While some other ex-boy-band members might not have much career action these days, Joey Fatone couldn't be busier. Maybe that's because the one-time 'N Sync singer's professional life is diversification personified. He's a man on the move, crisscrossing the country as he juggles multiple demands. "I'm hustling," declares the pop-star-cum-actor/dancer/host — who has now added celebrity foodie to his list of personas.

Viewers of the "Rachael vs. Guy Celebrity Cook-Off" saw Joey make a respectable showing as an amateur chef this week. He made it to the final four and picked up a $5,000 prize for his charitable foundation by acing an on-the-spot challenge before Lou Diamond Phillips became the winner and Coolio came in second. Now Joey's about to head out on the road to shoot more episodes of his new Live Well Network cooking show, "My Family Recipe Rocks." He tells us that "Family Recipe," in which he visits everyday people making extraordinary dishes in their home kitchens, actually came about before he even signed on to the competition show.

"We've already done 10 episodes. We've gone to West Palm Beach, Chicago, Vegas, North Carolina ... Now we have 10 more to do. In the next couple of weeks we'll go to New Orleans and on from there. I don't know what I'm getting," he says. One memorable cooking episode featured fried gator with bourbon, he says. This week's show (Feb. 4) has a man demonstrating the "old school, Southern kind of way" to fix collard greens.

"It's been pretty crazy," says Fatone, who is now headquartering in Orlando, Fla., with wife Kelly and their two daughters. "I'm about to fly back to Vegas to do the live version of 'The Price Is Right,' and my family will come join me for a couple of weeks. It's a blast. You pay for a ticket; you might be called to come on down. We play Plinko and stuff like that.

"It's also great because it keeps the hosting chops up for me. This is a great way to do that because these players come from all walks of life — they're not pre-screened. They're normal people who come to see a show," he says. They're doing the live "Price Is Right" in Atlantic City, N.J., as well.

Joey's also been working on his acting career, he says. His latest project is the recently released slasher movie, "Inkubus" with Robert Englund. It'll be available for home viewing on demand and on DVD Feb. 21.

"It was my first horror film. That took me completely out of my element," says Fatone, a scary movie buff. "It was so cool."

PULLING STRINGS: It's hard to believe the media storm involving "The Muppets" and Fox News — which this week saw Miss Piggy's startling dis of the conservative news network in a London press conference go viral on the Internet. That was followed by Fox News personality Bill O'Reilly admonishing her porcine highness to "Watch it."

In case you weren't aware, Fox Business' Eric Bolling started it all in December, when he accused the Muppets movie of pushing a liberal agenda and class warfare. (Yes, Kermit laughed. "We're soooo dangerous.")

You may also be aware that Muppet master Frank Oz is not involved in the latest film effort and has said he wasn't really happy with the script. So does this mean the old Muppets are no more? Have they lost their innocence? Crossed the line?

Not really.

Go back, and you can find evidence that Jim Henson's Muppets occasionally tweaked the political powers of their times. And as far as innocence, well, their ABC TV special back in 1975 was originally made with the title "Sex and Violence With the Muppets." It featured a satire of a typical news show along with sketches including the six deadly sins and a piece about Mt. Rushmore.

FROM THE INSIDE LOOKING OUT: Funny lady Mary Birdsong just finished her first guest appearance on "Raising Hope," playing the mayor of the town inhabited by the hapless Chance family. She's a city official who might have a future on the show.

"On the outside, she is very Sarah Palin-esque-adorable. She could have been a runner up in a beauty contest. She's all smiles, knows what to say, wears great little suits from Talbots. But she really likes to party. A weekend warrior. She's kept it in control; she is a good mayor, trying to do a good job. But she's of course a drunk and a loose woman ... I feel like I've monopolized the market on slutty drunks," Birdsong says.

But that's not a bad thing. She explains, "The women who play bitches will give you the shirt off their backs; it's the ingenues you have to watch out for."

Birdsong is also being widely seen now in George Clooney's "The Descendants," for which she gives director Alexander Payne credit. "To cast a comedic actress, someone like me, who is known for sketch comedy? It's a real testament to Alexander Payne's conviction of his own vision. That goes for Rob Huebel, too," she notes of the "Descendants" actor and "Upright Citizens Brigade" alumnus.

A veteran of the audition process and knowledgeable about the prevailing wisdom in actor circles, Birdsong tells us, "It toughens you up, gives you a sense of gallows humor." For instance, when she was asked to meet Payne, she thought, "'Okay, you guys are having fun with this crazy joke?'" One gets so jaded, according to her, "when they say something complimentary, you know you're never going to hear from them again — that's the kiss of death! It's like, 'You are so talented.' 'Oh, yeah? You know what? $#@! you!'"

But cast her, Payne did — and to the film's benefit.

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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