Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Paul Reiser and British songstress Julia Fordham have written a song honoring soldiers' families that is bringing tears to people's eyes. Not that they planned it that way.

When the funnyman started noodling on some tunes with Fordham last year, he had no idea that they'd wind up writing a paean to those who keep the home fires burning. But that is what's happened with the Reiser-Fordham "UnSung Hero," which wowed the crowd at the Life Changing Lives gala in Laguna Niguel, Calif., the other day — and which is on its way to release Tuesday (9/21) on iTunes. An "UnSung Hero" video is coming out as well.

"There's something about this that's a little bigger than us," Reiser declares. "It's got a life of its own."

Reiser was a musician before turning TV star, you may recall. He'd been sending music to Fordham, who's collaborating with him lyrically and vocally, for several months when "UnSung" was born. The same day Fordham received the melody from Reiser, "She met a woman who had a son serving in Afghanistan and they had a conversation," he relates.

"Julia has a 5-year-old daughter, and I have my boys," he goes on, referring to his 10- and 15-year-old sons. "It's so hard to imagine, when you have little kids, separating from them. And then, being on the front lines somewhere - it's an unbearable thought. Julia's lyrics came to her in a flood and she wrote the song in one shot ... The words are simple and pure, which is why I think they're so powerful."

In another touch of serendipity, Fordham tells us that she happened to be chatting with a friend about her collaboration with Reiser, "and coincidentally, she was involved with the Wounded Warriors Project" — one of the beneficiaries of Life Changing Lives. "The song was so perfect for them, it was almost as if we'd written it for the event."

Response from soldiers the next day was so strong, "I was crying because I felt so humbled that they would feel such a connection to the song," Fordham says.

The tune is also part of the Reiser-Fordham November release "Unusual Suspects" album, which they'll be performing at Hollywood's Catalina Jazz Club Dec. 7 and 8.

At the same time, Reiser's busy writing scripts for his midseason replacement "Paul Reiser Show" on NBC. "We start shooting in October to air the first part of the New Year," reports the star, who took a hiatus from the spotlight to focus on his family. Fordham has been similarly occupied. "We're both sort of coming out of the house with this song," Reiser says.

"We're very proud of it. It feels very validating."

FROM THE INSIDE LOOKING OUT: "Outsourced" actor Rizwan Manji is certainly of Indian extraction, but that doesn't mean he felt immediately at home when he went to visit India for the first time a few years ago. After all, Manji grew up in Toronto, and his parents hail from Tanzania. "All my life, I considered myself Indian, but that's just what my nationality is. In India, they said, 'You're not Indian; you're Canadian.'"

Of his journey, he adds, "I have to say, it was the most amazing thing I've ever done. I had a one-way ticket to Thailand, and my wife and I had a bunch of money to travel, and we decided to travel till we ran out of money." They traversed Asia, backpacked in Zanzibar and wound up staying in India for six months. "I ended up doing a Cadbury's chocolate commercial and made some rupees that way," he recalls.

And his wife? "She was approached to work in a call center. She has a New York accent, and she was asked, 'Would you be interested in teaching our call center workers how to work in an American accent?'"

She didn't end up taking the job. Now, ironically enough, Manji is playing a call center worker in India, a role for which he must put on an Indian accent. So it's getting confusing.

Though others may complain that the Sept. 23-debuting "Outsourced" is full of negative racial stereotypes, Manji is definitely among those who retort that the stereotypes are workplace stereotypes. His is the ultra-ambitious guy — but he has his reasons, says Manji. Besides, the characters are meant to be funny because it's a comedy, folks.

"We're having a blast," he adds. "I hope people give it a chance."

The "Outsourced" troupe has bonded by now. Manji relates that show creator Ken Kwapis "made us all go out together. We went to a karaoke bar and sang all together. He wanted us to be able to feel like we worked in the call center together for a long period of time. We all feel like that really helped us getting to know each other."

BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE: Casting forces have been on the hunt for a Justin Timberlake lookalike for the New Regency feature "I'm Immortal." It's a near-futuristic tale that takes place in a time when it is medically and cosmetically possible to stop the aging process at age 25. But only if you're super rich. Hate to break it to them, but Timberlake is 29.

Playboy is going to do a live Internet website, and they're looking for "Playboy caliber girls" to "chat online with members." (You just saw this one coming, didn't you?) The "models" have to be 18 and over — but not too much over, of course — and are guaranteed 20 hours of work a week. Meanwhile, Playboy is also looking for nude models for its forthcoming beach house series. Pay is $500 a day.

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

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