and Evil Ed still to be filled.  They’re going for teens up to 21 years of age for this one.  The actors in the original were a little older, playing teens.

With reports by Emily-Fortune Feimster

Megan Mullally NBC photo

Megan Mullally is delighted with her latest show, “Party Down,” and considers her character one of her favorite roles.  Now she just hopes more people find the network.

“We’re just trying to get everybody to get Starz.  The show has gotten so much critical acclaim, but so many people don’t have Starz,” notes Mullally of the cable network.  “The guy who ran HBO for 17 years just took over so they have a chance now to really turn it into something. They also just released season one on DVD so that helps.”

In the second season, launching tomorrow night (4/23), Mullally makes her debut as a middle-aged refugee from a lousy marriage who moves to Hollywood in hopes that her 13-year-old daughter will make it big.  The show takes us into the crazy world of wannabe actors, writers and others who work as caterers for fancy Hollywood events while awaiting their big breaks.  “My husband and I happened to stumble upon the show the first season. We were like, ‘This show is so good.  What is the deal?’” she recalls.  “Then when Jane [Lynch] left to go do ‘Glee’ it left this space that they needed to fill and they wrote a new character.  When they called, I instantly said yes.  I think it’s the best half hour show on cable, hands down.”

MEANWHILE:  Fear not, “Will & Grace” fans.  When she’s not busy partying down, Megan’s continues working on her planned “Karen: the Musical” that promises to bring back to life her self-centered Karen Walker character from the classic sitcom. “It will be a touring show where Karen and Beverley Leslie will have a big throw down,” she says of her and Leslie Jordan’s infamous “Will & Grace” characters.  “I think it will be a lot of fun.  Leslie has done so much theater that I thought it was perfect.”  It will certainly make those “Will & Grace” fans happy, who still can’t get enough of Karen’s wicked ways. “I think it’s nice to be associated with that show and I’m sure I always will be,” says Mullally.  “I still keep in close contact with everybody and we’re proud to have been a part of such a great show.”

Lisa Kudrow, Damian Dovarganes photo

THE BIG SCREEN SCENE:  Funny woman Lisa Kudrow got the chance to show off her serious acting chops in the movie “Paper Man,” hitting theaters tomorrow (4/23), and she admits it was quite different from what she’s used to doing.  “It’s strange to be in something where there is comedy and you don’t have anything to do with it.  Sometimes I would have a moment of like, ‘Wait.  Did I miss something all along?  Was I supposed to turn the funny switch on?  No?  Ok,’” says Kudrow with a laugh.

In the flick, Kudrow plays the wife of Jeff Daniels, who is a washed-up writer with an imaginary superhero friend portrayed by Ryan Reynolds.  “I really liked the script.  I was anxious to see how they were going to pull it off, especially with the imaginary friend.  I also liked the complicated relationship between the husband and wife – that commitment to the one you love,” she explains. “This guy has been a burden for a long time.  Somebody goes through a rough patch and that’s no big deal but this has been going on for years and she’s tried to help him.  It deals with personal disappointment because he didn’t turn out to be the successful novelist she thought she was marrying.”

Kudrow also recently got the chance to team up with her former “Friends” co-star Courteney Cox on “Cougar Town,” which Kudrow tells us it was a real treat.  “That was great fun.  It was like we didn’t skip a beat.  It was such a nice surprise.  Even though they were different characters, I was sitting there across from her and it was so comfortable and familiar,” she says.  “Other than that, we try to keep in touch but it’s hard because we’re so busy.”

SPECIALTY ACTS:  With the late May production start of “Water for Elephants” fast approaching, casting forces on the period circus film starring Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon and Christoph Waltz are busy filling out their big top family.   Among the colorful performers to be added to the cast, jugglers, stilt walkers, a 400-lb. white woman, burlesque girls, sword swallowers, an escape artist, a tattooed man and a woman whose entire body is tattooed (Jesse James and mistress No. 1 perhaps?), a bald man, fire-breathers, contortionists and…a woman with a really long neck.

And while we’re at it, they’re already on the lookout for specialty acts to fill out the roster of Jerry Lewis’ MDA Labor Day telethon.  Maybe they should just go over to the “Water for Elephants” set and see who they can recruit.

With reports by Emily-Fortune Feimster

EARTH DAY 2010

Sure, everyone’s heard the stories about Hollywood sensitive types who talk a great game about preserving the environment – but squander resources at their homes and and stomp carbon footprints all over the globe in their travels.  The flap over Laurie David’s being cited last year for violating the Wetlands Protection Act when she added a tennis court with a wood and stone path to her Martha’s Vineyard home comes to mind.  Also the fact she was cited in 2005, when she reportedly built a stone fire pit, a barbeque area and a children’s theater stage in a wetlands area without a permit.  That’s Laurie David as in the executive producer of Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” Laurie David who was on the road with Sheryl Crow, stumping for the environment on Crow’s Stop Global Warming College Tour, Laurie David as in married to Larry “Curb Your Enthusiasm” David.  Ouch.

But the fact is, countless celebrities are doing their parts in big and small ways to conserve.  For instance:

Peter Krause notes that, “You don’t see as many plastic water bottles around the sound stages, and they recycle scripts and rewrites.  I can see a definite change.”  Personally, “I’ve had redwoods and maples and cherry trees planted all over my property.  Not only because of their beauty, but because trees store more carbon than other plants.”

Jay Mohr of ‘Gary Unmarried” reports that his show and all Disney-produced shows have environmentally-conscious sets.  “We have no bottled water because of the plastic. The water is put in five gallon tanks and you drink it out of a tin cup.”

Erica Durance of “Smallville” says,  “Being up in VC, it’s been like that for quite some time – with people into recycling, having organic vegetable gardens in their back yards and such.  Everyone makes their individual efforts.  We bring our own plates to the set so that we don’t use paper plates.  We don’t use all paper cups and throw things away.  We leave our lights off and fans off when we leave our trailers.  We all try in our own little ways to do something.”

“We definitely do recycle here,” says Bonnie Hunt, speaking of her talk show set.  “We have a lot of kids working here who are in their twenties and are really conscientious about it.  Everyone’s got those new aluminum bottles to reuse.  We separate all our stuff for recycling.”

Kevin Nealon of “Weeds” drove an experimental electric car from Saturn for three years.  Now he drives a hybrid.  He also recycles.

Alfre Woodard and her family drive hybrid cars and they’ve had their home outfitted with solar power.  She says it cost “a couple of thousand dollars to install, but the last couple of months our energy bill was like $1.85.”  According to Woodard, her teenage son and daughter lead the way when it comes to things like turning off the water when they brush their teeth.  It’s been easier for them to grasp the whole idea that we’d got to stop strangling the earth, have to help the earth help itself.”