Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Jane Kaczmarek is bouncing back. With her just-announced new role as the several-times-married, outspoken mother of Whitney Cummings on NBC's forthcoming "Whitney" comedy, the former "Malcolm in the Middle" mama is getting exactly what she wanted.

You may recall that the well-liked actress went through a traumatic time with the abrupt ending of her 17-year marriage to Bradley Whitford two years ago. The divorce came in tandem with the disappointing cancellation of Steven Bochco's "Raising the Bar," in which Kaczmarek played a judge. She took some time away from work.

She told this column last fall that getting a role on a half-hour comedy would be a dream. But she wasn't open to the kind of series schedule in which 12-hour days are the norm — because, especially post-divorce, she wanted time at home with her children, aged 14, 11 and eight.

"I don't like to leave them," she said. "'Malcolm' was a great time on a great show, but now I really love being home with my kids in the middle of the day, cooking with them, getting a real good look at what women who aren't in show business do."

The "Whitney" team will be reshooting scenes for the pilot, in which Jane's character appears. The part was originally played by Beverly D'Angelo.

BODY OF WORK: Henry Simmons laughs about the recent Twitter chatter that refers to his abs as if they're a being unto themselves. The former "NYPD Blue" actor — including his abs — is playing the new boyfriend of Amanda Detmer's character on ABC's fall-debuting "Man Up" sitcom. With his height, his stellar physique and his confidence, his character, Grant, is the one who makes the other three guys on the show (Christopher Moynihan, Mather Zickel and Dan Fogler) feel, well, inadequate.

Of the tweets, Simmons says, "That's surprising.

That is daunting. That's flattering. I guess if you told Chris that — the creator, Chris Moynihan — the next thing you know I'd be taking my shirt off every episode."

Simmons is having a good time playing Grant, whom he does not consider shallow. "He's just so unaware of things outside of himself — how things are affecting other people."

Critics have cast a wary eye on "Man Up" and its depiction of guys as immature and controlled by the women in their lives. But Simmons is, not surprisingly, bullish on the show.

"It was the first time where I read a script and laughed all the way through," he says, "and the first time I could see myself playing the character. Sometimes I'm like, 'Ah, maybe there's a possibility,' but this time, I thought, 'I could do this.' It's such a dream, being here and being part of this."

THE BIG-SCREEN SCENE: An early October production-start in Atlanta has been set for "Flight," the Denzel Washington film that will have the Oscar winner playing a pilot who manages the spectacular landing of a failing plane — only to have his hero-time cut short by the revelation that he was high on cocaine and boozed up at the time. "Flight" marks director Robert Zemeckis' first fully-live-action film in more than a decade.

SOLDIER GIRL: Amy Smart will be going the "Private Benjamin" route come November. Or at least she'll play a ditzy blond grunt. Her "Army Bratz" movie is going forward — with the "Butterfly Effect" and "Shameless" actress poised to play a ditzy gym rat who unwittingly joins the army, confused by an ad promising a chance to see the world. Her equally airheaded cousin (still to be cast) signs up, too, and the pair surprisingly excel in basic training, thanks to all those hours of workouts. Eventually, they somehow wind up in Afghanistan facing off against a top terrorist. We'll see.

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 2011 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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