Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Arquette, Lark Tackle 'Medium' Body Swap Premise/Mom Hates, Fans Love Alan Ritchson's Raunchy Character

Patricia Arquette and the middle of her "Medium" daughters, Maria Lark, have been having a lark filming the season-opening episode of the CBS series that returns Sept. 24. She tells us, "It's kind of a 'Freaky Friday' episode. It's really cute."

The Emmy-winning actress says she's been nervous about the demands of the mother-daughter body swap story that puts her in a 13-year-old's skin, "but that's a good sign.

"Maria is such a good actress. To see her taking on my character's personality, it's funny," she adds. "It's really cool to hear her talk about it: 'Arquette has a quiet voice. She's kind of stable...' You know, how she's working at breaking down my character. She's really blossomed. They all have," she says of her onscreen offspring — Sofia Vassilieva, Lark and Madison and Miranda Carabello. "They're such beautiful little flowers, these girls."

Watching the girls grow has been one of the pleasures of making the series for Arquette, she says. She's glad to be back as psychic Allison DuBois for the seventh season of the show that's maintained a devoted following through timeslot and network changes.

Meanwhile, she's continuing her difficult, sometimes even dangerous, side occupation — working to bring innovative housing and sanitation solutions to Haiti through the Give Love foundation she started with Rosetta Getty earlier this year. She's been on several trips to the beleaguered island nation.

"It really helps you keep things in perspective, and makes you feel really grateful for the fate you've been dealt and your great opportunities," she says.

BAD BOYS: Go figure. Alan Ritchson played a superhero (Aquaman) in the past — but it's Thad Castle, his appalling, out-of-control bully of a college football star in Spike's raunchy "Blue Mountain State" series, that's bringing him his most avid fans.

The actor admits, "I was kind of worried, going in, what playing the villainous a——-e of the show would do to me. Thad started as an afterthought because they needed a villain for the pilot, but everyone started enjoying so much what Thad is about, they kept writing more of him. I think people are really taken with Thad and have a lot of love for the character. Anytime I go around a bar, frat house or party town, I get a lot of people approaching me."

Then there are those who are not taken with Thad, the worst of the oversexed, hard-partying bunch on the show that's been likened to "Animal House" and "Porky's" — only worse.

"My mom's never watched the show," confesses Ritchson, who's nearing the end of production of Season 2 in Montreal. "My mom hopes Thad dies in a car crash. She's not a fan of the show. That's fine. She's not the only one who doesn't want the kind of content we offer. But my Dad loves it. She won't let it in the house, so he goes to his buddies' for 'Blue Mountain State' nights, and they all die laughing. Even in my own family — my own home back in Florida — this is happening. There is no middle ground with this show."

Thad is known for his frequent homoerotic escapades. What does Ritchson think of the fact that "Blue Mountain State" has attracted a gay audience?

"It's definitely known to us and to Spike and Lionsgate that there's a large gay following," he says of the series' team, channel and production company. "They were pleased to find that out, pleased to find a new audience. You know with a Spike show, it's the network for guys 18-35, but we've expanded beyond that. Because of Ed Marinaro being on the show, we're getting his following — older guys, 50 and 60, who love the show. And girlfriends of guys watch the show, which was sort of the most surprising." We're betting these girls have ulterior motives.

BEHIND THE MASK: WWE star Rey Mysterio Jr. steps onto the mat on Disney XD's "Zeke and Luther" tonight (8/16), playing himself on an episode that has Luther (Adam Hicks) dreaming of success as a wrestler. Mysterio tells us he couldn't have said no. For one thing, he's spent untold hours watching Disney Channel shows with his own son, 13, and daughter, 8 — and he got to bring her along for the shoot. The mask-wearing hunk also has a big kid following himself.

"Lots of kids wear the mask. One of the things that fills me up with energy when I get into the ring — kids in the front row wearing a Rey Mysterio mask," says Mysterio, who learned the high-flying Lucha Libre wrestling style in Mexico. He stresses that he goes to great lengths to get the message across that his moves take years of training and should not be tried by kids at home.

Mysterio — nee Oscar Gutierrez — also likes doing public appearances with kids around. Earlier this month in Australia, he says he made best friends with a 12-year-old boy brought to him by the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

"He said he was put in home studies because he had no friends at school. He was missing a finger on his right hand and said, 'Kids like to make fun of me.' I said, 'Don't worry; what I see in you is a strong heart and desire to be successful. I would love to teach you some of my moves sometime.' I gave him some wristbands and things. You know, kids sometimes don't see that making fun of people isn't the right thing to do, but as you get older, you realize that the most important thing in life is to have respect for others. I always tell them that."

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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