'MS. DOHERTY WILL NOW TAKE YOUR QUESTIONS'.

Byline: David Kronke TV Critic

``I'm not going to talk about that,'' said Shannen Doherty in response to a question about recent legal problems involving levels of alcohol consumption that might be considered dubious.

``I'm not going to talk about that,'' said Doherty in response to a question about her departure from the WB series ``Charmed.''

That didn't leave reporters at the Television Critics Association annual summer press tour at Pasadena's Ritz Carlton much to discuss with Doherty on Tuesday. ``It'll be a short session, then,'' she replied.

If only we were that lucky. Doherty was stumping for ``Another Day,'' another TV movie with supernatural elements that'll air in October on the USA Network. When Doherty was answering questions, she was speaking of ``a mutual respect as far as acting goes'' between her and Julian McMahon, who co-stars with her in the film as well as on ``Charmed,'' or ``The script was sort of profound, in a way. It dealt with destiny, fate - things I was going through at the time.''

Of her decision to stonewall reporters, Doherty said, ``As an actor, you want to discuss your work rather than your personal life. In the past, my personal life was public (knowledge), but at 30, I'm trying to live it somewhat privately now. Out of courtesy and respect - I don't want to go there. I've sort of moved on.'' As will we.

TEN-HUT!: ``Combat Missions,'' another reality-competition series from Mark Burnett coming in September to USA, pits sundry members of various branches of the military, along with SWAT policemen, FBI agents and a CIA agent in simulated rescue missions and other he-man kinds of activities. Burnett tapped original ``Survivor'' Rudy Boesch to host the series.

Burnett was on location in Africa for the next incarnation of ``Survivor,'' but executive producer Brian Gadinsky declined to comment on recent reports and allegations that ``Survivor's'' reality is fudged in manners both major and trivial. ``I'm not going to give away Mark Burnett's trade secrets,'' Gadinsky said.

For his part, Boesch declared, `` 'Survivor' was not fixed. There's no way you can fix 'Survivor.' '' Boesch conceded that certain elements of ``Combat Missions'' were manipulated, but, again, ``The actual operations (contests) were not staged.''

Boesch said that the military's one request was that different branches of the military not compete directly against one another. ``They didn't want the Army against the Navy, because one guy's gonna win and the others are gonna be mad,'' he explained.

So, which division is the most macho? Boesch's diplomatic answer: ``Depends on which bar you walk into.''

PROPER SPIN?: Doug Herzog, president of the USA Network, displayed his attitude toward the assembled media Tuesday when he announced, ``I could probably lie about everything and you'd all forget about it by the time you get to the Food Network.''

Bearing that in mind, Herzog announced yet another new reality series - ``Mystery Mansion,'' sort of like Fox's upcoming ``Murder in Small Town X,'' with contestants trying to suss out a killer in their midst, only in a spooky European mansion. He said he was very excited about it.

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE WORK: A happy trend was revealed in the press session for the Disney Channel: Young actors, despite the tenderness of their years, have already become old pros at delivering the uninteresting quote and fawning praise of their co-stars - often in the same sentence.

Here's Josh Zuckerman, who appears in the upcoming holiday film `` 'Twas the Night,'' on his co-star, ``Malcolm in the Middle's'' Bryan Cranston: ``Bryan has a lot of energy, and he knows how to channel it. He taught me how to focus and have fun at the same time.''

Cranston replied: ``That's the best you can do?''

Mischa Barton, who plays James Whitmore's granddaughter in the November movie ``A Ring of Endless Light,'' enthused of her veteran colleague, `` was real excited when I found out I'd be working with him. He's been in so many great movies and he's such a great actor.''

Whitmore showed her how log-rolling's really done: ``I'm sitting next to a star, not of tomorrow, but of today. This is an extraordinary talent.''

And now, the polished and utterly synthetic Kimberly J. Brown on her ``Halloweentown 2: Kalabar's Revenge'' co-star, Debbie Reynolds: ``It's a rare and welcome opportunity to work with such an accomplished performer as Debbie.''

Offered Reynolds, ``I told a lot of filthy stories.''

Indeed, Reynolds used language not usually associated with Disney enterprises. ``When you reach a certain age,'' she noted, ``(fans are) surprised to see you're still alive, that your (Disney-fication of the word ``boobies'') are still up.'' Actors her age, she added, ``are even funnier, because we're older and we don't give a (Disney-fication of the word ``poop'').''

Reynolds recalled a low moment during the making of ``Singin' in the Rain'' when she was upset, and Fred Astaire allowed her to watch him practice in a nearby studio. She saw him work out routines and swear at rough patches. ``That's when I learned I could cuss,'' she explained.

SHOCKED AND APPALLED: Idiotic exchange of the day: A reporter, apparently newly outraged at the idea of ageism in Hollywood, seemed to come to the conclusion that it was all the fault of the Disney Channel, whose programming is naturally aimed at young viewers and in which older actors appear, if at all, as grandparents, which seemed to strike this journalist as typecasting.

``Are you going to create roles for older actors besides just grandparents?'' the reporter demanded of Disney Channel's Rich Ross, in an example of advocacy journalism at its best.

``What type of roles are you suggesting?'' Ross asked.

The reporter answered, ``I don't know.''

DAB OF 'AB FAB' BLAB: Jennifer Saunders, who has written six new episodes of the cult hit ``Absolutely Fabulous,'' following the misadventures of two vain, frivolous and extremely bibulous women, believes that since she last worked on the series five years ago, ``the world has changed enough that there are more things to talk about.'' To that end, Edina develops a quiz show titled ``Have I Got Shoes for You'' and creates a Web site - just a logo, with nothing else. The new episodes of ``Absolutely Fabulous'' appear in November on Comedy Central.

Of her brainchild's influence on American TV - ``Cybill'' and ``Sex and the City'' are only a couple of shows that have borrowed its sensibility - Saunders says, ``You can't turn on a TV nowadays without seeing a lot of women falling over. It's a terrible influence.''

As for its popularity with gay audiences, producer Jon Plowman hypothesizes, ``They're the type of women gay men aspire to be.''

'MAN' ENOUGH?: Comedy Central also announced a production deal with Jimmy Kimmel, Adam Carolla and Daniel Kellison, the brain trust - if ``brain'' is the right word - behind ``The Man Show,'' the glorious paean to low-rent hedonism that has emerged as cable network's second-highest-rated series.

Kimmel was clearly mystified as to why he was at a press conference. ``They've given us a lot of money to do another show, and we have no idea what we're going to do,'' he declared, joking that ``we're toying with an idea about an alcoholic foster mom who adopts one too many kids.''

Kimmel's take on his audience: ``We think they have a drinking problem. Whenever we get too full of ourselves, we take a look at our studio audience and realize, if these are the people we're pleasing, we can't possibly have it going on.''