Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Colin Hanks couldn't have asked for a more dramatic change of pace from his "The Good Guys" comedy than what he's got with his current assignment — he plays a hair-raisingly creepy religious fanatic who has a weird relationship with fellow zealot Edward James Olmos in the new season of "Dexter," which premieres Oct. 2.

"I can't give much away. Now it's official that I'm the bad guy, so that's good. That's really about the extent of what I can say. We're still shooting, and I'm afraid if I blab now there's still time for them to write something really horrible for me to do," he jokes.

Promos of the sixth season of the Michael C. Hall series suggest the Bible-quoting pair are doing very bad things in the name of the almighty — a violently forced "repentance," for instance. The season also has Dexter exploring spiritual matters himself, thanks to his encounters with an ex-con named Brother Sam, played by Mos Def.

"I have no idea if it will be controversial or not," says Hanks.

He does know the show couldn't have come along at a better time for him — now that he and wife Samantha have baby daughter Olivia at home.

"She's 7 months old. It's been great for us to be able to be here together and for me to stay here. I haven't worked from home in quite some time, since before I moved to New York for three years," says the actor, who is also the eldest son of Tom Hanks. Colin, who won the Theater World Award in 2009 for his work in "33 Variations," also has the big-screen "Guilt Trip" with Barbra Streisand, Seth Rogen, Adam Scott and Yvonne Strahovski on the way.

"I've been running around like a headless chicken the last four years, sort of wrapped up in the circus, as I like to call it," he says. "I spent all of 2010 in Dallas."

He's become used to acting jobs that have him as "a straight man in a comedy. That's where my bread has been buttered the last couple of gigs. l love that, love to do comedy. I never would have actively tried to do something as vastly different as this show, because then what happens is, the industry says, 'No, you're wrong. You're wrong for this and you need to be doing that other thing.'"

In fact, when his agent brought up the idea of "Dexter," Colin says, "I said, 'Yeah, sure' — sarcastically, thinking, 'That will never happen.'"

It's not the first time he's played a man of religion, as fans of "Mad Men" will remember his Father Gill character. "I sort of feel like there's a connection there between Father Gill and this character, Travis, but that's really it," Colin says. "Father Gill is a very, very good man. Travis is the oppsite of that."

AGELESS APPEAL: Lady Gaga will be bigger than Elvis? Well, maybe — in the opinion of none other than beloved 85-year-old crooner Tony Bennett, who calls her a "magnificent, magnificent performer."

In an interview carried on AARP.org, Tony points out that at his age, he's worked with pretty much everyone who's anyone on the music scene, and he says of Gaga, "I've never seen anybody that intelligent when it comes to knowing how to perform properly."

Bennett, of course, has his highly anticipated "Duets II" album coming out Tuesday (Sept.

20) with Gaga as part of a lineup of stellar partners — a roster that also includes Carrie Underwood, Aretha Franklin, Michael Buble and the late Amy Winehouse.

Carrie will join Tony onstage Sept. 24 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles — along with John Mayer and Stevie Wonder — for a special concert benefitting the Drive to End Hunger, the national effort by AARP and the AARP Foundation to end food deprivation among older Americans. The concert comes at the end of the organization's giant Life@50+ National Event, Sept. 22-24 at the LA Convention Center. (See AARP.org for information.)

CLEARING HIS NAME: "America's Got Talent" judge Piers Morgan took to Twitter the other day to express his sense of justice as Britain concluded its inquiry into the torture and death of civilian Baha Mousa in Iraq in 2003, while in British Army custody.

Morgan's firing as editor of London's Daily Mirror tabloid — in the wake of accusations that Daily Mirror photos showing British troops mistreating Iraqi prisoners were a hoax — has been a black mark on his record. However, referring to the Baha Mousa scandal, the CNN talk show host told his Twitter followers, "This is the same group of rogue QLR [Queen's Lancashire Regiment] soldiers that the Daily Mirror, in 2004, accused of similar abuse ... I refused to resign for exposing this same abuse, and I've never accepted those photos were necessarily fake. Now you know why." He also declared, "The Daily Mirror journalists who worked so hard to expose this vile abuse, and got vilified for it, should feel vindicated today." Morgan, too.

He may be an insufferably pompous jerk, but when something needs to be rectified, it needs to be rectified.

POP CROP: Preproduction is heating up on "Wonder Girls at the Apollo" — the Teen Nick film that, it is hoped, will add American teens and tweens to the international fan-demonium for the Korean pop sensations.

Among the producers is "America's Got Talent" host Nick Cannon. The storyline has the Wonder Girls squaring off in a battle of the bands against Nick's group, the School Gyrls. Right now, casting is under way for members of other rival bands that will be seen at the big musical competition at Harlem's legendary Apollo. They're looking for African American and Hispanic girls to fill out the slots.

Production starts next month, with an early 2012 air date planned — and a soundtrack release that will serve as the Wonder Girls' U.S. debut album.

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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