Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Two-time Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award winner Drake Bell warns that his upcoming big-screen Lions Gate comedy "College" is definitely "not for the Nickelodeon audience" used to seeing him in the popular hit series "Drake & Josh." "It's for their older brothers and sisters who are graduating high school and getting into college," says Bell of the film about three high school students who spend a wild weekend at a prospective college. "It's a "wacky comedy in the vein of 'American Pie' meets 'Animal House' meets 'Porky's,'" he says. "I play Kevin Brewer, the leader of the pack."

Meanwhile, Bell's Nickelodeon fans can see him strutting his musical stuff in the upcoming "Drake & Josh: Really Big Shrimp" airing Aug. 3. Bell makes his directorial debut with the telepic in which his character finally gets a record deal, only to have it botched by his step-brother, Josh (Peck). In the film, he also performs the tune "Makes Me Happy" from his current Universal Motown Records CD, "It's Only Time," which he'll be showcasing on the Nextfest Tour he started this week with Aly & AJ and Corbin Bleu.

"We actually had to assemble a band," says the singer/songwriter, who's been up till the wee hours of the morning rehearsing — except, of course, when he took a break last week to go to Las Vegas with buddies to celebrate turning 21. He explains, "Me and my partner recorded all the songs ourselves in a studio we put together, and we played all the instruments." He says he couldn't be more stoked about the band he's pulled together. "They're all young guys in the vein of Jellyfish and The Beach Boys. There's a lot of six-part harmony and cool stuff. There's going to be nothing to track … everything live. It's going to be like seeing an old rock 'n' roll show." He adds, the NextFest tour was scheduled to go "until August, but I think we just added some more dates, so it's like till October now."

BACK ON HER FEET: Country singer Sara Evans is a new woman since her very public and messy divorce last year, which caused her to drop out of "Dancing With the Stars." So, at least, says her pal, "DWTS's" Cheryl Burke. "Sara had a rough patch, but she's great. I know she's going to be going on tour soon," the 23-year-old, award-winning pro dancer tells us.

The two of them, along with another "Dancing" contestant, Billy Ray Cyrus, met up at the CMA Music Festival, airing on ABC July 23. "I went on both of their buses, and we got a chance to catch up a little bit. Billy Ray wanted me to come up when he was singing 'Brown Eyed Girl,' but I wasn't able to do it because I was working," explains Burke, who hosted the Lucky Day segment, when fans got to meet their favorite country singers.

Most of them, though, seemed just as excited to meet Burke. "I did a thing in the middle of the crowd, and everybody went crazy and wanted to take pictures. It got to the point where they wanted me to have security the next day. It was amazing."

Meanwhile, Burke tells us she's keeping busy on tour with "Dancing with the Stars." "I don't really have a life outside of dancing right now, which is fine, because it's what I love to do. The summer tour is great. Winter was a little harsh because it was so cold everywhere we went — so this is like a little mini-vacation for us," she says. "Fans are loving it. We get standing ovations every night."

THE VIDEOLAND VIEW: Oscar-winning actress Holly Hunter says don't expect her "Saving Grace" character to gracefully change her wicked ways in the TNT drama debuting July 18. Hunter's cynical, foul-mouthed, adulterous Grace Hanadarko doesn't respond well when a curmudgeonly angel named Earl shows up to tell her she doesn't have many more chances to get her life right. "Earl asks specific things of her, and she questions him the whole way … she demands answers and rails against him." Hunter is also one of the producers of the show that marks her first TV series. "I adore the exec producers and the collaboration," she says. "It's been so fulfilling and so much fun. Describing and exploring Grace has been such a kick for all of us because this world of hers is so seductive. We've really had a blast."

BLAST FROM THE PAST: Fans of that crazy "Robot Chicken" stop motion animation show Seth Green and partner Matthew Senreich have on the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim can expect the third season, launching Aug. 12, to "explore more '80s properties," reports Seth. "We got into more storytelling in the second season. Now we want to play with some properties we haven't touched on yet — everything from Shogun Warriors to Dig Dug."

(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 2007 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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