Fate of 'CSI' Hinges on New Actor Contracts, Says Helgenberger/Fraser's 'Journey' a New Kind of 3D Experience, Says Briem

"CSI" regular Marg Helgenberger says the fate of the show is definitely up in the air — "every actor's contract is over this season" — but she for one is "interested in having a new contract." Of the show's lead, William Petersen, she says, "I don't know what Billy's plans are. He's had issues with having to work in every single episode, so they're frantically trying to work something out with him."

The impact of the writers strike is what changed her mind about staying, says the actress who plays crime scene analyst Catherine Willows on the hit CBS drama. "If we hadn't had that forced hiatus, we would have had a whole season to arc out where Catherine was going to be at the end. They had a plan in mind to wrap up this season, and that's sort of been thrown out because we're only doing six more episodes."

"CSI" returns April 3 with new episodes, and Helgenberger says, "We're trying to attempt something we haven't done before. They want to start back into the ninth season, then break for the hiatus in order to give the crew more chances to spend [time] with their kids. It's more in sync with the school calendar. The plan would be to shoot through June, then break for six weeks. We'll have already banked about five episodes for the next season."

ORANGE AFFAIR: This year's Race to Erase MS gala — May 2 — will be the 15th such celebrity-studded affair, and the event's driving force Nancy Davis expects it to be an extra special year. "Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons will perform," she reveals. "I went to see 'Jersey Boys' this summer and fell in love with it, and thought, Why not get the real deal?' ? Teri Garr is going to do something, Dr. Phil is going to do something ?" Teen pop princesses Aly & AJ (sisters Alyson and Amanda Michalka) will be on hand doing their thing. "It'll be an amazing fashion show with lots of celebrities modeling — all the 'Dancing With the Stars' people. ? " she says. And more is being planned now.

What has the author/mother of five/MS patient most excited is that by the time of the event, they'll be able to announce a new drug to treat Multiple Sclerosis "that's really been sponsored by the money our charity has raised." That is, Rituxan, which is already being used for treatment of non-Hodgkins lymphoma. For MS patients, "it's an IV that you have once a year that has relatively few side effects. Other drugs for MS, you take daily or weekly. It should get FDA approval in four or five weeks. When we started this, there were no drugs at all to help stop the progression of MS," adds the dynamo, who refused to accept her own grim prognosis in 1991 — and went on to start her Nancy Davis Foundation for multiple sclerosis in '93.

This year, we'll also see orange all over Race to Erase paraphernalia — as well as used in a plethora of items by Race to Erase MS designer Tommy Hilfiger and others. "Certain colors have come to be associated with certain causes — red for AIDS, pink for breast cancer. We're using orange," says Nancy. "Orange is a strong good color."

SOMETHING BRAND-NEW, SOMETHING VERY OLD: Brendan Fraser's leading lady in the highly anticipated summer blockbuster "Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D," Anita Briem, says she felt a part of history shooting the film due out July 11.

"People have the old kitschy 3D we used to know ingrained in their brains, but this is really a completely new visual medium altogether," says the Iceland native. "It's so exciting because it's like you're inside the movie, and honestly, when you see it, there's no denying it. It's so incredible. It's going to change the whole visual experience and the face of cinema altogether." She says shooting the film involved "a lot of very physical work. Both with a massive soundstage with green screen hanging from wires, and they made exact replicas from caves and mountains." She adds, "We actually went to Iceland and shot there for a few days. It was really lovely for me to bring that back to my home country at the very end of the shoot. I have an 11-year-old sister, and she was pretty much speechless the whole time she was there. I feel this picture has all the elements that make it exciting not only for kids but adults as well."

On the small screen, Briem has joined the second season of Showtime's "The Tudors" series returning this Sunday (3/30) and will be popping up in May as Jane Seymour, the second wife of King Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys Meyers).

RESILIENT: Jason Statham can really take punishment. At least, in his "Crank" character he can! We couldn't help being amused by casting notices for supporting players in his forthcoming "Crank 2" that relate that he survived "Crank" the first: "despite having fallen a mile from a helicopter, Chev Chelios is up and running, fighting and killing ? " Whoa.

With reports by Stephanie DuBois and 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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