Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

David Alan Grier admits he had doubts about hosting NBC's new "Thank God You're Here" improvisational comedy show.

"You can't really rehearse it, so when we started taping, it was mostly me standing there doing interstitials — like saying, 'We'll be right back.' The NBC executives were there talking about the color of my sweater, was it the right shade. It went on long enough that I was standing there thinking, 'OK, this is another really bad decision.'" However, says Grier, things immediately improved once the improv began. "Bryan Cranston was the first person we taped. As soon as he came around the corner with a wig on, I thought, 'OK.'"

The show fared well in its debut two-hour outing following "Deal or No Deal" this week. Jason Alexander, Harland Williams, Jane Lynch, Fran Drescher and Tom Green are among the performers who will be joining Grier and judge Dave Foley during the rest of "Thank God You're Here's" six-episode initial run.

When Grier says that verbal interplay between himself and Foley — which was clipped from the episodes — could be a series unto itself, it's easy to believe. The former "In Living Color" and "Kids in the Hall" players' talents are blatantly underused on the show.

As for who would be his dream lineup? "I'd like to see Norman Mailer, Sean Penn, Hillary Clinton and Al Sharpton, and I'd throw 50 Cent in there, too," says Grier, who proposes improv as an alternative way to learn about public figures. And as long as he's talking alternative universes, he adds, "I'd like the president of Iran and Dick Cheney to come in and settle their differences over improv." Hey, it's better than what they're doing now.

BACK HOME FOR THE FIRST TIME: With "Heroes" just wrapping up production for this season, James Kyson Lee — Ando to fans of the show — is looking forward to heading to Tokyo next month to make a feature called "Shutter." Ironically enough for an actor who plays a Japanese man, this will be Lee's first trip to Japan. "It's a Thai film with a Japanese director, set in Tokyo," reports the Seoul, South Korea-born Lee, who moved to New York City with his family at age 10. "It's a perfect opportunity to go," he says.

"I play a young man who works at a place called Ghost Magazine, where they do spirit photography. Spirit photography is a big subject in Japan. The movie is about sort of a ghost of a Japanese girl trapped in a camera lens. I explain that process. It's more like a supernatural thriller, more along the lines of 'The Sixth Sense' than it is a horror film."

Lee is a multiplatform performer, who also does improv and sketch comedy, jazz singing and piano playing. He has another film, an independent called "White on Rice" on his dance card for shooting in Salt Lake City this summer. "It's a romantic comedy that's really off-the-wall," he tells us. And he's got "Asian Stories (Book 3)" just beginning to make the festival rounds. In that flick, he plays a man so heartbroken after being jilted by his fiancé that he asks his best friend to put a hit on him to put him out of his misery, "but then he meets a girl, an artist who gives him a different perspective on life and … " You get the picture. "It's definitely a different kind of role for me. I had to change the energy, do a transformation from a guy who had the rug pulled out from beneath him with a funny type of bitterness and anger."

THE INSIDE TRACK: Memphis rap stars Three 6 Mafia may be busy with their MTV "Adventures in Hollywood" reality show these days, but the guys have another record up their collective sleeve. It's "Last 2 Walk," which will be hitting stores in late May/early June. "It's kind of a last man standing when the smoke clears kind of thing," says DJ Paul. When asked if the album will be different from past recordings now that they are Best Song Oscar winners, J responds, "When our fans buy a Three 6 Mafia record, we want them to get a Three 6 Mafia record. Of course we've experienced a lot of things since the last album, which we've touched on, but we tried to keep things the same."

IT TAKES A VILLAGE: With "Shrek the Third" already earning advance buzz of the sort that could make the competition turn, er, green with envy, screenwriter Jay Kogen notes that behind-the-scenes teamwork is what makes the animated hits happen. "You know, these 'Shrek' movies take literally thousands of people to make — like an army of really talented people," says Kogen. "There are a bunch of us writers, dozens of us, coming up with scenes and moments for them to choose from, and Jeffrey Katzenberg orchestrates it."

(With reports by Stephanie DuBois and Emily 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 2006 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.