
Mary Hart is thrilled by "Entertainment Tonight's" record-breaking run as the top-rated syndicated magazine show for 700 weeks straight -- "a big, round, beautiful number," she calls it.
The ratings, reflecting some 35 million viewers a week, also stand as a vote of confidence that's especially welcome now. The 28-year-old program has definitely faced new challenges in recent times, with the rise in "celebitchy" reporting on the Internet, as well as other TV shows. (Indeed, Nancy O'Dell's recent departure from "Access Hollywood" after 13 years reportedly has much to do with her displeasure over that show's veering into tabloid-style sensationalism.)
Hart says that she and exec producer Linda Bell Blue and the rest of the "ET" team talk about the tabloidy trend "all the time -- but it has never been anything other than 'We have to take the high road' with us," she contends. "It's really important. Stations give us that feedback all the time; they appreciate it. So do people in the industry. We do get people bent out of shape with us, of course. We cringed when Charlie Sheen got into trouble again. But we had to cover it."
Covering entertainment "is more work now," points out Hart. "We had to make that adjustment a few years back, realizing that on the Internet, stories come out instantaneously. There are so many stories that turn out to be absolutely untrue every day. We have to weed through everything that is out there and make sure we know what's accurate."
And then, of course, "Just in terms of following the news, it's a different world. When I started out, it was all about movie stars and TV stars and music stars. Today, it's a lot of reality television. You see the numbers."
This week, Hart hosted the Palm Springs International Film Festival black-tie awards gala for her seventh year -- which certainly gave her another chance to get a movie star fix. "This festival has grown so immensely," she notes. "It's really one of the biggest international festivals in North America now, with an A-plus list -- Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Sean Penn, Jason Reitman,
Uma Thurman ... It just goes on and on."
ON THE PERSONAL SIDE:
Kristen Bell, who is currently working on the movie "Burlesque," has become increasingly popular over the last few years, but she admits to preferring a much quieter existence outside of work.
"I'm a homebody by nature. When I'm not working, I rarely leave my house," says Bell, who is enjoying a nice, low-key relationship with Dax Shepard. "I'm very territorial about my private life and I think by keeping it so close to me and not compromising it, it makes me a healthier person when I'm at work."
THE VIDEOLAND VIEW: Regina King admits she was surprised by NBC's cancellation of her "Southland" cop series. "When you have so many critics applaud a show, usually that's not the case," she points out. Fortunately for her and the rest of the series' team, TNT was able to purchase 'Southland' and will begin airing the first season Tuesday (1/12). It will then be followed by six brand-new episodes. "There were a lot of interoffice things that were going on at NBC that had nothing to do with 'Southland.' We kind of just got caught up in the middle of it. When I got the call that the show was canceled, I always felt there was another place for us to go. I didn't know where it was," she recalls. "In all honesty, the first places I started thinking of were TNT and FX. They seem to want to do television that is more aggressive and not the normal, so to speak, type of TV that we're seeing all the time. They want to do narratives that push the envelope."
It seems to her the show has finally found its right fit. "One man's trash is another man's treasure. I do feel like we're in a better place now. We're at a network that understands the show more. They're actually promoting the show, unlike NBC," says King. However, TNT brass won't make a decision about shooting a second season until they see how the first season fares there. Says King, "I think we'll find out prior to the final airing of the entire 13 episodes of season one. They want to see if the audience finds us -- the ones who were already fans, as well as if more will come on board. We have a great show on our hands so I hope they do."
HE'S GOT THE LOOKS: Peter Facinelli is proud that he changes his appearance character by character -- including his ongoing role as head vampire Carlisle Cullen in the "Twilight" movies, and his part as out-there Dr. "Coop" Cooper on "Nurse Jackie." Looking back, there were "Van Ray from 'Fastlane' and Takmet from 'The Scorpion King,' Bob from 'Big Kahuna' and the 'Damages' character ...They're all very different," says the handsome 36-year-old, whose wife is
Jennie Garth. "I don't like turning in the same person all the time, so I try to make sure all the characters I do are very different. So when I was able to dye my hair blond and look vastly different from myself to play Carlisle, it kind of went along with what I've been trying to do in my career."
With reports by Emily-Fortune Feimster.