Chad Michael Murray is in a full court press to go from hunk to hyphenate. The 27-year-old "One Tree Hill" hottie penned Monday's (11/17) unusual episode for his series, and he's directing another episode now. It's all part of his plan "to take this year and make the best of it, do everything I could with it, here in season six — to learn production inside and outside. I'm definitely doing it full on. Last month was absolutely insane, being up late hours, not sleeping ..."

Murray says he came up with the idea for Monday's show a couple of years ago, but it wasn't 'til this year that it found its place on the schedule. In the episode, his character, Lucas, is watching "Casablanca" one night and starts thinking about himself and his friends and how they would be in the 1940s — which leads to a whole scenario with the group in the period.

"It was a dream come true for me. I was so excited, I was a little nervous the first day and it even showed in my work as an actor. I was a little rattled," admits Murray. "But once we got through the first day and I saw how everybody took care of it, I thought, 'This is beautiful.' Our props department, location department, set designers — everyone got into it. Everything screams 1940s, from the vintage clothes to the vehicles ...

"We all knew it was going to be tough and knew it was going to be expensive," he adds. "It was a lot of hard work."

As far as his fascination with those days of six decades ago, "I appreciate that time a lot," says Chad. "There was a respect back then in the way people put themselves together. Nowadays it's a little sloppy. I'm a guy's guy and, you know, sometimes it's cool to be dirty, but it's nice to use a comb, too."

FROM THE INSIDE LOOKING OUT: Americans have been glued to the television the last few months to watch coverage of this year's historic election, but now that the votes are in, the nonpolitical shows are hoping to get their audiences back. "Viewership has been down across the board. People have been wanting to keep up with things politically so some shows have taken a hit because of that," notes KaDee Strickland, who plays Charlotte in ABC's "Private Practice." "I think now that the election is over, we'll see more people wanting to be entertained and returning back to the fantasy world that TV provides."

It certainly didn't help having a writer's strike thrown into the mix this year as well, but Strickland believes the show is better for it in the long run. "I don't think it necessarily hurt us but you're always auditioning for the public in order to keep them returning. As awful as the strike was for everybody, I think to come back from that and have such a new, fresh, hungry perspective has certainly made us go full steam ahead. We've had artistic momentum because of it, for sure," she adds. "I think our characters have gotten a richer perspective, and the show has a whole has been better defined."

The actress tells us fans can expect to see a lot more when it comes to her tough character. "It's really interesting to see someone who starts out as so firm and watch that crack," she says of her character's evolving relationship with Cooper. "What's beautiful about it is when all the masking starts to fall and all the games start to go away, you have two people who are starting to care about each other very deeply and that's very surprising, especially considering they were Internet daters who didn't want anything serious."

TACKY IS AS TACKY DOES: Sarah Palin's $150,000 clothing expenditure ... Russell Brand's mocking of the Jonas Brothers' purity rings ... Sienna Miller's topless clinch on an Italian beach with married Balthazar Getty ... Paparazzi ... There is no shortage of tackiness among the famed in 2008. Here is your reminder to join in with the readers voting for the Tackiest Taste of the Year in the celebrity realm. Tell Us Why your candidate deserves this recognition — by email: BeckSmithTacky08@cs.com, or USPS: Beck Smith Hollywood, P.O. Box 572530, Tarzana, CA 91357. Hurry! We'll present the results on Thanksgiving eve, Nov. 26.

SPEAKING OF TACKY: Steve Guttenberg, who, in a viral Internet video, is caught on camera jogging in a park sans trou — and appears relatively unconcerned when videographers ask him where his pants are — is chalking up his bottomless episode to absent-mindedness. Riiiiiiight. Can't help but be reminded of David Niven's famous quip at the 46th Oscar ceremonies when he was "streaked" by a naked man rushing behind him on the stage: "Probably the only laugh that man will ever get in his life, is by stripping off and showing his shortcomings."

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.