Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Word that Nielsen is widening its viewer research samplings of this fall's shows to span seven nights of TiVo recording in its weekly ratings, rather than just a program's broadcast night, comes as encouraging news to "Friday Night Lights" star Kyle Chandler. His series has been plagued by weak ratings numbers but blessed with such positive word of mouth that NBC has given it a renewal for a full 22 episodes in its second season. And though its new Friday-night slot has its drawbacks — it's now airing when people are out seeing football games and going on dates — Kyle is confident that when "all the TiVo responses are added up, we'll learn that a lot more people are watching the show than we've known."

He adds, "It just makes common sense." Then he quips, "I've been grabbing phone books wherever I am and telling people to record the show — and I give kids at my daughter's school a nickel to make five calls for me."

"Friday Night Lights'" laid-back, nice-guy football coach would like us to believe that "when my wife and I watch the show together, I might get an elbow in the ribs or one of those looks across the room — or the TV remote bouncing off my forehead. The thing is that sometimes in my household, I can't win an argument like I want, but on TV I can bring one of our little fights right into my TV role."

But seriously, folks, Kyle says that what you see is pretty much what he is at home with his wife and kids — and says they are the most important things in his life. He credits wife Katherine with helping him craft his character and for being so supportive. He says, "We'll watch the show together, and she'll make suggestions — 'What if you do this?' or, 'What if you do this another way?' She's a very good writer and has a great insight into the characters on the show."

LIGHT AND DARK: Handsome Adam Scott of HBO's "Tell Me You Love Me" is having a great old time playing Will Ferrell's sibling in the currently shooting "Step Brothers." The series has him in wrenching dramatic territory, with his and Sonya Walger's storyline of a couple coping with difficulty conceiving a child, so the big-screen comedy "really is a great change-up," notes Scott. "Will and John C. Reilly play guys around 40 who each live with their respective single parents. And when their parents end up getting married, they're suddenly step-brothers who have to share a room in the house. I'm playing Will's younger, uber-successful brother, a real a-hole, always showing off my money, my family — making him feel terrible."

Scott, who also showed off some comedy chops as a nurse in the recent "Knocked Up," shows off other attributes in the cable "Tell Me You Love Me" series notorious for its simulated sex scenes.

He acknowledges that with its rawness, the actors have to just give themselves over to their characters and stories — and he believes viewers do the same. "It's an intense acting experience and an intense viewing experience," he says. When he initially read the pilot script, he says, "I was struck by how real it felt — like everything in it was from real life, not television and movies. Most of the things you read have some other reference points with other television shows and feel derivative of everything else."

THE GUY: David Boreanaz of "Bones" makes no bones about his role in the forthcoming "Our Lady of Victory" feature starring Carla Gugino as real-life high school girls' basketball coach Cathy Rush. "I'm the husband," he says good-naturedly. "It's really Carla's journey, how her character leads her team to the National Basketball Championship." His own true-life counterpart in the film, which takes place in 1972, was an NBA referee. To hear David tell it, he and Carla have moments in which they themselves could have used a referee. "We had two Italians going at each other. It was great."

THE INSIDE TRACK: "All these things we're doing — back 10 years ago, they might have been looked down upon. But in today's musical culture, if you don't think creatively, you don't get heard." So says Seven Williams (real name: Keith Volpone), lead singer of country's Whiskey Falls, which is currently enjoying chart success with its "Last Train Running" single off its self-titled debut album. Williams doesn't mind admitting that he and his bandmates owe some of their accomplishments to outside-the-box self-marketing ploys. Those include having Whiskey Falls songs available for sale in AAMCO Transmissions shops and getting them played on such shows as "Friday Night Lights" and Holly Hunter's "Saving Grace," creating a tie-in with the party-loving American Tailgaters Association, and planning cross-promotional activities with fan Dale Earnhardt Jr. The NASCAR hero likes Whiskey Falls so much that he recently had the band playing for him in his private suite before a race in Charlotte.

"We call (the music industry) the Wild West right now," notes Williams, who acknowledges that the AAMCO idea seemed "crazy" when they first presented it to the company. "We had a trial run for six months, and it was so successful, they were blown away." And they now have a deal in place until 2008. He adds, "It's such a difficult thing to break new artists these days, but we feel we've really found our stride here."

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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