With past stars including Noah Wyle and Anthony Edwards making return visits to "ER" for its 15th and final season, George Clooney's lack of participation is a sore spot. Edwards was quoted saying Clooney would be "a fool not to do it." Current star Parminder Nagra, however, good-naturedly rings in on the matter.

"Of course we'd love to have him back on that set," says the actress known to viewers as Dr. Neela Rasgotra. "Everyone talks about him so fondly. But if he does, I don't think anyone would know about it in advance. I think it would be kept a secret, and it would only be a tiny cameo." She adds, "Everything so far indicates he has no intention of coming back."

Parminder admits she's already feeling some pangs of farewell as this season's episodes are completed one by one. She tells us last week may have been the final time the "ER" troupe went on location in Chicago to shoot exteriors, and she says there were goodbyes exchanged with Windy City-based crew members, though, "I'm hoping we get to go back one more time."

As things stand, the season will wrap in February, "unless we're asked to do a few more episodes," she says. The series has shown a ratings jump, she happily notes.

Among the outdoor scenes being filmed last week were some that had Neela and Dr. Ray Barnett (Shane West) together again, with Barnett coming back from the accident that left him a double amputee.

"She expects to find him in a wheelchair, but he's standing up. In fact, we actually have a scene where they're jogging," she reveals. The scene was worked out with the guidance of real-life amputees adept at the use of prosthetics. "These guys are just amazing people. There they were, chatting away, having a laugh, and then out of nowhere they were just taking off running."

She adds, "I think it's a great story for Shane's character — that he got back up and he's not going to let the loss of his legs beat him."

IN WITH THE IN CROWD: Former "Prison Break" actor Lane Garrison, who could be released from real-life prison on good behavior as soon as February, apparently isn't letting his incarceration for drunken driving and vehicular manslaughter stop him from performing. At least a little. We get word that he hosted a Columbus Day talent showcase this past Monday (10/13) at the California Correctional Institution at Tehachapi. Advance flyers for the event announced "'Prison Break' Star Lane Garrison" as the show emcee. Besides the actor, who portrayed David "Tweener" Apolskis on the Fox drama series, the Tehachapi show had lots of comics and musicians, including, we're told, a gay inmate who channeled Stevie Nicks, complete with tambourine.

THE BIG SCREEN SCENE: With "W," "Role Models," "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" and other flicks on the way, actress Elizabeth Banks has reason to feel confident that her recognition factor is growing. However, the 34-year-old remembered as the sex-crazed bookstore clerk in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and as Zach Braff's baby mama on "Scrubs" realizes that becoming a name-brand star is a mixed bag. She tells Entertainment Weekly, in an interview in the mag's next issue, that she enjoys not being pigeonholed. But on the other hand, she wants more control over her work choices, "and to do that, you have to become a movie star. To become a movie star as a girl almost always means being in romantic comedies. That's why I do more comedy. Good on Cameron Diaz that she can go and do a Martin Scorsese movie, but that girl makes her money making 'What Happens in Vegas.'"

What Banks would really like is to follow the Pitt career path, as in Brad. "Brad Pitt to me has always been a character actor in a leading man's body," she says. "I think he does his best work when he's playing really quirky oddballs. That's kind of how I feel." And she feels lucky, she tells EW. "I feel like I'm a legitimate professional actor now," she says. "I mean, could I be on "90210.3" in six years? Maybe. But I have a nice house. I have a great husband. I wasn't subject to predatory lending. I'm good."

MOVING ON: Slade Smiley, who recently wrapped the reality show "Date My Ex" on Bravo, tells us he's considering getting back into real acting. "I was a SAG actor back in 1995. I left the industry because I had a business opportunity. I came back into it because of 'Housewives,' but I'm kind of finished with reality TV," admits Smiley, who rose to fame on "The Real Housewives of Orange County." "I've got some great projects that have come my way that are scripted. They're movie based. I'm looking at an action movie and some television shows." However, if the acting thing doesn't work out, at least the wealthy businessman has something to fall back on. "I'm not chasing it. I don't have to do entertainment, but if it does come, then I'll feel really lucky."

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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