Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Sounds like Usher's long-awaited follow-up to his multi-Grammy-winning 2004 "Confessions" CD will be an even more intimate look into the superstar singer's life.

"It's very personal. Usher is in a completely different place than where he was on the last record. He's married now. He's a father. He's definitely matured, and I think you're going to hear that through the music," reports Iz Avila, half of the Grammy-winning producing team The Avila Brothers, who masterminded several tunes on "Confessions" with his brother/partner Bobby Avila. The new album, due May 27, is titled "Here I Stand." "People keep asking, 'Is it better than 'Confessions'? It's a great record overall," says Iz "He's taking the listeners on the adventure with him."

The brothers produced the tune "Play Me" on the new Usher album. Meanwhile, Iz and Bobby — who've worked with such heavy hitters as Mary J. Blige, Gwen Stefani, Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey and Missy Elliott, most recently winning two Grammys for Chaka Khan's "Funk This" — continue to keep all burners going at once.

"We're real excited about the two records we just finished for Sean Garrett's new album, 'Turbo 919,'" says Avila. "We've been working with Taboo from The Black Eyed Peas the last three months. We're finishing a mix for Anthony Hamilton. His album 'Point of It All' is dropping during this summer. And next we're going to be doing a couple records for Jamie Foxx."

SWITCHING BRAINS: "CSI" and "Two and a Half Men" swapped writers for their episodes airing May 5 and May 11.

"I was a little nervous about it, but it doesn't deviate from what the soul of the show is. We play it straight 'CSI' — but it's a very funny episode," reports Robert David Hall of the May 8 show dubbed "Two and a Half Deaths," but originally known as "Death of a Sitcom Diva."

Chuck Lorre, who knows of what he writes — having "Roseanne," "Cybill" and "Grace Under Fire" to his credit in addition to "Two and a Half Men" — cowrote the installment.

"I think Chuck and [cocreator Lee Aronsohn(cq)] are working off their aggression in this script," says Hall, who adds that Lorre "was like a kid in a weird candy store visiting our morgue, posing for photos with one of our corpse mannequins." Playing the titular TV tyrant is guest star Katey Sagal, who we get to see before and after her character's demise.

He gives "CSI" Executive Producer Carol Mendelsohn(cq) credit for the crossover. "She dreamed this whole thing up at a conference years ago. She's really worked hard to both move 'CSI' forward and protect the franchise. They would not allow something that would diminish us." The "CSI" writers, meanwhile, penned tomorrow night's (5/5) "Fish In a Drawer" episode of "Two and a Half Men," with George Eads guesting, about a mysterious death at Charlie Sheen's character's house.

MEANWHILE: Hall is making the most of his week off between the completion of this season of "CSI" and the start of next season's production. He'll be at the United Nations May 6, presenting the Franklin Delano Roosevelt International Disability Award to New Zealand. "Countries compete to win this award with initiatives in education, health care and general programs," notes Hall," a longtime advocate for actors with disabilities. "I'm really looking forward to it."

LVING THE HIGH SEAS LIFE: What a way to see theater — free drinks and no hassles about parking. On July 5, John Lithgow will be taking his critically acclaimed one-man show, Stories by Heart, aboard the high seas on a Silversea cruise from Athens to Venice. "Heart" — a comic meditation in which Lithgow traces the history of his family for three generations — is currently playing a limited engagement at Lincoln Center's Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater. He'll present a portion of the show as a special celebrity guest speaker on the luxury voyage that includes stops in such exotic sites as Kalamata, Argostoli, Kotor and Dubrovnik.

FUNNY OR ELSE: Rob Huebel of MTV's "Human Giant" says there's definitely a method to their madness when it comes to writing good comedy. "We kind of lock ourselves in a big room with a lot of really bad food and energy drinks. It gets really hot and sweaty and horrible. We basically stay there until we come up with something funny," explains Huebel of their creative process. Considering that there are three of them of working on the same project, he says they do have to follow at least one rule. "We all have to laugh at the same thing. It's sort of this unwritten rule that it has to be unanimous. If only one person thinks it's funny, then it won't get made."

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. , INC.