Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Peter Horton is aware his ambitious NBC "The Philanthopist" drama, debuting tonight (6/24), "is one that's going to have to be supported by the public rather quickly — more than usual. It's so different, like nothing we've had before."

The series chronicles the travels of fictional billionaire and reformed playboy Teddy Rist (James Purefoy), "a man who has a deep hole in his belly because of the loss of his son. He's only been able to find relief from that by doing good for other people in the world," says Horton, producer and director. "In order for that to be a credible experience for people to watch, well, doing it in Burbank with a green screen wasn't an option." The series also stars Jesse Martin as Purefoy's friend and business partner, and Neve Campbell as Martin's wife.

After much international scouting, the "Philanthropist" team settled on South Africa — where, he says, within a few hundred-mile radius they found areas suitable to double for places from Myanmar to the India-Pakistan border, in addition to various African locales.

Horton recalls work being underway on the series "on three different continents in four different time zones. Our production company was in London. Tom Fontana and his crew of writers and the post-production team were all in New York. The casting and composer were working in Los Angeles." And Horton and the actors and crew were in Africa. "It was a constant juggle of time and communications."

For himself, "It was an odyssey, more than anything else, both personally and professionally. I'd never been to Africa before. Going there on and off for seven months, with my family — my 6- and 9-year-old girls — being exposed to that whole culture and cosmology at this point in their lives is really a gift." The girls, he says, went with him to shoot in a township and wound up "making friends, hanging out in people's shacks, playing, having this rich exchange — quite a contrast between that and the Disney Channel," he observes. He recently returned to the township to screen the show "in this church that was like a big tin shack, with about 125 people watching in rapt attention. It was an amazing day."

LOVE AND PRIVACY: Brody Jenner is no stranger to reality television with shows like "The Hills," "Bromance," "The Princes of Malibu" and "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," but he tells us there is one kind of show where he draws the line. "I would never do a show about finding love. I think it would be hard," notes Jenner, who has never seemed to have any trouble finding a lady. "You've seen in the past what television has done to relationships. Very few of those couples have made it. I think it's good to keep your love life separate from your television life."

KICKING IT UP A NOTCH: Chef Emeril Lagasse tells us that "At Planet Green, life is really, really good. We've started shooting the second season of 'Emeril Green,' and it's been a blast. A lot of the shows we did for the first season were in this grocery store setting. Now we're getting more and more out in the field, visiting farms, talking to farmers — really connecting to the green, which is very important to me." He notes, "We certainly have a budget like everyone else does.

We're just making it work. With my show, you can be a lot more efficient when you are in the field than in the studio, if you really kind of travel light."

Speaking of traveling light, the chef recently demonstrated a new portable kitchen unit that can be dropped from the sky into the middle of nowhere, run on jet fuel and used to prep food for 80 soldiers. It's one of the highlights of his "Operation Emeril" and "Emeril Salutes the Military" specials debuting Monday (6/29) on Planet Green.

Emeril, who's been cooking for and with the military dating back to his "Emeril Live" show, traveled to the Army Center of Excellence Subsistence (ACES) at Fort Lee in Richmond, Va., for his new specials. He met with service men and women training to become military cooks across all branches of service. Working with a couple of the soldiers, he turned standard rations into chicken and sausage jambalaya, chicken pot pie and New-Orleans-style bread pudding.

Later this summer, he has specials dedicated to outdoor grilling and a visit to California wine country.

TWEET-TWEET-TWEET: As Jane Fonda wrote in an essay she Tweeted over the weekend, Twitter's Time Has Come. Monumentally, the "social networking" service became the de facto headquarters for telegraphing news out of Tehran. Not monumentally, but also noticeably, at the same time, celebrity news marched on, thanks to the celebs themselves. For instance:

We had Paris Hilton spreading the word that she's really enjoying herself in Dubai, where "I'm going race car driving. I love fast cars!"… And, "I am going indoor skiing later this week. So awesome you can Ski even when it's over 100 degrees out. Can't wait." So Dubai evidently cheered her up after her earlier upset, complaining via Twitter, "I'm really sick of reporters not only making up stories but also inventing their own quotes that I never even said. It's ridiculous! They even invent relationships, if I even talk to a guy as a friend, they blow it so out of proportion and act like we are dating. So lame … Sorry for the venting, I'm just sick of all these stupid rumors. I'm trying to focus on my life and work and don't need the extra stress."

Wild British-comic-cum-actor Russell Brand Tweeted: "Went to Disneyland today. Space Mountain did not recreate the experience of mountaineering or space travel. And Pinocchio pinched my arse."

For Father's Day, Pete Wentz Tweeted wife Ashley Simpson, "Thanks for giving the most selfish dude on the planet the only gift that could ever change him. i feel blessed 2 be a dad." While Peter Facinelli told followers: "My 2-year-old just told her friend I was Dr. Colon (Cullen) from the movie Toilet. (Twilight) lol."

Minutes away from having to go onstage Monday, Demi Lovato Tweeted that "The most stressful and frustrating thing is when you loose (sic) your voice. I have no idea what to do. I feel like crying." Her friend Taylor Swift answered by Tweet: "Hang in there, it happens to everyone. I had the same thing happen last week at the CMTs. Your adrenaline will kick in. Miss you!"

And Miley Cyrus, now up to roughly a million Twitter followers — and reconnecting with one-time beau Nick Jonas — has been sending out a lot of love to someone, tweeting things like this quote from "The Notebook": "No matter what happens to us in the future, every day we are together is the greatest day of my life. I will always be yours." Sigh.

With reports by 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 2009 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.