Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Jeff Daniels returns tonight (3/2) to Broadway's "God of Carnage" — only this time, in the role originally played by James Gandolfini, rather than the role that won Daniels a Tony nomination last year. "The first couple weeks of rehearsal were nothing short of hallucinogenic," he tells us. "Every time I'd hear one of my old cues, I'd twitch."

When Daniels was approached to try the switch, "I said, 'You know what? Yeah.' For me to flip roles on Broadway in the same production is — well, it's at least rare. As a disciple of the theater, that means something to me. And it qualifies as a wonderful creative risk. I'm glad I said yes. We're hoping it will be successful."

This version of "Carnage" pairs him with Janet McTeer in the comedy about two sets of parents who meet to discuss their children's altercation in a park with not the best results. On the other side are Dylan Baker and Lucy Liu.

Liu is "doing great. Certainly, she has the least experience of all of us; this is her Broadway debut," Daniels reminds. "But she's truly thrown herself into it, as has Dylan Baker. There's no phoning it in with this one."

Even as he takes to the stage again, Daniels is being represented elsewhere. At his beloved Purple Rose Theater in Michigan, they're getting ready to mount four new American plays this coming season. And his big-screen "Paper Man" is opening in limited release May 1. With Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone and Lisa Kudrow, the movie revolves around the unlikely friendship that sparks up between a teenage girl and a washed-up writer who has an imaginary superhero friend. "It's one of those indies," Jeff says. "I'm glad it got picked up for distribution. It's a real good story."

Now, with all the snow being dumped on New York, it would be nice if the weather relented a little for the play's re-unveiling. Daniels is unfazed. According to him, "Broadway doesn't care. Lights up at 8. Let's go."

OH, BROTHER: Omar Gooding tells us after being in the business for over 20 years, he's happy to report that he and his Oscar-winning brother, Cuba Gooding Jr., are finally getting the chance to work together.

"I'm producing a film, which will be the first chance that my brother and I have had to work together.

I sent him the script and he liked it, so he's doing a cameo" — taking on the small role of a detective in the flick, with Omar playing a gangster. "We've just been waiting to find the right project. We didn't want to work together just to work together. If all goes as planned, it should happen in the next couple of months."

In the meantime, Gooding is busy working on Jerry Bruckheimer's upcoming drama "Miami Medical," which will premiere April 2 on CBS.

"I got a call two days before the table read. I crammed like eight years of medical school in four hours so it was intense," he tells us of playing the show's head nurse. "Our show is more like 'ER.' and less like 'Grey's Anatomy' where they're involved with their stories at home. We focus a lot on what's going on in the hospital. These guys (are) at the hospital 24/7 until the next shift comes in," notes Gooding, who says it's nice to have Bruckheimer's signature look and feel to the show — from afar, that is.

"He's a busy man. He's been around a little bit. I don't want to say he's hands-on all the time, but we'll see him from time to time."

THE BIG-SCREEN SCENE: Julie Benz has been having a blast "being able to do comedy again with her "Desperate Housewives" stripper role. She also enjoyed making the forthcoming big screen "Answers to Nothing" with funnyman Dane Cook. But she stresses that the feature is "not a comedy. It's six stories that intersect having to do with a girl that's gone missing in Los Angeles. I play the detective. It's a heartfelt film with a huge cast of characters. I had a great time filming it."

HERE THEY COME: Pilot season is certainly a window to the mindsets and mores of our times — with shows that wouldn't, couldn't have existed very long ago.

For instance, ABC has a show in the works called "It Takes a Village" about a teenage boy whose divorced mom and dad live across the street from each other, and whose mom has trouble accepting it when dad's boyfriend moves in with him — a gay blended family show.

Over on NBC, there's "Friends with Benefits," Brian Grazer producing, which has a diverse group of twenty-something friends who haven't found Mr. or Ms. Right yet, so they're settling for friends with benefits — as in sex sans emotional involvement or commitment. We, of course, must wait to see how it's done before drawing any conclusions about that.

With reports by Emily-Fortune 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.

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