Donnie Wahlberg reports he just signed a deal with Warner Bros. to do "a show loosely based on my upbringing and music career." The former New Kids on the Block member says the show will chronicle his years "growing up in Boston in the '80s and being bused to a predominantly black neighborhood from [age] 7 'til high school." Wahlberg says he considers those years "the greatest blessing that ever happened in my life. A lot of kids older than me heard what their parents were saying, and it was a problem for them to go to school in a black neighborhood, but I was young and I didn't care. I got to school and had fun with my friends, and most of them were black. So (the show) goes back to my roots and how being exposed to all those different ingredients shaped me."

He recalls, "I got hassled by some of my white friends for being the guy who hung out with black kids, and conversely I would walk into a store during lunch and see the guy behind the counter watching my black friends extra close and say, 'What's up with that?' A white person in America can never know what it's like to be a black person, but my upbringing allowed me to see how it really is." He adds, "I consider myself the first real success story of that failed bus experiment in Boston. I'm what they hoped would happen."

The actor, who has the Lion's Gate big-screen horror sequel "Saw II" due out Oct. 28, took time last week to do a fundraiser for Hurricane Katrina victims. He and his actor/brother Mark Wahlberg were the only celebrities at the event that took place at Bridgeman's Restaurant, the Boston eatery owned by their chef brother Paul. "We were able to raise $700,000 in three hours," says Wahlberg, adding. "It's easy to give, but it's not easy to share, and I wanted to do something where I could share my time and my energy and make it count more than just writing a check."

FROM THE INSIDE LOOKING OUT:

She may be the belle of the ball in the TV world,

Kristen: No Social Life

but star of "Veronica Mars," Kristen Bell, claims things are not as exciting in her private life. "I have no social or personal life because of the show. It's a commitment," she admits. "I'm lucky to have this job and I love it, but you definitely sacrifice your personal life when you're doing one-hour television, and I don't think I realized that."

Things in Bell's world have certainly changed since starting the show. 'The fact that I eat, breathe and sleep Veronica is a little different," she notes. 'It's also different to be recognized by people as Veronica Mars. We advertise a lot at the Westfield malls, so to go there and see literally like a hundred 'Veronica Mars' posters up is a little strange."

Despite the sacrifices, Bell assures us it's worth it. After all, how many people can say they got to perform a big song-and-dance production number at the Emmys? "My nerves sort of caught up with me, and I haven't been nervous about something in a long time, because those people had no choice but to sit there and watch me," says Bell, who has a musical background. "But it was a lot of fun."

THE BIG SCREEN SCENE:

Brittany Murphy is guessing that Edward Burns' 2006 release, "The Groomsmen," will turn out to be "the most commercial film he's done. It's very universally themed and humorous -- a bunch of guys involved in a wedding, from a man's perspective. He wrote the character I play very, very well -- his women are written uniquely," she says. After having also worked with him on "Sidewalks of New York," she says, "I love every second of being on an Eddie Burns set. It's liberating and fun. If something unexpected comes out of one of his actors and he likes it, he'll use it: He'd say, 'Murphy, if that's the way it's coming, that's the way it's supposed to be." It really is guerrilla filmmaking at its finest."

BAD GIRL:

Tracy Scoggins is playing "the poster diva -- for hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" on "Dante's Cove," the new original series on the gay cable network here! She's very clear about her inspiration: her one-time "Dynasty" cast mate, Joan Collins. "I got to study at the feet of the master. When I heard comparisons between my character and hers, all I could say was, 'I can only hope so!'" As for Collins' long-standing extreme diva reputation, Scoggins is quick to come to her defense. "She was always lovely to me. She was kind to me when I needed kindness."

Just goes to show, everyone has different sides.

Tracy says she had no hesitation about being on the vanguard with here! -- on a show she admits is bound "to worry some people." She notes, "I like being first. I'm an adrenaline junkie. I love to do things like sky diving."

(With reports by Stephanie DuBois and Emily Feimster)

The Beck/Smith syndicated newspaper column includes exclusive in-depth, behind-the-scenes reports on the stars, on the business of television and movie-making, and on the recording, publishing and media beats.

©2005 Creators Syndicate, Inc.