Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

If David Boreanaz has his way, James Garner will be showing up on Fox's "Bones" this fall playing his grandfather. "We're trying to get him. I'd love that. My mom thinks I look like a young James Garner," volunteers the handsome actor, who stars with Emily Deschanel in the series in which she plays a forensic anthropologist and he an FBI man.

Boreanaz already knows that "Bones," which has its third season premiere tomorrow night (Sept. 25), will be "dealing with a lot of character stuff this season." His and Deschanel's characters will be seen undergoing what he says amounts to couples therapy, though they've yet to get romantic. "They're trying to figure out how to deal with each other in the workplace. We'll dive into each character's past. The guy who plays the therapist, John Francis Daly, is really, really funny. He was on 'Freaks and Geeks' and 'Kitchen Confidential.' He's so young — to my character, Booth, he's like a puppy."

Boreanaz, who's an executive producer on the show this year, also notes that there may be some interesting guest stars in to do cameos as therapists as well. "Once you start rolling and get to a third season, you can fall into a pattern of cranking these shows out," says the actor, who rose to fame in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and his own "Angel" series. "You have to keep some sense of challenge. The last thing you want to do is take something for granted. Our creator, Hart Hanson, has increased the dynamics this year."

MEANWHILE: Is Boreanaz starring in "Jurassic Park 4"? It's been reported, but when asked about it, he laughs and says, "That would be nice. I don't know when I would do that, but I believe in the power of belief, so why not?" And as for reports that he'll play Marvel Comics character Namor in a film called "Sub-Mariner," he says, "I haven't tried on the Speedos quite yet. I did do the voice of The Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, for 'Justice League: the New Frontier'" — the forthcoming animated D.C. Comics film. "That's something I'd really like to go for if they did it as a live action film."

FROM THE INSIDE LOOKING OUT: Hugh Dancy says that making his and John Hurt's "Beyond the Gates" film set amid the Rwandan genocide was a life-changing experience. "We were working in the company of hundreds of people who had suffered loss on a scale I couldn't imagine — fathers, sisters, brothers, cousins, friends.

I think if that had happened to me, I would have died of grief," admits the British actor, speaking of working on location for the film that's newly released on DVD. "When I got back to London, there was this kind of emotional backlash — I had difficulty processing everything through for awhile," adds Dancy. "But I also realized important stories don't just tell themselves, and the story of what happened in Rwanda is definitely a story that must be remembered." He observes, "I'm very jaded now when I hear about the United Nations deciding whether to have discussions about Sudan. For every discussion, another hundred thousand are dead."

Dancy, who's also known as the real-life leading man of Claire Danes these days, also has "The Jane Austen Book Club" in theaters. It was a huge change to go from the intense and searing drama of "Beyond the Gates" to light, romantic fare. "But I really believe that, for anybody, no matter what work they'd done in the past, 'Beyond the Gates' would have been a massive step."

LET'S HAVE LUNCH: Gary Owens, Jonathan Winters, Shelley Berman, Jerry Lewis and Phyllis Diller will be among the inductees when the planned New York Comedy Hall of Fame near Rockefeller Center opens its doors. The stars were each interviewed at length on camera for their CHF inductions, dates to be announced. Also among Gary's latest activities is "Lunch" — not the meal, but the documentary being made by Donna Kanter, whose father, Hal, is one of Hollywood's most prolific and well-liked comedy writers. She filmed Hal and cronies, including Gary, chatting about humor and swapping show-business tales over the lunch table.

We don't know who all the people are in the film, but we do know that every other week, a bunch of comedy greats get together for lunch near their old Hollywood haunts, including Sid Caesar, Carl Reiner, Monty Hall, writer/producer John Rappaport and Gary Owens.

PUTTING IN A GOOD WORD: Russell Crowe hasn't established a reputation as Mr. Nice Guy through the years with his brawls, phone throwing and various other outbursts, but his "3:10 to Yuma" co-star, Ben Foster, sticks up for the Oscar winner, stressing he saw no signs of bad temper from Crowe. "I didn't. He takes what he does very seriously and has the utmost respect for those who take their work as seriously, so I didn't have any problems with him," says Foster of his co-star. "Russell was nothing but a gentleman — friendly with all the crew."

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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