Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

David Boreanaz and "Bones" creator Hart Hanson report that the series has just received its season 4 renewal for 20 episodes — with the popular Fox network show looking likely to location abroad next season.

"Some of the contenders are Spain, Monaco, Italy — it just depends on how it gets put together," Hanson says of the show, which also stars Emily Deschanel.

First, however, there's season 3 to complete. "Bones" heads back into its post-WGA-strike production Tuesday (March 25) to shoot six more episodes for the current season — and will return to the air with fresh episodes April 14.

This is Boreanaz's first season as one of the series' producers, although he says, "I feel like I've been doing that for some time. This is the first season I've been credited. It's great to step into those shoes and be more involved on the creative side with specific scenes, characters, the actualities of locations … "

Last year, he'd thought it might give him a little more leeway in scheduling for himself. That's not how it's turned out. "The more responsibilities you have, the more you're grinding it out and working it. I'm actually busier now. I'm not scheduling myself out of any episodes. This has enabled me to do more things, expand my horizons, meet other people, make more impact."

Boreanaz also tells us that he and Emily continue to work on their characters with famed acting coach Ivana Chubbuck on weekends. "We explore the relationship between these two. The more we work on it, the more we come up with what I call 'movie moments,' as opposed to TV moments. I think you have to continuously work like that, whether it's the first episode, the 15th or the 68th."

RESTLESS INDEED: Emmy-winning soap opera icon Eric Braeden was on the verge of leaving "The Young and the Restless" last year, but as the soaper celebrates its 35th anniversary March 26, he says that now, "this is the happiest I've been on the show for a long time." Braeden let the producers know he was unhappy when they diminished his character's power and began focusing on new, younger characters, and new writers were brought in. But now, "the emphasis is again where it belongs, with the established characters on the show," he says. "I will always rail against this chasing of the mythical young demographic, (which) leads to the dumbing down of television very often.

To celebrate the soap's milestone, a "Y&R" 35th anniversary minisite has been launched at www.theyoungandtherestless.com, allowing fans to take a long trip down memory lane.

SEEING DOUBLE: It's been a busy week for twins Jodie and Diane Fanelli. First, David Letterman took advantage of Eliot Spitzer's recent woes by calling upon the two "smokin' hot Fanelli twins" to act as the former governor's girlfriends in one of his spoofs. Letterman comedian Lewis Black blushed and was so tongue-tied when he took a picture with the Fanelli twins backstage that he didn't say a word. The sisters then headed to New Jersey to film Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei's upcoming film "The Wrestler," in which they play sexy ring girls who help Rourke disrobe. The film wraps this week. To see them sooner, fans can check out www.fanellitwins.com.

TIME OF GIVING: Former talk-show star Jenny Jones is envisioning a TV special about the people who are helping others via her "Jenny's Heroes" program. That's her yearlong giveaway of a million dollars of her own money in the form of grants of up to $25,000, which are awarded to applicants who present plans for projects and/or purchases to improve the lives of others in a lasting way. "I'd love to get them all in a room a year from now and have them honored nationally and as publicly as possible," she says.

Grants have been earmarked for new equipment for a nursing school in Wisconsin, the volunteer fire department in a small Kentucky town, a basketball court in an impoverished Ann Arbor, Mich., neighborhood and more. Jones reads all the applications submitted via her www.jennysheroes.com Web site. "I feel as if I've found my purpose in life. This makes getting out of bed every day really worthwhile," she enthuses.

Jones started planning her program in October, she says. That was well before the success of "Oprah's Big Give." Does Jones think that show could impact her idea for a "Jenny's Heroes" special? "Hers is a reality show, with challenges and people competing. This is just philanthropy being done by real people, so it's quite different," replies Jones. "And this is my own bank account, so that's a difference too."

With reports by Stephanie DuBois and Emily 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 2008 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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