Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Sssssssssssssssssss. That's the sound of steam coming from the set of "Cougar Town" while filming was under way on episodes with Courteney Cox Arquette getting it on with her first "cub," Nick Zano.

The actor of "What I Like About You" and "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" fame describes his average day: "You read what they put in there for you. Usually, it involves being wet, a bathtub scene or a bed scene. So, I'd go into my trailer, open up my closet, see five pairs of boxers and a terrycloth robe. So it would be, put on the boxers, put on my robe, walk over to the set, talk to the camera guys — 'How was your weekend?' The AD pulls back the sheet. Courteney comes in. Talk about her family. 'How's David doing? How's Coco?' She gets into the bed, I get on top of her and we start making out."

And there you have it. But wait. Zano adds the mandatory advisory, "As much fun as it sounds, it's also pressuring. We can see maybe 14 people standing around, a group of big Teamsters text messaging while we're fake making out. And it's very, very choreographed. You have to remember how far up your shoulder goes, how high you can bring your head up."

Zano's story line runs over six episodes, the funniest being next Wednesday's (10/28), according to him, and in a couple more weeks, "There's my last one. It's a big one. It's a doozy," he says.

As for what he thinks of the whole "cougar" trend? "As a former young man, I applaud it," he says. "I think guys could use a mature woman. It's truth. The woman teaching a younger man thing — that woman basically takes that young man to school. He carries that with him when he dates younger women."

FROM THE INSIDE LOOKING OUT: Funny lady Julie Bowen, who with Ty Burrell heads the traditional nuclear family of ABC's "Modern Family," admits, "I'm always thinking everybody else has the great job." Referring to the comedy's older man-younger woman match of Ed O'Neill and Sofia Vergara, and the couple played by Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet, she notes, "Theirs seem like bigger characters than ours in a lot of ways.

There's such a rich mine of jokes for the gay couple and for Ed and Sofia. And then, you know, Sofia has that body and that accent, and she says to me, 'Don't be jealous.' I am jealous," Bowen claims.

"But on the other hand, anyone who has a life filled with kids knows they're the weirdest people," she adds. For instance, her own three sons — Oliver, 2 1/2, and 6-month-old twins John and Gus. "Right now, the older one is into a thing of making me stop the car and back up every time he sees certain Halloween decorations. 'Back up! Back up! Back up!' That's huge. There's a bloody dismembered arm. Where is the other arm? He's 2. I can only imagine how it's going to be in the years to come."

Bowen agrees with a critic who wrote that for all of its snap, "Modern Family" has a soft, sweet center. "I didn't want to say that at first because I didn't want people to think of it as sickeningly sweet. But that's what resonates. The writers gave the show and the characters in it heart. When we read our Christmas episode, Ty Burrell was weeping," she says. "I was choking up. At the end of 22 minutes, it's not just funny; it's satisfying."

BACK TO THE BOARDS: Kathleen Turner has been enjoying her time on television with a recurring guest spot on "Californication," but she tells us that the stage is her first love and she plans to get back to it very soon. "To be on Broadway was always my first dream. When we finished the three-year run of 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf,' that's what I had been dreaming of for the 30 years I've been doing this work," says Turner. "Now I've been offered a new Broadway piece for next year, which I'm looking forward to. I can't talk about it, though, until we sign." And so we wait!

LOOK GOOD, FEEL GOOD: Hollywood's leading actresses are expected to keep fit in order to look great on camera, but "Dexter" star Julie Benz says it's one part of the job she doesn't mind. "I do keep myself in the best shape as possible, but fitness has been a huge part of my life ever since I was a child. I was a competitive figure skater growing up," she tells us. "It's my stress reliever to go to the gym and work out."

With reports by Emily-Fortune Feimster

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