Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

There's no slowing down for Bruce Dern. The septuagenarian actor is not only splitting his time between "Big Love" camera calls in the L.A. area and emoting in Francis Ford Coppola's "Twixt Now and Sunset" horror flick that's shooting on the filmmaker's land in Napa, Calif., he also has several independent features in the pipeline. Those include the 3D thriller "The Hole" and the World Wrestling Entertainment-produced "Killing Karma" action flick he completed in New Orleans recently.

The WWE "is trying to find a new Rock," notes Dern, referring to Dwayne Johnson. "They made four $4.4 million movies in New Orleans. One has Ed Harris and Amy Madigan. Mine has Parker Posey and Michael Rapaport. The main guy is Paul Levesque, who's married to Stephanie McMahon, the daughter of Vince and Linda McMahon," notes Dern, referring to the professional wrestling magnates (turned politico, in her case) of the WWE, wherein Levesque is also known as Triple H.

Dern gives credit to his manager, Alan Somers, for his work surge. "He's been fabulous. My agents at CAA are great, but it doesn't hurt when you get older to have a manager to remind people that you're still out there. You don't want someone saying, 'I saw Bruce Dern today,' and someone else saying, 'You did not. He's been dead for years,'" he jokes off-handedly.

It's been a memorable week for Dern — what with the unveiling of his star on the Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame, along with those of his daughter Laura and his former wife Diane Ladd. The trio are situated near the intersection of Hollywood and Vine, at the entrance of the W Hotel. It is, he acknowledges, a dream come true.

LOOK OUT: With his MTV "Megadrive" series premiering tonight (11/4) in addition to the start of his two-episode "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" story arc, this is definitely Johnny Pemberton's biggest night in television. The way he's going, however, the funny Pemberton could easily get bigger.

Coming off very much the teen next door you find out has something wrong with him, Pemberton traverses the country in his new show to drive a myriad of exotic — and, usually, oversized — vehicles. Things tend to go wrong, which is pretty much the point on the show, a sort of "Jackass"-meets-"Top Gear" adventure.

"The very first shoot — the very first day — I managed to crash a car into a guard rail. That kind of set the tone of the season," Pemberton reveals. "There were a lot of close calls. I'm just really a lucky person. I'm always really good at falling the right way so I don't hurt myself."

Then there's the prospect of people on the wrong side of his pranks getting outraged and coming after him.

For example, in one episode, a crane driver appears horrified when Pemberton throws a dummy down in front of his cab, leading him to believe Pemberton himself fell out of the crane and was crushed.

"I had to just gauge the threat level, you know?" he says of the ticked-off victims of such stunts. "I'm actually pretty good at defusing those kinds of situations before they get physical. Two steps forward, one step back, you know? I was strangled one time, but it was all in fun."

No wonder the actor says the toughest part of doing the show was dealing with cancellations by the owners of vehicles ranging from a tank to a 16-foot-tall motorcycle, experimental conveyances to monster trucks.

Meanwhile, on "It's Always Sunny," he says, "I'm playing a high school student who is kind of a smartass to say the least, one of Dee's (Kaitlin Olson) students. It's really fun. I've been watching the show for a long time. They're the funniest group of people I've met."

Pemberton is aware that his being seen on two channels in one night "is kind of creepy, isn't it? It's like an Illuminati conspiracy taking over the television."

And next, he's coming to your computer screen. "I'm shooting this Web series, starting next week, called 'Aim High.' I'm doing it with Jackson Rathbone, who is one of the stars of 'Twilight,'" he reminds. "It's a high school thriller comedy. I play, like, his best buddy."

On top of that, "I'm always doing stand-up whenever I can," Pemberton says. "That's about it. And gardening."

BIG MONEY GIG: Greg Grunberg, who's dividing his time these days between his acting career and entrepreneurial pursuits with his Yowza!! Internet coupon site, has a benchmark of success in his sites. The former "Heroes" star is actively involved with the Epilepsy Foundation (his son Jake has the ailment). He's also the drummer for the famed Band From TV — comprised of Hugh Laurie and Scott Grimes on keyboards, James Denton and Adrian Pasdar on guitar, Jesse Spencer on violin, and Bob Guiney doing vocals. "The day that Yowza!! can hire the band for a quarter of a million dollars, I will know I've made it," says Grunberg. The group gets such rich gigs "all the time," he says. They play for charities including the Epilepsy Foundation. "That's why we do it."

THE VIDEOLAND VIEW: Even though Eric McCormack's forthcoming "Perception" TNT series is being hailed as a dramatic turn for the former "Will & Grace" star, it sounds as if there will be plenty of room for him to exercise his funny-guy chops. His character, a neuroscientist who consults on FBI cases, is described by casting sources as "wildly eccentric and frequently erratic." The character also "struggles with loneliness and relationships" — and has a crush on an FBI agent colleague. Subsidiary characters are being cast now.

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.

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