Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

There's no down time for Billy Ray Cyrus in the foreseeable future. As daughter Miley's monster-hit Best of Both Worlds tour has been rolling on, Billy Ray's been bouncing between movies and his own musical endeavors. He's just wrapping up his own concert trek, supporting his hit "Home at Last" album of last year — while moving forward on a new album. And on Monday (Jan. 28), he's due to start work on the big screen "Bait Shop."

"It's a comedy that stars Bill Engvall and myself," notes Cyrus with a smile. "It's really funny, and I've never done anything like it. I play the bad guy, which is new for me. After that, we're going to make the feature film for 'Hannah Montana.' We'll be rockin'."

He tells us there is indeed a firm production start date for the "Hannah" movie, on which he serves as producer as well as star, and that is "mid-April" — dispelling the uncertainty cast mate Mitchel Musso indicated to this column the other day.

Cyrus, who was on hand for the Hollywood premiere of Miley's "Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert" 3-D movie last week, also just completed the big screen "Flying By" drama with Heather Locklear and Patricia Neal. Locklear was also among the luminaries at the premiere, along with Vanessa Williams, Rob Morrow, Ashley Tisdale, Ray Liotta, Donny Osmond and, of course, Miley's scream-worthy tour mates, Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas.

Billy Ray's seen in the concert flick, playing music with Miley and chatting behind the scenes. "I thought it looked great and sounded great. All the 3-D stuff worked," he says. "I think they captured the real Miley."

It's a sure bet that the fun concert film captures more Mileymania, since demand for ducats has already exceeded supply — and theaters have been adding crazy-late night and early-morning show times. The movie is to be released for just one week, starting Feb. 1, in some 600-plus, 3-D capable theaters — and lotsa luck to those still trying to get tickets.

BANKING ON EXPOSURE: The irrepressible Niecy Nash reports she got to do her first on-air love scene in FX's cutting-edge pilot "Pretty Handsome" — and she wasn't nervous at all.

"Do you know who WaMu is?" quips the "Reno 911" regular. "WaMu is Washington Mutual, and I gotta pay my mortgage, so I just said, 'This is for WaMu, where do you want me to stand?'"

Nash plays Robert Wagner's manipulative mistress in the one-hour drama that stars Joseph Fiennes, Carrie Anne-Moss and Blythe Danner.

Fiennes plays a married father who decides to undergo sexual reassignment surgery in the show from "Nip/Tuck" creator/writer Ryan Murphy.

On the day of her love scene with Wagner, Nash recalls, "the only thing that made it kind of "ew" and had my heart beating was I didn't know if there were going to be a lot of people there when we did it." It helped, she says, that "we weren't completely in the buff. Robert's character is an obstetrician/gynecologist, so instead of me getting an exam, I was getting something else. After we worked it out, the crew gave us a standing ovation. I was like, 'Well, let's do it again from the top.'"

Meanwhile, Nash is back as Deputy Raineesha Williams on the fifth season of Comedy Central's "Reno 911." She's also in the middle of season six of her "Clean House" home makeover show on the Style network, for which she won the 2007 Gracie Allen Award for Outstanding Program Host. "We're taking submissions for the messiest home in the country until Feb. 1," says Nash. If you qualify, go to www.mystyle.com.

THE INSIDE TRACK: Legendary record producer Kenneth Gamble reports he and his long-time partner, Leon Huff, plan to "release some albums on (the late singers) Lou Rawls and Phyllis Hyman that we just never got a chance to put out."

The multi-Grammy-winning, multi-platinum selling writing/producing team responsible for 70 No. 1 Pop and R&B hits with such artists as Rawls, Patti LaBelle, Jerry Butler, The O'Jays, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, Billy Paul and Teddy Pendergrass is releasing its entire Philadelphia International Records catalogue through a historic licensing agreement with Sony BMG Music Entertainment. "We have a whole strategy for releasing all the old albums," says Huff. "We have a Patti LaBelle live album and an album of new mixes of our products coming out the end of February. And there will also be a lot of compilation albums that will come out this year and 2009."

On March 10, the duo will be inducted into the 2008 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as recipients of the newly named Ahmet Ertegun Award. "It takes place in New York at the Waldorf Astoria," says Huff. "It's going to be an exciting moment. We're the first recipients."

UP TO NO GOOD: David Zucker's next comedy, as yet untitled, is scheduled to begin production late next month — and one can only imagine what he needs with look-alikes for Ted Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Hideki Tojo. Casting forces on the feature have been on the lookout for those famous and infamous faces.

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 2008 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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