Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

With multiple hostings and unforgettable sketches, John Goodman is all over the "Saturday Night Live" retrospective DVDs, but the beloved actor tells us he doubts he'll ever do the show again.

"I owe 'Saturday Night Live' a lot. I've always been attracted to smart, funny people, so doing the show was heaven on earth to me. It's something I'm going to miss desperately, but I'm just being practical," he insists. "I'm too old now, and I don't have a TV show going. They're looking for a younger audience." His horrifyingly funny Linda Tripp impersonation is over, too, according to John: "I think that wore out its welcome."

Whether he ever takes to the "SNL" stage again, Goodman's dance card of assignments remains full. Lately he's been bizzzzzzy doing voice work in Jerry Seinfeld's forthcoming "Bee Movie" — the trailer of which is getting huge laughs. And he's been going from one live action project to another, including the summer release "Evan Almighty," which has Steve Carell as a congressman summoned by God (Morgan Freeman) to build an ark.

"Steve Carell is one of the funniest and most generous persons I've ever met. He reminds me of the old 'SNL' guys — just viciously funny and sweet, so damn talented he's scary. It was hot in Virginia when we were filming, and there he was with a full beard and robes on. I never once heard him complain," says Goodman, who plays a congressman in the film that's already being talked about as possibly the most expensive comedy ever, with production costs reportedly around $170 million. "After a while, you want him to complain. You want to kill him he's so agreeable — act out, say something bad! But he didn't."

FUNNY LADY: "I have a dream. It's a crazy dream I want to make come true," declares comic Kathy Griffin. "I want Liza Minnelli to come see me at Carnegie Hall. It's just a stupid, gay man's dream, because I'm a gay man on the inside." Wacky Kathy actually is playing Carnegie Hall Jan. 19, and she definitely does want Liza to come see her. "Please, let Liza know," she implores. Griffin, meanwhile, has a full plate of activities ahead, what with Bravo filming her Jan.

12 concert in Santa Rosa, Calif., for a special — and production getting underway for the third season of her "My Life On the D List," which is slated for summer unveiling.

SONG 'N' DANCE: NBC's Sunday (1/7)-debuting "Grease: You're the One That I Want" reality show — in which contestants vie for the chance to headline a Broadway revival of the musical — isn't what you'd call kind to some of the not-so-talented Danny and Sandy wannabes. And it may not be all that kind to cohost Billy Bush, either. The "Access Hollywood" personality reports that he exhibits his own musical theater talents, such as they are, along the way on the new show. "I was Sky Masterson, the lead in 'Guys and Dolls,' when I was a senior in high school. I can't say I'd dazzle anyone, but I think I can handle 'Beauty School Dropout,'" he says, referring to one of the "Grease" numbers. "With the right perm and the right white pants and pillowy shirt, I can't see how I could not nail it." Well, he does have the right cohost, anyway. As Bush notes, "Denise Van Outen is a tremendous star in the U.K."

MIXED MEDIA: Veteran actor-cum-director Corbin Bernsen plans to be back behind the camera on two indie films before he returns to shooting of the USA Network comedy "Psych" in March. "We're going to shoot 'Donna on Demand' in L.A. in February, then I'll prep the second film, '3 Day Test,' and I'll be editing and doing post on both of them for the rest of the year," says Bernsen, who also wrote both films. "'Donna on Demand' is about a film/TV actor who is sort of at the end of his career and falls in love with this young girl. It's a thriller about payback." "3 Day Test" is a holiday film of sorts, he says. "It's a Christmas comedy about a guy who traps his family inside a house for three days and gives them a survival test."

Bernsen, who plays James Roday's father in "Psych," says he's not gung ho to take the helm behind the cameras just yet on the show about a bumbling detective pretending to be psychic. "Eventually maybe, but it's really cool to just go do my acting gig there. The show is so much fun, and James and Dule Hill do such a great job of keeping it lively."

(With reports by Stephanie DuBois and Emily 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.

COPYRIGHT 2007 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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