Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Not only is Jane Fonda back in the spotlight with her "Prime Time" memoir — with its 50 pages devoted to sex for people over 70 — she's also about to be portrayed by Anne Archer on stage.

Archer and her husband, Terry Jastrow, are collaborating on "Jane Fonda and the Court of Public Opinion," which Jastrow wrote and will direct. It takes place in 1988, when Jane met with a group of Vietnam veterans and others still outraged over her extreme anti-war activities (including posing admiringly with enemy troops, sitting on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun, and broadcasting her views from Hanoi) in one of her few attempts to tell her story and defend herself. The show is planned for an Oct. 7 opening at the Edgemar Center for the Arts in Santa Monica, Calif.

Casting notices describe "Jane Fonda and the Court of Public Opinion" as "an attempt by an impartial storyteller to set the record straight." Parts include several Vietnam War veterans, Jane's long-time rep, the late Stephen Rivers, and a TV news reporter.

Both Archer and Jastrow are well-known as devoted Scientologists, by the way, and Archer's son from her first marriage, Tommy Davis, heads the organization's Celebrity Centre in L.A. So at least they can probably count on the Scientology crowd to turn out in support.

A NEW 'DAYS' DAWNING: Who will survive? Who will rise again on the Web (and how ever will they manage on a teeny-tiny Internet budget)? And who will go off the air for good, taking their secrets, skullduggery and yearnings away with them to that great network in the sky?

The drama of daytime drama, 2011-style, is getting as complicated and emotional as the storylines cooked up on the long-time soaps that have been recently cancelled or are fighting to hang on.

Over at "Days of Our Lives" — the sole NBC survivor among its soaps — the troops have rallied to go all-out in a fresh bid to attract viewers. That effort has included bringing back daytime royalty in the form of Deidre Hall and Drake Hogestyn — who, ironically, were let go from the show two and a half years ago, when its budget was slashed — in episodes beginning Sept. 26.

"Truly, the first week back was a little challenging," Hall tells us. "We were doing the new set with about 50 core characters in the first scene." She's referring to a sequence that takes place at a gala and, she says, sets up a storyline that will impact everyone.

"We were testing the set and all the new things we've put in place," Hall adds. "Greg Meng and Noel Maxam are superior executive producers, and they wanted these shows — this week — to be flawless.

Her return was sparked while Hall was on a joint book tour with Meng — touting her "Kitchen Closeup" and his "Days of Our Lives 45 Years: A Celebration in Photos." A fan asked what it would take to get the actress, whose name was synonymous with the show for nearly 29 years, to return. For starters, an invitation, she said. Meng told her she had one.

"He is a man of his word," Hall says of Meng. "A lot of changes got put in place that made it easy for me to come back." Such as? "New writers and new producers — and a return to the old values that were in place when I joined the show, with real stories about real people in dramatic circumstances. And real love stories, family-values love stories that have deep and passionate commitment. No more science-fiction."

Hall recalls when former head writer James E. Reilly wrote the controversial storyline that had her beloved Dr. Marlena Evans being possessed by the devil. That was in 1995.

"The market was up," Hall says. "People were feeling happy and confident. We wanted — we could tolerate — frivolous entertainment. But now, so many people in this country are fighting for jobs, fighting for food, and nobody wants to watch someone buried alive. They want to see families that pull together to solve big problems.

"When in doubt, family," she says. "When in doubt, devotion and love."

MEANWHILE: Hall now considers her time away from the show "the best thing that could have happened to me," although, she says, "I didn't see that at the time. I wrote a book, like I'd always wanted to do. I traveled with my children, grew a garden, renewed friendships, walked several times a week to the end of the continent and dug my toes into the sand and surf. My older boy is heading off to college next week, and I was able to be there for the whole process of finding the right school and making plans. My younger one is starting high school. It's been an amazing, enriching time."

As for how long she'll stick with "Days," "I can't talk about it," she says. "But I'm still working, and we're a month into new shows."

CLOTHES-MINDED: Disney Channel "it" girl Debby Ryan reports that one of the fun aspects of her forthcoming "Jessie" series will be her wardrobe. She reports that a look is being "created for Jessie that you can recreate at home" with inexpensive items young viewers could find at their local discount department store.

Jessie is a New York newcomer who becomes the nanny for a motley group of children — the adopted and biological offspring of a rich and famous couple.

Anyone we know?

MEAN KITTIES: Talk about catfights on the set! Get ready for a new reality show called "My Cat From Hell" — seriously. Cat casting has been going on, with producers looking for kitties who "fight, scratch, growl, hiss, knock chairs over, tear the house apart" and so forth. The show's expert cat behaviorist, Jackson Galaxy, can supposedly turn even the most furious feline into a purring pussycat.

No doubt the show will give us paws. Let's just hope it's not a cat-astrophe.