January Jones expects to keep her schedule clear for a while to focus all of her attention on her precious guy in life — that guy being her 6-month-old son, Xander.

"I promised myself I wouldn't take any work after we wrapped unless it was something special," says the blond beauty of "Mad Men," which returns for its long-awaited fifth season on AMC Sunday (March 25). "Kids are only babies for a year, so I only want to be with him and get some rest. There've been a lot of sleepless nights. I went back to work quite soon after I had him," she notes.

One would not guess she'd recently had a baby by looking at the spectacular actress. As far as having a rigorous workout routine, she says she does not. I fact, "I haven't done any exercises yet. I want to get back into yoga. I did a lot while I was pregnant, but haven't done any since." She supposes her slimness has to do with "not having time to eat and running around breast feeding. Also, my mom's very petite; I've got good genes."

The Emmy-laden drama finished shooting for the season two months ago. January had pink highlights put into her hair prior to new season premiere events — and the fashion-following crowd took note appropriately.

"It's fun. I have fun. I'm a girl. I like to do silly things sometimes, and I love to be able to experiment with things. I wanted to be able to wake up in the morning and smile at my hair. You know, as a mom, you don't get a lot of sleep. I wanted something to feel kind of girly and excited about. A little retail therapy goes a long way. Pink streaks go a long way — or, rose-gold highlights."

MEANWHILE: Despite the show's vaunted secrecy, January was able to say that she feels as if her Betty Draper Francis has been like a different character in each of the show's seasons. She credits creator Matthew Weiner for "taking Betty on a different journey each year. He does that for all the characters, that's the beauty of his writing."

IT'S A WRAP: Tia Carrere, who was fired from "Celebrity Apprentice" this week, muses, "Generally speaking, I would say reality TV is the furthest thing from reality — but it's, um, it can be used for good. It can show people how not to be. The bad part is if the worst and most awful behavior is held up as something to emulate. Sometimes shining light on bad behavior makes people think, 'I have to be bad.'"

The actress, who rose to fame in "Wayne's World" and "True Lies," says she came off as a class act on her "Apprentice" stint — even as teammates, including Aubrey O'Day, Lisa Lampanelli and Debbie Gibson, started acting like overage high-schoolers of the "Mean Girls" variety, getting their clique into one of two minivans for a cross-town trip, for instance, and excluding the rest from an on-board meeting.

On the other hand, "I really connected with Donald Jr. and Ivanka, the gracious lady," says Carrere of the Trump offspring. As for The Donald himself, "He was very welcoming and generous and kind to everyone. I wouldn't want to cross him in a real boardroom setting."

Carrere also found, "When you're a celebrity in show business for decades, there are skills you can cultivate that transfer very well into the corporate world — salesmanship, knowing how to politic, how to appeal to people. It's also about being quick on your feet."

"SHOW!" GIRL: Beautiful "Attack of the Show!" host Candace Bailey groans when asked whether she gets to keep any of the dazzling array of new tech toys featured on the popular live G4 show. "I wish! It would be nice to have multiple flat-screens," she notes. But she's having a blast anyway. "It's fun. I get to look at all the gadgets."

Bailey kept busy with acting gigs after her stint as a Nickelodeon "U-Pick Live" host — with her regular role on the series "Jericho" and numerous guestings. "And then I thought, 'Why am I not hosting anymore? I should try to get back into it.'" Her appetite is certainly being satisfied now, with the four-night-a-week, hour-long comedy and news show aimed at gamers, digital media and pop-culture enthusiasts. She's been co-hosting since January 2011, along with Kevin Pereira and Sara Underwood. She'd like to do more acting, but the time demands of "Show" are pretty constant; their next "dark" week isn't until August. Bailey says they generally do a table-read of the day's material at 12:30, go into hair and makeup at 3 and go live at 4 PST.

"But we get three-day weekends every week," she notes. Another plus: She likes her cast mates. "Kevin is such a giving host. He's so funny. I like to laugh, and he's always cracking me up."

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 2012 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH