Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Martha Plimpton laughs at the notion, advanced by a TV blogger, that her Sept. 21-debuting "Raising Hope" has nowhere to go with its premise of a 24-year-old slacker trying to take care of his baby as a single dad, with help from his ne'er-do-well family.

Four shows into filming, she says, "It's going great, really fun. The possibilities are endless, really, when you're dealing with family life."

Their low socio-economic position adds to their appeal for her. "I like the fact that we're playing people who are jerry-rigging their lives. It's like they're using duct tape, staples, anything they can get their hands on to make it work. The opportunities for comedy are endless in that sense.

"And also, it's all coming from a warm and loving place," adds the brilliant performer, who won Tony nominations in 2007, '08 and '09, among her many other accolades. "These people don't bicker with each other out of irritation. There's a lot of heart, a lot of sweetness to the show. I feel like we earn all the ridiculousness of it and whatever darkness is there."

The 39-year-old daughter of actors Keith Carradine and Shelley Plimpton was playing young adult roles herself just the other day, wasn't she? And now she's playing a grandmother? Did she have any concerns about being tagged with the G-word? After all, as she herself notes, "Hollywood tends to age actresses very fast."

Plimpton responds, "In this instance, no because that's the joke of it. In our context, that's the joke of the show." She admits, "I didn't relate at all to being the mother of a 24-year-old, and I didn't relate even more to playing a grandmother. But we're seeing that my character also doesn't relate to being the mother of a 24-year-old."

She says she didn't hesitate to go after "Raising Hope" since 1) she wanted to work with creator Greg Garcia, and 2) "It's the first time I've read a pilot where I've actually laughed out loud."

And she's not even thinking about film and stage projects right now, says the actress, whose big-screen credits range from "Running on Empty" and "Parenthood" to "200 Cigarettes."

"My whole outlook about my work and life is that I want to have a good time, and I don't want to get bored. This show is fun and new and challenging for me.

I'd like to see how things pan out with it before thinking about anything else," she says. " I'm really committed to seeing that we get off on the right foot."

THE TV VIEW: Meredith Vieira says she shouldn't be given any credit for the many changes that are being made this season on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." Vieira, who's in her ninth season of hosting the daytime syndicated version of the show that returns Monday (9/13), makes it known, "I don't make any of the decisions. That's not my job, but they did run things by me."

She acknowledges she wasn't exactly overwhelmed when she first learned of some of the changes (including doing away with the Hot Seat so that she and the contestants stand through the program; a new "Jump the Question" that gives a contestant the chance to skip a question; the fact a contestant never walks away with less than $1,000; and in round two, one only has to answer four questions — valued at $100,000, $250,000, $500,000 and $1 million).

My reaction was, 'But that's not 'Millionaire' and I was told, 'Play the game and then decide.' And they were right. There's a new excitement to the program." Those votes of excitement were echoed by former "Millionaire" contestants the show enlisted for run-throughs of the reworked program.

"They loved it," says Vieira. "So do I."

She particularly loves the fact that the traditional first five questions have been changed so that there's now a greater risk and greater reward at stake. "It's helped do away with a predictability on the show. It's really for the best."

TO B OR NOT TO B: "She's Got the Look" and "Dancing With the Stars" hostess Brooke Burke considers it vitally important for women not to lose a sense of themselves "even when you have children, have a family, a career" and a man in life. That's one of the subjects she covers in the untitled book she has coming out in February from Penguin publishers. Another topic is covered in a chapter entitled "Not Guilty." It "has a lot to do with the challenges of a blended family, says Burke, whose two older children are from her previous marriage and divide their lives between her household and her ex's. The beauty, whose significant other is handsome David Charvet, also talks about "being able to have a passionate romantic lifestyle, keeping your wild side, while raising kids." Then there is a chapter "about the inner b——. We all have a b—— that lives inside of us, and there are times to keep her in, and times to let her out."

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 2010 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM