Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

George Lopez is keeping up a whirlwind pace, doing three jobs at once. He's starring in "Operation Troop Master" in Vancouver, which he and wife Ann are producing. He's keeping up a comedy concert tour that last week had him flying to San Francisco and Detroit between camera calls. And he's busy with the launch of his "Beverly Hills Chihuahua," opening Oct. 3.

With it all, he tells us his energy is "pretty good. It's not anything you can do with three cocktails, so I've been really focused and very straight." He's also getting energy from being proud of the movies. "Chihuahua" was greeted with lots of laughter and applause the other night at its Hollywood premiere, where George was on hand along with cast mates including Andy Garcia, Jamie Lee Curtis, Piper Perabo, and opera great Placido Domingo.

"It's like Placido Domingo said, this movie is great for kids to connect, generations to come together, families to have fun," Lopez enthuses about the flick that has a pampered pedigree pooch (voiced by Drew Barrymore) lost and on the run in Mexico. "It's culturally fantastic for us — a wonderful image of Mexico right now when there's been a lot that's really not [positive], and what it has to say about finding your bark and not judging somebody by their appearances … It's good for Latinos that we can make a movie that's for everyone. This is a world movie," says George.

He notes that he has three Chihuahuas at home, "but none of them are as cool as Papi" — the lovesick doggie out to rescue the girl of his (SET ITALS) corazon (END ITALS). "He loves her unconditionally. There's a romantic side in that movie that I'm still trying to find in human form," George admits with a laugh. THANKFUL STILL: Robert Guillaume, who many lovingly know as his most famous character Benson, says he'll always be grateful to Aaron Sorkin for the way he handled the situation when the veteran actor suffered a stroke while filming their short-lived TV series "Sports Night." "I had a mild stroke so I had to bow out and come back. For me, that was very traumatic," recalls Guillaume. "When my wife Donna suggested to Aaron that he incorporate the stroke into the series, it allowed me to come back and resume my role as that character without having to pretend that I had not had a stroke. That was a very nice time for me." Now, he notes with a laugh, "It's been 10 years and I'm still here … The stroke sort of made me involuntarily retire for a while, but since then I've done a number of things.

Fans can see Guillaume and his former co-stars Felicity Huffman, Peter Krause, Josh Charles and Josh Malina when Shout! Factory releases the "10th Anniversary Edition of Sports Night: The Complete Series" DVD box set. "I think it's a wonderful idea because it was as good a show cut short," says Guillaume of the Sept. 30 DVD release. "I think it was a little ahead of its time, and people being as impatient as they are didn't give it a chance to catch on. I still have bad feelings about us not going further along with the show. Well, not bad feelings. I'm just rather sad that we didn't."

GET 'ER DONE: Bill Nye, who's made an art form of making science accessible and fun, is hoping his Planet Green "Stuff Happens" series helps viewers get revved up about participating in solutions to our ecological woes — even though said woes sometimes seem insurmountable. "Is the answer just give up? Is that the American way?" asks Nye — then he answers himself. "No. Get 'er done."

The push to innovate is on, he notes — with headlines about Chevrolet's new electric hybrid Volt car, T. Boone Pickens' proposals for using compressed natural gas and his alma mater, Cornell University, offering incentives for graduate students in engineering to seek energy solutions. Also vitally important "are small steps you can take as a consumer" — like using a "green switch" to power off appliances that use up precious energy even when people aren't home. A plethora of other simple solutions, the kind found on "Stuff Happens," are available, too. The show follows the often-surprising eco-connections and effects of our everyday stuff, from toothpaste to bacon. The Emmy-winning author-teacher-mechanical engineer-comedian adds that focusing on the challenges facing our planet couldn't be more important. "I understand that there are a lot of problems out there — the mortgage crisis and not using mercenary soldiers on the other side of the world because somehow our oil got under their land. But climate change — it could decimate the entire population in the next century. This should concern everyone."

VIDEOLAND VIEW: Cisco Adler has found more success making music with his pal Shwayze than he ever did performing with his former band Whitestarr — their profiles raised considerably by their recent reality show on MTV. Will they be returning for a second season? "I don't know," Adler responds. "It just depends on how well the record does. We have to be musicians first."

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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