Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

In case you haven't been paying attention, reality shows about little people — probably the most unforeseen trend in the history of television — are proliferating. Now we have TLC's "Little People, Big World," "The Little Couple," "Our Little Life" and "Little Chocolatiers," plus Animal Planet's "Pit Boss" about tough pit bull rescuer and little person Shorty Rogers.

New shows, no problem, says Matt Roloff about the possible competition to his family's "Little People, Big World." "We're very excited about those shows," claims Roloff, whose family has paved the way for little people everywhere with their hit series that started it all.

"It's not about the Roloff family. It's about the notion of being different and desensitizing it to the point where someone will see a little person and not even think twice about it," he says. "I think now people can see past it much easier because of what they've become accustomed to from our show, and we're proud of that."

While season five of his show is set to premiere Monday (4/5), Roloff tells us he's been working hard to get reacquainted with his wife and kids during their time off. "We just got back from our first vacation without cameras in the six years we've been filming," he says. "Amy and I especially have had to work extra hard because being on TV does put pressure on you. There are times when we're not arguing about regular things, but we're arguing about making an episode. You have to double your efforts to accept each other and get along."

Though being on TV does take its toll at times, Roloff says that for them, it's all about being able to help people. "We get thousands of e-mails and letters in the mail from people, especially from parents who have just given birth to little people. They felt a sense of hopelessness and even considered abortions, but then after watching our show, they realized it's an exciting thing to have a baby who is different. It inspires us, and it's the reason we continue to do the show," he notes.

But just how long will that last? "We take it season by season. We are in discussions about doing more shows, and we're just going to have to see what we want to do as a family."

WHEN WILL THOSE 15 MINUTES BE OVER?: Do you think the Kate Gosselin-Tony Dovolani dustup on "Dancing With the Stars" — when she kept complaining about how he was teaching her, and he stormed off (temporarily) saying, "I quit" — was really a ploy to gin up interest?

After all, this woman can't act.

She clearly can't dance. (We've seen less wooden females on the fronts of ships.) One thing she can do, outside of propagating, is call attention to herself by whining and arguing. So, voila! She does what she does best on "DWTS."

FROM THE INSIDE LOOKING OUT: These are high-flying times for "Stargate: Universe's" Ming-Na. Literally. This week, the former "ER" actress flew from home in L.A. to work in Vancouver on "Stargate" for a day, then back down to shoot an episode of "Two and a Half Men" in her recurring character of the judge who's romantically involved with Charlie Harper (Charlie Sheen). Next, it will be off to Yosemite for Easter, egg hunting and "communing with nature" with her daughter, son and husband, then back up to Vancouver.

Ming-Na's grown accustomed to her two-city lifestyle, and says, "I like being able to separate my work from my home life. When I'm home, I don't have to worry about 4 a.m. call times the night before working. I can be a full-time mom. And when I'm at work, I can focus all my energy on that. I actually like it. I find what I do in my job parallels what goes on in my personal life — I go from LAX to Vancouver Airport, and it's like I've gone through my own Stargate into another world altogether."

"Stargate: Universe" gets its Season 1.5 debut tomorrow night (4/2). Among other things, they're going to show aliens (CGI aliens, not rubber mask aliens, stresses Ming-Na) on the Syfy series that follows a group of explorers moving through the cosmos aboard a partially disabled ancient spaceship, on which they're stranded. "The premise of the show is really survival," points out Ming-Na, who plays openly gay character Camile. "These circumstances bring out the humanity of these people, including the very dark sides that come out when they're in a mind state of 'I've got nothing to lose.'"

That's very different from "Two and a Half Men," in which her character is a successful and intelligent contemporary woman. What does she see in Charlie? "Well, you know, those accomplished women like to go after the bad boys," she laughs. "It's a little escapism, a little excitement."

THE BIG-SCREEN SCENE: With Sigourney Weaver set as head vampire and Krysten Ritter and Alicia Silverstone as her blood-sucking protegees, writer-director Amy Heckerling is now filling out the supporting cast of her "Vamps" comedy. There are three Van Helsings and a Renfield in the feature that goes into production mid-May, set in Manhattan.

With reports by Emily-Fortune 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 2010 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM