Jeremy Irons's despotic rancher character in Ed Harris's new "Appaloosa" has been deemed "a Wall Street raider in spurs." But Harris lets us know that any resemblance between his critically hailed Western and today's news is strictly coincidental.

"Any contemporary parallels are really just there because they're universal themes, and as such play out again and again throughout time," says Ed of the feature he directed and in which he stars with Viggo Mortensen. It goes into wide release today (10/3). He acknowledges that when Irons's character "tries to take things over by wit and political connections it does smack a little bit of contemporary things, but that wasn't my aim."

His aim is to direct again sooner rather than later. "This has actually whetted my appetite for directing, to tell you the truth. I would like to get behind the camera again in the not so distant future. It was eight years between 'Pollack' and this, and I don't want to go that long again. But it has to be the right project. Directing is really more of a personal thing for me. I don't want to do it just to do it."

Harris notes that author Robert B. Parker "has written two sequels to 'Appaloosa' already — 'Resolution,' and another one coming out called 'Brimstone' that carries the saga even further." But as far as a film follow-up, "I don't know about that. We'll have to see."

Harris' schedule this week included receiving the Douglas Award for Excellence in Film from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, at a gala last night (10/2). Receiving the honor from the award's namesake, Kirk Douglas, was particularly special to Harris: "I've been a huge admirer of his for years."

Next week, he and wife Amy Madigan will start filming small roles in "Once Fallen," a dark drama he calls "an indie indie." And after that, he'll take "Appaloosa" to the Rome Film Festival later this month. Of any country in Europe, he guesses, "Italy is probably most receptive" to a Western.

LAUGHING AND LOVING: Tom Arnold's been having a blast hosting the second season of CMT's "My Big Redneck Wedding," premiering tomorrow (10/4). The couples on the show take the term "redneck" to a whole new level with wedding receptions that feature everything from shotgun shell archways to pig chasing, he says. "What I loved about this," says Tom, "is the people really love each other, and they don't have much money to put on these weddings, but they sure do have a lot of fun."

WEB FEAT: David Faustino, who played Bud Bundy on "Married with Children," admits it hasn't been easy being associated with the same character for most of his life, but he's turning that frustration into an Internet comedy.

"People recognize me as Bud every day of my life. It never ceases to amaze me, but I've learned to just accept it, and I think I handle it better than others. I take it in stride, and I'm grateful that people are still recognizing me," says Faustino. "Of course it's been challenging in certain areas, but I finally embraced it. Now I'm writing a show and just sold it to Sony Digital. I call it 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' meets the anti-'Entourage,'" he tells us of his latest project, which has his former co-star Ed O'Neill playing a recurring character. "I play a self-deprecating caricature of myself. It ended up being a really fun show, so I'm really excited about it. It will be broadcast on the web starting in December."

Faustino is also happy about "Married with Children" being on the air again as Spike TV has acquired the rights to all 259 episodes of the popular sitcom. "Spike has the demographic that is perfect for 'Married with Children,'" he notes. "I'm sure some stuff is outdated, but I think a lot of it was cutting edge at the time, so much that a lot of the humor will definitely stand up today. Besides, I think any opportunity for people who have already seen the show to see it again or for a new generation who haven't seen it yet to check it out is great."

TWIST ENDING: "Good movies end up getting seen." Well, we don't know about that, but according to Dax Shepherd, it's the opinion of Mike Judge — at least where "Idiocracy" is concerned. Judge's 2006 comedy about the total dumbing-down and over-commercialization of the American public "has been my most interesting experience ever with a movie" observes Dax, who stars with Luke Wilson and Maya Rudolph. "When we made it, I was just so excited — a Mike Judge movie! Then it sat on the shelf for two years, then was dumped in 100 theaters. I thought, 'Oh, man. Nobody's ever going to see this movie.'" But that's not how things have turned out. With HBO showing "Idiocracy" and its DVD release, it's gained a fierce cult following that seems to keep growing, along with a batch of appreciative opinion pieces. "People who've seen it love it. They watch it over and over again. People have told me they've seen it 10 times," Dax claims. "Now being a couple of years away from the disappointment over its not coming out in wide release, it's interesting to see how its found its audience."

With reports by 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

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