Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

With their "Penn & Teller Bulls—-!" series returning to the tube June 25 for its seventh season, the duo lays claim to having Showtime's longest-running show. But it sounds as if what really amazes Penn Jillette is the program's lack of legal challenges.

"We have the greatest lawyers that have ever lived because we've done this show this long and have never been sued," he says with a laugh. The strongly-opinionated illusionist/comedian and his partner have done segments enough to have offended just about anyone by now, having skewered everyone from chiropractors to sellers of bottled water, Christian evangelists to alien abduction believers to animal rights activists.

“The thing that shocked Showtime is that the overwhelming majority of the mail we get for our show is positive. It's like over 80 percent of people agreeing with us — but it's not real numbers because it's a self-selective audience," he points out. "Once you've put our name on it, you've decided who's going to watch it already. I just think it's surprising that we don't get more negative feedback."

In fact, he never thought people would be on their side. "We pitched it kind of cynically, saying we will speak from our hearts and tell the truth as we see it, but it will be counter-programming for ya'll and many people will watch it because they hate us. I'm very ashamed we pitched it that way because we should have had more faith in our audience. We fell into the trap that Hollywood falls into and that's underestimating the audience," says Jillette, who makes no apologies for his strong opinions.

"What I'm very proud of is that we're fair and very, very biased, which I believe is how all reporting should be. We don't do any of the 'Borat' or Michael Moore stuff. We don't tape people out of context. Most people who've been on the show would tell you that their point of view was well-represented and then afterward I call them an a-hole."

A MATTER OF ADAPTING: Lance Reddick, who stars in Fox's "Fringe," tells us production for the show's second season will begin at the end of June, but he's still trying to get used to the idea of filming being moved from New York to Vancouver. "I'm one of the few actors who has never worked in Vancouver. I've heard so much about how gorgeous it is so in that regard I'm looking forward to it, but on the other hand, I really love New York," says the "The Wire" actor. "I also thought New York worked well for the kind of suburban settings that were so necessary for the show, so it will be interesting to see how the look of the show changes.

MEANWHILE: Reddick hopes fans will check out his latest film "Tennessee," which is currently in theatres. So far the Lee Daniels film has gotten mixed reviews, but Reddick claims he's not worried. "This is a tricky film because of all of the films I've seen of Lee's, it's the most contemplative. The plot really is about developing relationships," he notes. "My feelings about critics changed so much after 'The Wire' because they were the ones who basically kept our show on the air, so I'm not down on them at all. I understand what a hard job it is, but I also feel like a film is kind of its own thing, and it's hard to get it the first time you see it or it's just not for everyone. I'm not particularly worried about the mixed reviews. It will be interesting to see how the audience responds."

SOMETHING TO SMILE ABOUT: The saga of "Smile Pinki" continues — even though the documentary short about an adorable little Indian girl going through life-changing surgery to correct her cleft palate has already won an Oscar and debuted on HBO. Filmmaker Megan Mylan tells us she's looking forward to heading back to India this summer to promote the film's theatrical release and subsequent airing on national TV there.

"Smile Pinki" — which gets repeat HBO showings tomorrow night (6/9), Saturday (6/13) and June 22 — has already produced an array of noteworthy results. Pinki and the boy also depicted in the documentary received scholarships to better schools. (She hadn't even been allowed in school before her surgery.) Mylan says that Pinki's village has been named a model village by the Indian government, which has led to road and water supply upgrades, among other things. The Smile Train organization, under whose auspices Pinki's surgery was performed, has reaped the rewards of added attention.

"We were hoping to manage to channel the energy of the film's release into something concrete for them, and for helping the situation for clefts in India. The surgery is quite simple and takes about an hour. Part of the process is helping them understand that it's a birth defect rather than a curse from God," says Mylan. News reports and flyers from the film are already helping in that regard, months prior to its release in Pinki's homeland. Mylan — revered for her memorable "Lost Boys of Sudan" documentary as well as for "Smile Pinki" — is already at work on her next film. She reports, "It's about race relations in Brazil."

With reports by Emily-Fortune Feimster.

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 2009 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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