Katey Sagal Hoping for Recurring Role on ABC's 'Lost'

Katey Sagal, who turned up again on "Lost" last week as Terry O'Quinn's love interest -- in flashback -- is hoping to return to the hit show. However, she notes, "You never know because they are so hush-hush about what goes on there. We'll see," says the former "Married with Children" star.
 
In the meantime, Sagal is hosting Nick at Nite's "Search for the Funniest Mom in America 2," premiering tonight (4/4).

"They're stand-ups. Each one of them was found in a comedy club where they had taken whatever they think is funny about their lives and formulated it into an act," says Sagal of the 10 contestants chosen to compete in a series of comedic challenges. Five will go on to perform live in front an audience. "This is the first time I've done reality TV," she notes. "The only reluctance I had was that I did not want to be the voice of doom and gloom and have to be the one who says yay or nay to the women. They assured me that it was a group decision and that I was just the sound piece. So I was definitely the voice of encouragement."

LITHGOW REVELS IN NASTY 'DREAMGIRLS' CHARACTER

It's hectic time for John Lithgow, whose eclectic career has him busy on multiple fronts right now: He expects to know within a matter of days whether he'll soon be rolling into a new prospective series for NBC. He's just finished filming his first set of 20 "Paloozaville" mini-shows for children. And he completed a role in the upcoming big-screen "Dreamgirls" this month.
 
In the latter, he plays a character written especially for the feature adaptation of the Broadway hit -- a 1970s-era Hollywood producer "who meets Beyonce's character when she chooses to have a career in movies. He eats her alive," reports Lithgow with a naughty laugh. "He is not a nice man." And his look -- "Wait until you see my hair. It's very 1974."
 
The esteemed actor calls Beyonce "magnificent in this film -- enchanting. It's a gigantic challenge, a huge role. But I now can't imagine anyone else doing it."
 
Meanwhile, Lithgow's playing the mayor of "Paloozaville" in his latest venture for the kiddie set -- an upcoming series of five-minute shows geared to keeping young'uns busy and never bored, to be presented via video-on-demand by Mag Rack. They're based on his hot-selling series of activity books for kids.
 
And he is waiting to see whether his perfect partner will come through for his NBC series project, "Twenty Good Years." He's had the comedy in development for a while. It's "a show that entirely depends on two great actors. So far we only have one," he chuckles. "My rule for doing a series has been that it has to be as good as '3rd Rock From the Sun' or I'm not going to do it. This is." He adds, "It shouldn't be coming down to the last moment like this, but we lost another actor who'd been involved."
 
WEAVING NEW LIVES:

Country superstar Wynonna Judd happily reports that "Heart of America," the song she, Eric Benet and Michael McDonald recorded to aid Hurricane Katrina victims, has "raised over $90 million for Habitat for Humanity." However, the singer -- who's currently hosting USA Network's "Nashville Star" with Cowboy Troy -- humbly says don't waste time patting her on the back. "People give us praise, but all I did was show up and sing," says Judd, "not that that's nothing. But I just want to remind you, that comes as easy to me as breathing." She adds, "My point is, it's about teamwork. Those people who are doing the manual labor and building the houses for Habitat for Humanity can't do what I do, and I'm not able to do what they're doing, so we each perform whatever it is we've been called to do. What's cool is, when you show up and do your part it's like a tapestry, and we're all the woven thread. You put it all together, and that's what makes the beautiful happen."
 
THE VIDEOLAND VIEW:

Sam Elliott reports there are already rumblings of him reprising the character he plays in TNT's "Avenger" telepic, debuting April 9. "But at this point it's all talk," says the ruggedly handsome veteran actor. He plays a small-town lawyer and former Vietnam Special Forces operative who hires himself out to those seeking to avenge the violent murders of loved ones in the film, based on Frederick Forsyth's bestselling novel. Elliott notes that the sumptuous-looking, edge-of-your-seat thriller, shot in Capetown, South Africa, "cost a lot a lot of money to make, so it really comes down to whether they think there's an audience. They're not going to make these things keeping their fingers crossed."

(With reports by Stephanie DuBois and Emily Feimster)