Mary Tyler Moore, who's just turned in the manuscript for her autobiography, "Growing Up Again — and, Oh, I'm a Diabetic" to St. Martin's Press, spares herself little in the text.

In the book, the beloved actress, who does a terrific turn as Brooke Shields' mother in NBC's "Lipstick Jungle" this season, tells of how diabetes has left her with diminished eyesight, and how on occasion, "It left me down in the dumps — and not knowing which way to turn."

She didn't turn to religion. She notes, "I was raised Catholic, but when I became an adult I began to question its tenets — I couldn't live with them. I knew, for example, I would be using birth control. However, I do get my strength from God's presence in my life." And with the passage of time.

"Time is a great healer," she says and begins to talk of her son's death at age 24 in 1980. "It came from out of nowhere. He was doing so well ... Unfortunately, there were terrible rumors that Richie killed himself, but it was an accident," she stresses. "He was a gun collector, was cleaning guns, and one of them went off and shot him in the head."

Mary will also be detailing her many years of alcoholism that, she says, "started building when I was in my late teens and became my strength during the years I was on "The Dick Van Dyke Show" (where Van Dyke also battled alcoholism).

She faults her dependence on alcohol for contributing to the end of her marriage to Grant Tinker and for turning her first year of marriage to Dr. Robert Levine into a troubled time.

"We would have inane arguments over dinner about things I couldn't remember the next day. Alcoholism brings to the fore hostilities and resentment — you can't have a marriage like that."

A year after the wedding to Levine, with her husband's urging, Mary checked into the Betty Ford Clinic and followed up with AA, and now, she says, "I get my strength from myself."

Incidentally, the 71-year-old actress and 54-year-old Levine celebrate their 25th anniversary on Nov. 22. "In this case they really did say it never would last," she notes.

MEANWHILE: Mary Tyler Moore will be shooting her second "Lipstick Jungle" in a few weeks and says she has no idea if there will be more turns on the show for her. "If I have my druthers," she says, "there will be more. I love the fact my character is well-rounded and has depth." And she adores working with Brooke Shields, who, she says, "is just wonderful. I love her talent and her great sense of humor."

ON THE PERSONAL SIDE: "Californication" actress Pamela Adlon is quick to demur when asked about show lead David Duchovny checking himself into a rehab facility for sexual addiction. "I really can't comment," says Adlon, who also notes that the show is not in production, having recently concluded shooting of its second season, which starts airing Sept. 28. "I just know he's great. David's like my bro'. Everyone's great. We had an awesome time. Natascha (McElhone) is a very close friend of mine now. We all came together when Natascha lost her husband," adds Adlon, referring to the sudden death by heart attack of McElhone's spouse, 43-year-old plastic surgeon Dr. Martin Kelly, last May. McElhone was left with two young children and a third on the way.

"That was very, very difficult, a very intense thing, to work through that. She was extraordinary. She is an extraordinarily beautiful woman who is as beautiful on the inside. You feel like, ‘Wow, she's amazing, and she's talking to me!'" Adlon gushes. "The way she dealt with her situation was one of the most exquisite things I've ever witnessed."

What helped, believes Adlon, is that, "The work saves people. This show feels like lightning in a bottle, feels really good, like we're in a great moment."

THE VIDEOLAND VIEW: Mark-Paul Gosselaar's "Raising the Bar" series for TNT drew satisfying viewership numbers in its debut outing Monday (9/1). In fact, they're touting it as the highest-ever debut for a series on ad-supported cable, with 7.7 million tuning in. That's great news to Gosselaar, who tells us that he and exec producer Steven Bochco were hoping to tap into the country's zeitgeist with the show about public defenders. "Steven and I think this is sort of a timely piece — that it fits in well with how the population is feeling about the system these days. That word, 'change,' has come up quite a bit in the recent past," he says. "We're used to seeing police, judges and prosecutors as always good and temperate on some shows. On this show, they're seen as human beings."

VIDEOLAND, TOO: "Law & Order: SVU" executive producer Neal Baer admits he sometimes sweats over whether he and his team can keep coming up with enough new stories for the series, returning for its 10th season Sept. 23. "I always worry with the beginning of a new year on the show — but the depravity of humankind knows no bounds. Our show is not about depravity, per se, but about pushing the bounds of new legal territory and science." On a more down-to-earth level, there's this year's addition of Michaela McManus, replacing Diane Neal. "A new character always lets you tell new stories. There are new conflicts and questions over how the characters get along."

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 DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.