They're still laughing at Ed Begley Jr., but no longer with a sense of mockery, he says.

The co-star of CBS's "Gary Unmarried," who has been a leader in environmental causes since long before it was fashionable, notes that at the beginning, "There was no way I couldn't have had the impression I was being mocked."

He recalls the episode of "The Simpsons" on which, as the script had it, "I was driving a car powered by my own sense of self-satisfaction." He remembers friends who would make jokes about his driving an electric car or riding a bike around town.

It wasn't much better at home. "My kids thought I had lost it when I was driving my first electric car with a range of 30 miles, and then a natural gas car that drove on pure methane."

But, he says, his daughter and two grown sons have become environmentalists "big time. They leave very low carbon footprints." The boys, he says, are now "Outward Bound backback people."

They laugh a lot at Ed's character on "Unmarried," and he's pleased about that. "It's a very green show," he says, "And there's hardly an episode where there's not a gag about turning out the lights or something. I had no idea when I signed on that they'd have my character riding a bike or would make a point about ecology, but I think it helps. And humor is a very effective tool."

THE VIDEOLAND VIEW: "My Name is Earl" leading lady Jaime Pressly is looking forward to the release of DreamWorks' "I Love You, Man" next year — in which the gorgeous blond actress best known as hellcat Joy in "Earl" will be seen doing something completely different.

"It's not a character you've seen me play. She's still strong-willed, of course. They always give me the strong-willed women. But I'm kind of preppy, an accountant, someone who has it together and is kind of conservative," she says. That is different! Her character is also the wife of Jon Favreau's character — and the partner in an interior design store with Rashida Jones' character — in the comedy that stars Paul Rudd as a guy out to find the perfect best man for his wedding. "It's hilariously funny. John Hamburg is the director and writer," notes Jaime.

In the meantime, though, "I couldn't ask for a better job than to play Joy every day. And the show — I think [creator] Greg Garcia and the writers have done an outstanding job keeping it fresh. We usually go through the scripts for the first time at the table read, and we laugh so hard when we see what they've done. It's like, 'You've got to be kidding!'" She adds, "A lot of questions are going to be answered this year" — including why Joy's hubby, Darnell (Eddie Steeples) is in the witness protection program.

THE VIDELOAND VIEW: With a second season of his hit Mark Paul Gosselaar "Raising the Bar" legal drama already ordered by TNT, super producer Steven Bochco tells us he's "beginning to experience what I experienced on prior successful series, when people come up to you and say, 'I really love your show.' It's very satisfying."

He's already writing scripts for Season 2, though production won't begin until March. "On cable budgets you shoot a show in seven days, and once you start a season, you just keep going. The key to making that work is script preparation — starting with a sufficient number of scripts."

Bochco took time out this week to serve as a judge — along with fellow directors Reggie Hudlin and Curtis Hanson — of the "Stolen Dreams" student film competition sponsored by the AARP and UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television. The short films involved address the health care crisis in America, "and frame the question, 'How do we deal with these profound inequities that exist?" The winner will be seen in AARP's National "Divided We Fail" campaign.

END QUOTE: Hulk Hogan, one of the world's most famous wrestlers, says he's not opposed to getting into the ring again, but a few things would have to fall into place first. "I'm trying to get the old broken leg wound up, the old fake hip wound up and the fake knee polished up," he says with a laugh. "I'd need a few squirts of oil and good kick in the a— to get going again."

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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