Sounds like Laura Linney's "The Big C" will have another attention-getting attribute in its new season that launches April 8. According to Executive Producer Jenny Bicks, the "Big C" team is awaiting word any minute from a major name likely to come aboard the Showtime dramedy, in which Linney plays a woman dealing with cancer. They go back into production this week.

This year, Linney's Cathy Jamison will be at the "bargaining" stage of response to her illness. "It's going to be all about Cathy looking for joy and really kind of embracing life. She's been through a lot last season with Paul," says Bicks, referring to Linney's series husband, Oliver Platt, last seen being worked on by EMTs and flatlining after ingesting cocaine. (Series creator Darlene Hunt refused to confirm that the character died, telling The Hollywood Reporter that Paul will be back, some way, in Season 3.)

"She's going to get a better prognosis, so she's going to feel for the first time like, 'Maybe I have more time, and what the hell, now, am I going to do with the rest of my life?' — which becomes a whole separate issue," says Bicks. "So, she's really going to go after what makes her happy, and she's going to come in contact with a joyologist, which is a real term, who is going to kind of be her mentor."

That's the role in which they're expecting their exciting name star. Cathy will "get together with this woman and go on a journey and do some crazy things outside her box," according to Bicks.

Will this season finally put the critically hailed, top-talent-filled series over the top in terms of popularity and recognition? "I think we'd all like to think that, especially because of where we're going to be airing this year," says Bicks, referring to their first springtime seasonal launch. "We're going to get a lot of viewers who've never even seen the show on televsion. A lot of people catch up on DVDs."

Then there's the fact that Laura Linney, Emmy nominated for her work on the show last year, was up for Golden Globe honors last night. And costar John Benjamin Hickey, who won a Tony for "The Normal Heart" last year, is also being increasingly recognized for his portrayal of Linney's bipolar brother, Sean.

Says Bicks, "I feel that people are starting to take in this show that we love and it can only be bigger because of that."

AND: Speaking of Hickey and his Sean character, Bicks reveals that this year, he's going to have "a gay phone sex line. What?! What?! How does that happen?" She laughs. "He inherits a phone number from somebody whose phone has been cut off, and he ends up with this enterprise, and it turns out that he actually has quite a knack for phone sex, so he's going to kind of go back on the grid and make some good money and because of that have some very interesting relationships in his life. He's going to have a lot of fun."

THE BIG-SCREEN SCENE: Casting is underway for "A Christmas Story Too" — not the FunnyOrDie.com comedy video, but a genuine feature-film follow-up to the beloved classic, to be directed by Brian Levant ("Beethoven," "Are We There Yet?" "Jingle All the Way," etc.).

They're looking for Ralphie, now a teenager (legal 18 to play 16); Dad, now 50-something; 40-something Mom; brother Randy (now 11); and teen pals, including Schwartz. The story will again focus on Ralphie yearning for a special Christmas present, but this time it's a 1938 Hupmobile Skyline convertible. Sweet! Unfortunately, he takes one on a test drive and manages to ruin the convertible top, leading to a mad scramble to try to make enough money to repair the roof.

VERISIMILI-HOOD: Shooting in the real crime-infested Los Angeles locales depicted on TNT's "Southland" took some getting used to for Lucy Liu, who is new to the show that has its Season 4 premiere tomorrow night (Jan. 17).

Series veteran Shawn Hatosy tells us that he's never really felt in danger, though. "Going to places like Nickerson Gardens in Watts — those places are pretty scary," he admits. "But we work within the communities. We work with them. We give them jobs. They're the extras. When you're seeing people on the street, they're the real people from the area."

PENNED UP: With a "Little House on the Prairie" scrapbook and her first children's book en route to publication, Melissa Gilbert is putting her newfound writing energies into "my first novel, which is an adult crime novel." As far as this turn in the actress' creative life, she adds, "I have no idea where this is coming from. I'm just going with it."

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.