Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Jessica Walter reports that she and George Segal are having a blast shooting their forthcoming "Retired at 35" comedy. The second TV Land original series, it will be paired with the oh-so-hot "Hot in Cleveland" come January.

"Initially, they offered me a guest-starring role as George Segal's wife, who leaves him. I hoped I'd get back on for an episode or two. But then they came back to me, and I'm going to be in all shows produced," says the actress, who lets us know her new character is not as mean as such well-known Walter women as "Arrested Development's" Lucille Bluth.

"Retired at 35" has a New York professional man (Johnathan McClain) becoming so charmed by his parents' upscale retirement community in Florida, he decides to quit the rat race and move in with them.

"Now he's also dealing with the separation of Mom and Dad, which ups the stakes a little," says Walter.

Her and Segal's interplay as longtime spouses is helped by their longtime friendship. "I first worked with my Georgie Segal in 'Bye Bye Braverman,' a movie with Sidney Lumet directing, that came out in — are you sitting down? — 1968," she notes with a laugh. Also, Walter's husband, Ron Leibman, has worked with Segal on such productions as "Where's Poppa?" "The Hot Rock" and assorted television shows. Jessica played Segal's ex-wife on his "Just Shoot Me" series as well.

"We bring a history to this," she points out. "It's funny because I threw a little birthday party for my husband recently and, of course, George Segal was there. At one point, George and I were sitting on the couch, and we have this interesting relationship where he'll kid me, and I'll kid right back. My husband watched us, and then said, 'This is the show, right here on the couch.'"

SPOOKY TIMES: Sure, there are Halloween parties all over town this weekend, but this year, "Hollywood Dreams" star Tanna Frederick is eschewing the in crowd for the over-and-out crowd. She tells us, "It's my brother's birthday, and he and I are perpetual ghost hunters. We're going to go stay overnight in this nearby graveyard that is supposedly haunted." We'll check back to see how it goes.

With "Community's" memorable, monster-full Halloween episode behind her, Yvette Nicole Brown is playing things a little more sedately this weekend. She reports, "I'm giving out candy and also awards to young filmmakers at the 'Kid's Spotlight Awards' the day before Halloween in L.A."

Nice!

MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE: Imagine doctors in developing countries being trained in online classes rather than going to med schools in foreign countries — and, statistics show, often remaining abroad instead of returning to impoverished homelands.

In fact, such use of technology is moving into reality now, according to "The Doctors'" Dr.

Lisa M. Masterson. And she ought to know, because her Maternal Fetal Care International organization is making it happen.

Masterson founded the first OB/GYN residency program in sub-Saharan Africa, in Eritrea, in addition to starting birthing clinics in Kenya and India. "Instead of spending the $6,000 it would cost to fly me there, I'm going to teach classes by Skype and then donate that money toward equipment," she explains.

The remarkable medico can move with seeming ease from seeing patients in her private practice in Santa Monica, to her work as a staff physician (at L.A.'s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica and UCLA), to chatting with celebrity moms on TV about potty training toddlers on "The Doctors" — to addressing the United Nations. In fact, a segment on her recent speech before the U.N. is being included on Tuesday's (11/2) edition of "The Doctors."

"I literally think my whole body was on edge" before her address, admits the attractive Masterson. "My mission was just to try to open people's eyes as much as possible. The response was overwhelming — so many people were asking me about my charity and what I do, and how to work together."

Masterson's efforts toward decreasing maternal and infant mortality rates fit perfectly into the U.N.'s millennial goals, which is why she's already working with the international organization. Sometimes, she says, "The answer is in the palm of our hand, and it quite literally is. Technology has made equipment like the ultrasound that's the size of a cell phone. There are fetal monitors that women can take with them that allow doctors to monitor women from hospitals or offices. Well, how come we can't monitor a woman from Africa, then? We're testing it out here."

Dr. Lisa, as she's known to "The Doctors" fans, has an autobiography coming out next year, and it's bound to be gripping.

"Sometimes it's difficult to go back over painful times, but going through them, that's how I got to where I am. Because I'm doing so much of what I want to do, some people have the idea I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth or something like that, but I wasn't," she says.

She admits it wasn't easy to open up, that it's not her personality. However, she adds, "I had a lot of great female role models in my life. On the show, I'm the only woman. If telling my story can inspire a lot of girls to know that they can achieve their goals, it will be well worth it."

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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