Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Sharon Gless will be back on "Nip/Tuck" next season as the worst talent agent ever -- the unlicensed, fraudulent, potentially homicidal and suicidal Colleen Rose. It'll just be a brief appearance, to wrap up her storyline as she who has been representing Dylan Walsh's character, Dr. Sean McNamara, on the FX series.

She couldn't be happier. When series creator Ryan Murphy "told me the storyline he wanted to do, I knew it was a gift," recalls Gless, who's been getting Emmy buzz for bringing the bizarre character to life. "I said, 'Ryan Murphy, you are the sickest, most twisted guy I've ever met -- which is what I like about you.' He said, 'You can't tell anybody!' He holds his storylines close to the chest."     While Colleen has been good for Gless as an actress, playing her has been hell on her hair. "I decided to go almost white and wear bright red lipstick to play her," she recalls. Then she went back to her look as a "one-dump platinum" Florida blond for the USA Network's "Burn Notice," in which she plays Jeffrey Donovan's mother, Madeline. Then "I had to strip back down to the white, then go back to platinum."

They're doing 16 episodes of "Burn Notice," which returns to the USA lineup June 10 for its second season premiere. "That's a huge order for cable," notes Gless, who'll wind the series Oct. 16, see her niece get married the 18th, and fly to London to begin rehearsals the 20th for a play that's yet to be announced.

"I'm so grateful my plate is full and I never take it granted," says Sharon. Despite critical kudos and industry honors through the years, including a Best Lead Actress in a Drama Emmy for "Cagney & Lacey," she admits, "I don't think there's a day when I step on a soundstage when my heart isn't pounding. I still am capable of getting frightened. I always think they're going to find out I don't know what I'm doing."

DRAMA FROM REAL LIFE: John Stamos will do a change-up, out of his "ER" series medical world and into true crime this hiatus, with a movie for television (remember those?) about the murders of wealthy brothers Robert and Andy Kissel -- the former of whom was bludgeoned to death by his wife after being rendered passive via a drugged milkshake (hence, "The Milkshake Murder") and the latter of whom was stabbed to death in a professional, vendetta style in the basement of his home.

Casting is underway on "The Fallen," the feature to be produced by Penny Marshall (haven't heard from her in awhile) with Brian Goodman directing, from the real life story of a firefighter injured so badly on the job he finds himself severely drug addicted.

THE BIG SCREEN SCENE: "We're the Bonnie and Clyde of marijuana," quips Gary Cole, who partners with Rosie Perez in the upcoming "Pineapple Express," the Aug. 8-debuting stoner comedy from the "Knocked Up" writing team of Judd Apatow, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, starring Rogen and James Franco.

"I play Ted the dope dealer and Rosie is a corrupt police officer. We had a great time. She's a riot," reports Cole of the movie about a pothead who witnesses a cop commit murder and then goes on the run from the law with his dealer. Cole says "Pineapple Express" due out in August, is "a fairly big movie. It kind of defies genre because it is a comedy, but it's not all comic. And I wouldn't call it a romantic comedy, even though it has romance in it. And it has some for keeps action in it as well."

DRIVE TO SUCCEED: Ben Bailey, who's been busy driving contestants around New York City while they answer questions on the show "Cash Cab," tells us producers are taking much better care of him now that they have settled into the show. "It's better than it used to be. When we started out it was kind of crazy. They were worried about having enough content so we'd do like 11 games in a day back then," he recalls. "I was having dreams about it where I would repeat my lines in my sleep. It was a really overwhelming period in my life." Luckily for Bailey, they cut the show to six games in a day, which has left him a lot more time to spend with his family. Plus, thanks to the popularity of the show, the former limo driver is also getting to enjoy a few of the finer things in life. "I've got a pretty good deal, which I haggled for. I feel like I've settled into this new life that I have, which is totally different from my old one. If go back two-and-a-half years, I didn't have a home, I didn't have a TV show, and I didn't have a baby. I was a completely different guy."

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 2008 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH
DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.