Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Revisiting the Florida election chaos of 2000 in all its hanging-chad outrageousness might seem like a recipe for igniting anger — but HBO's currently shooting "Recount" movie takes an even-handed, historically sound approach, insists Ed Begley Jr. Begley plays Al Gore attorney David Boies in the drama, starring Kevin Spacey, John Hurt, Laura Dern, Tom Wilkinson and Denis Leary.

Still, as far as whether it will be controversial, he allows, "It might be in some quarters."

Begley wraps his role tonight (Dec. 4) in Florida — then will high-tail it back to Los Angeles in plenty of time for next week's Hollywood Goes Green Summit.

"People in the industry are receptive. It's very, very encouraging," says the actor and HGTV "Living with Ed" star — whose committed eco-friendly lifestyle and environmental advocacy stretches back decades. Begley's among the keynote speakers at the Dec. 11-12 iHollywood Forum event at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. There will be panels and exhibits on everything from energy-saving lighting and bio-diesel power generation to paperless office practices.

"Transportation is a big one," says Ed, who points out that there is already some changeover to electric and hybrid vehicle use at the studios. "Obviously, there are existing vehicles that can't be changed overnight. But in the meantime, they can do things like making sure vans aren't left idling on the set. And there's a very well-intentioned star treatment that's become common practice through the years — using a vehicle to transport just one actor. But if you have five people in a vehicle, you go from 16 miles per gallon to over 50 miles per gallon."

Now, there's a change that's hard to imagine! Begley insists, "Stars who are much bigger than I am are saying, 'Let's load up.'"

If that's the case, then maybe going green — or anything — really is possible.

THE VIDEOLAND VIEW: "October Road's" Laura Prepon is happy to report that thanks to the quick thinking of their writers in preparation for the strike, production of the ABC drama will continue through the holidays. "We're shooting until Jan. 11. We're the only show on our lot that is shooting. Everybody else has shut down," says the former star of "That '70s Show," who is now showing off a different set of skills playing a young, single mother. "When the threat of the strike was upon us, all of our writers holed up in this room and finished our 13-episode order.

We didn't even see them on set. All they were doing was writing. When they announced that they finished them and our crew was going to be employed through the holidays, it was pretty incredible because we want the crew to be able to give their families a great Christmas."

However, the strike has certainly left many questions about what's next for "October Road" once these episodes have aired. "In my opinion and from what I've heard about the network being so happy with the shows we've put out, I think if there weren't a strike, we would have already gotten (nine more episodes) without a doubt," notes Prepon. "Now that the strike is in effect, everything is so up in the air."

BACK ON TRACK: Loverboy lead vocalist Mike Reno says that writing the song "Stranded" in honor of the band's late bassist, Scott Smith, put an end to the creative block he'd been experiencing. "I couldn't really deal with it for the longest time," Reno says of the death of Smith, who was lost at sea in 2000. "He was my best friend, and that was one of the most agonizing times in my life."

The song is included in the platinum-selling band's first studio album in more than a decade, "Just Getting Started." "That was the first song I wrote for the new project. It's like a drug, really, when you start writing songs — and as soon as I got that first song written, song after song just started pouring out of me."

Reno says the new CD represents the full spectrum of lows to highs in his life. "I went through a real ugly divorce, and 'The One that Got Away' was written about my ex-wife. I told her, one of these days you're gonna sit down and think I'm the one that got away, you're going to miss having my energy around. I kind of said it in a bit of spiteful anger, but I tried to turn it around, so it wasn't a complete bummer." On the other hand, he says, "'The Real Thing' I wrote about my new love. My new girlfriend is so positive and such a great soul mate — I just thought about how she made me feel and wrote that in about 10 minutes."

Reno says Loverboy will be playing live at the televised concert from Niagara Falls New Years Eve, then plans to head out on a major tour in Spring of '08.

CELEB SCENE: Snoop Dogg brought down the house at New York City hotspot Touch's opening party the other night, giving a surprise performance with Rev Run right after Sienna Miller's ex-flame Jamie Burke took the stage performing with his band Bloody Social. The next night, "The Hills" star Brody Jenner launched his clothing line, Archangel, at the club during a big MySpace.com party.

With reports by Stephanie DuBois and Emily Fortune Feimster.

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.

COPYRIGHT 2007 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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