It's going to be hectic time for Gary Sinise next week in D.C., when the "CSI: NY" star headlines back-to-back events. On the 26th, he and his Lt. Dan Band will perform as part of the Rolling Thunder XXV motorcycle run festivities by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.

"Then I'll leave right from there, race over and rehearse for the Memorial Day Concert the next day," he tells us. "This will be my seventh year in a row doing the National Memorial Day Concert." Sinise cohosts the concert Sunday, May 27 with Joe

Mantegna. Sharing the bill are an eclectic lineup including Colin Powell, Dennis Franz, Ellen Burstyn, Natalie Cole, Trace Adkins, "American Idol" finalist Jessica Sanchez and Selma Blair. (Check your local PBS station for air times.)

Sinise has a full calendar of Lt. Dan Band dates this summer — before he goes back to work on "CSI: NY." Talk about an eleventh hour reprieve. Up until last weekend, Sinise didn't know whether the show would continue into a ninth season or be

cancelled. Last Friday night's season finale, in which his Mac Taylor character had a near-death experience, was designed to work either as a season-ender that opens up new territory for stories next year — or as goodbye.

"I thought the writers did a good job with that," he says. Since it was a "reflective episode, there were a lot of wonderful scenes between my character and all the principle characters on the show" — including Mac's new girlfriend, Megan Dodds.

Sinise had made it clear he wanted to go on with "CSI: NY," and that the writers feel they have a lot more to say. Viewers can look forward to Mac opening up his personal life now that he has finally been able to let go of the anguish of losing his wife in the Sept. 11 attacks.

Asked whether he'll be involved in endorsing or campaigning on behalf of any candidate this election year, Sinise says, "I stay away from all that." Though he is known to have strong political views privately, he takes a nonpartisan posture in deference to his ongoing, tireless charitable activities. His Gary Sinise Foundation to benefit military service members in 2010 is the latest.

"We're out there all the time," he notes. "We have to remember, each and every day should be Memorial Day when it comes to supporting and acknowledging those who fight for our freedom."

SHAME ON YOU: The ongoing rampant, open, fully-embraced ageism in television is on display again. NBC's cancellation of Kathy Bates' "Harry's Law" — its second most-watched drama behind "Smash" — came with the explanation that its ratings, (though big for NBC) are "very old" and advertisers dislike that.

Change the "old" in that sentence to any other social grouping and the discrimination is even more obvious. How about a show being cancelled because advertisers dislike ratings that are "very black" or "very gay," "very Southern" or "very Jewish"?

If a show's audience happens to have a wide enough net to include viewers who are over 50, count on producers and stars wanting to downplay that fact. We have seen this in countless ways. It would seem that in many Hollywood minds, it's not merely that older viewers don't count, but that we count as a negative.

That is a fallacy. David Poltrack, Chief Research Officer of CBS Corp. and President of its CBS Vision business unit, has for years been a voice of reason in the wilderness when it comes to pointing out the absurdity of basing ad-buying decisions on clunky demographic categories created decades ago. As he points out, up-to-date research tools make it possible to target an audience with vastly more accurate results.

Also, last year, the network completed a study utilizing data from some 355,000 households, gauging information in 20 different product categories. The prevailing wisdom, which says that shows watched by 18 to 49-year-olds generate more product sales, did not prove to be true. Not even in one of the 20 categories.

"To continue buying advertising with 18-to-49 as a target demographic does not make any sense," Poltrack told us. "The irony is that the demographic created to capture the baby boomer audience is now losing the baby boomer audience because they're all moving beyond age 50. Baby boomers are a vital component of the overall market. If advertisers persist in buying 18-to-49, they're going to lose sight of this very important part of the audience."

Yet many are the media outlets that do ratings reports primarily or even strictly on ?the demo? — meaning 18-49.

By 2015, 55-plusers will account for 36 per cent of the adult population. Do companies that pay for ad time really want to avoid speaking to all those customers? Perhaps even more blatant than the ageism involved here is the stupidity.

SPEAKING OF OLD: A casting notice has gone out for people over 70 years of age who look younger — "must be extremely youthful and dynamic...Are people frequently shocked at their age?" — for an herbal supplement commercial to star John Tesh. They'd love to get a performer or two of 100 years of age or more, in fact. These supplements are said to be so good, they practically turn back the biological clock. Guess they could get younger people to play older, but that would be cheating, whereas this is just acting. Kind of.

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.