Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Kathy Bates' "Harry's Law" may have survived its critical drubbings to become NBC's most-watched drama — and it may have netted Bates an Emmy nomination — but that doesn't mean it's smooth sailing ahead for the David E. Kelley show. It's been moved to Wednesday nights opposite tough competition.

"We try not to think about that, but of course to some extent, you can't avoid it," notes Christopher McDonald, whose media-hound lawyer character, Tommy Jefferson, becomes a full-time regular this season. "I miss our 10 o'clock Monday night thing. We'll see how 'Playboy Club' does there. We're up against Simon Cowell's new show ("The X Factor"), but I think our audience is a different audience." "Harry's Law" must also contend with "Modern Family" and "Criminal Minds."

"Harry's Law" returns Sept. 21, fortified by guest stars Jean Smart, who plays a prosecutor, and Alfred Molina, who plays a man accused of murdering his wife in a three-episode storyline. Handsome Mark Valley of Kelley's old "Boston Legal" is also aboard.

And then there's Tommy Jefferson, who moves into an upstairs office space in the same shoe store building as Harriet "Harry" Korn.

"She tolerates Tommy, and Tommy really admires her," McDonald adds. "He's really connected to her that way. It's terrific to have the kind of repartee that David writes for us. It's great chemistry. He's writing a beautiful heart for this guy."

But as for whether their electricity will turn into a full-on crush, the actor says he can only speculate. "Sometimes I think David is writing us toward that end. Sometimes I don't. I would love it. They may dance a little, get a little intimate in their conversations sometimes. Tommy really adores her, but he also takes prostitutes, so I have no idea where David is going."

METE IT OUT: Can Nancy Grace's syndicated "Swift Justice" show make it without Nancy Grace? We'll soon find out, as the controversial Grace trips off to join "Dancing With the Stars" — and her "Swift Justice" role is filled by Jackie Glass, the judge who presided over O.J. Simpson's armed robbery case in Las Vegas.

"Timing is everything, and I'm fortunate to have been at the right place with the right skills to do this at this time in my life, when I am reinventing myself," says Glass, whose two daughters are now in their twenties, one in grad school and one an undergrad.

Glass, whose first show airs Sept.

12, resigned from the Clark County, Nev., court to take on "Swift Justice." She tells us her former colleagues there are "all really encouraging, looking forward to the show." And her husband, Las Vegas City Councilman Steve Wolfson — with whom she spent 12 years in practice at their Wolfson & Glass law firm — understands her schedule, which actually gives her more freedom than before. "It's not nearly the same amount of work I used to do," she says.

Glass has been taping episodes of the show all summer, she reports. In terms of cases, she says, "I do whatever they bring me. A lot of these cases involve people in relationships — a daughter suing a mother, brothers and sisters suing each other, parents suing children, cousins and uncles, landlords and tenants, ex-fiancees, boyfriends and girlfriends ...There's a lot of passion in these people."

There are also animal attack cases involving dogs and cats, and for those, Glass says, the animals involved are present on the set.

"I haven't been surprised as far as the actual work, I think, because of my background," says Glass, who left broadcasting to go into law. "Having previously been a journalist on TV, that certainly prepared me for some aspects of this." And more recently, "my work as a judge, particularly in the last year, when I ran the drug court and the DUI court, certainly prepared me."

She's wise enough to know that court shows are "totally personality-driven. What people will see on TV is the real Jackie Glass. I'm not shy. I'm very straightforward. I have a sense of humor, and I tell it like it is."

IF YOU ASK US: Bravo's transparent attempt to ameliorate the inherent tackiness of its decision to run without delay the new "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" season, despite costar Russell Armstrong's recent suicide, makes it even tackier; Bravo will be airing suicide prevention PSAs during the show.

In case viewers aren't aware of Armstrong's eventual fate, these announcements, and of course the special new season introduction that's being added to the Sept. 5 premiere show, will certainly drive the point home. (Looks like we have an early contender for this year's Tacky Taste Awards.)

On another front, the mad media scramble for the first interview with his estranged wife, Taylor Armstrong, is apparently ending with Barbara Walters landing the "get." And Taylor is reportedly ready to talk to Walters about everything — but in a few weeks, when she's processed all the trauma a bit more.

Not to be cyincal, but don't bet against that very special interview airing during sweeps.

To find out more about Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith and read their past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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