CARRADINE ADDS TV TO RESUME.

Byline: GREG HERNANDEZ

It would seem that Keith Carradine has already pretty much done it all.

He won an Oscar for his songwriting ("I'm Easy"), was nominated for a Tony ("Will Rogers Follies"), and has starred in plenty of memorable movies including "Nashville," "The Long Riders" and "Thieves Like Us."

But there was a hole in his showbiz resume: a hit television show.

That too has been taken care of now that Keith, 58, has joined the cast of Showtime's "Dexter," the popular show about a serial killer (played by Michael C. Hall) who only knocks off bad people.

Keith plays an FBI agent brought in to investigate after the bodies of dozens of Dexter's victims are found.

"It's the best kind of show to step into," Keith said with a laugh when we chatted recently. "If you're invited to join a show for a season and it could be a hit show, yeah, it's great."

His character wastes no time heading up the investigation and he even strikes up a surprising romance.

"I pretty much interact with all the regulars on the show but I seem to be forming a partnership with Dexter's sister (played by Jennifer Carpenter) and there seems to be a blossoming romance."

I reminded him of the obvious: "She's a younger woman!"

"Very much so," Keith confirmed. "It's a big scandal."

All of the season's episodes are already shot so the current writers strike has not impacted production of the show. But he feels deeply about what is happening and was among the famous actors who joined picket lines on Tuesday in support of striking writers.

"It's just bad for everyone and I hope it comes to resolution quickly," he said. "I'm an actor and I know there's this big audience out there for reality TV but I'm not a part of that audience. I like to be told a story and I like to be told a story by people who are good at it. It all starts with the writers."

Britney's new court date latest installment in saga

OK, now it is time for another episode of our favorite soap, "As Britney's World Turns." The damsel of a mess has another court date today and K-Fed's lawyer is expected to make a big stink over a positive drug test which, according to TMZ.com, was an amphetamine.

Apparently Britney will say her false positive drug test may have been caused by an inhaler, which she uses for asthma. But it was a different story a day earlier when someone "connected" to Britney said the positive result was due to Provigil, which is used to treat narcolepsy. TMZ, somehow, was able to discover that neither Provigil or the asthma drug Albuterol shows up on the test.

In a Britney subplot, a paparazzo on a motorcycle who was injured while chasing Britney the other night was released from the hospital with just a tire mark on his arm. He was among the paparazzi following Britney -- in a line -- as she drove around.

TMZ.com reported that he is new to the Britney beat.

Maybe he should consider a different line of work? A photo of Britney at the Taco Bell, or wherever, is hardly worth risking your life over.

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(color) Actor Keith Carradine has joined the cast of Showtime's "Dexter," and his character has wasted no time striking up a surprising romance. "I pretty much interact with all the regulars on the show but I seem to be forming a partnership with Dexter's sister (played by Jennifer Carpenter) and there seems to be a blossoming romance."

Vince Bucci/Getty Images