Noah Wyle says he's been enjoying a little down time of late, doing daddy duty and decompressing after wrapping four and a half months' worth of production of his TNT "Falling Skies" series' second season. Sounds like he needed it.

After Season 1, "an amnesia settles in that is analogous to childbirth," says the erudite star with a smile. "You forget how painful it was to go through. It's a tough show to produce, a tough show to execute. We do very little work on soundstages. We're outdoors in inclement weather; we know what Vancouver winters are all about. But, you know, a little state of deprivation and discomfort strengthens the camaraderie among the cast."

According to Noah, viewers can expect the new season — launching June 17 — to be even bigger than the first season of the Steven Spielberg-produced drama in which human resistance fighters are struggling to survive against alien invaders. It's bigger, at least in terms of production, that is. "It started with getting a little bit more money to spend on the episodes, more on spaceships and aliens, more action on the show," Noah tells us.

Last week, the former "ER" star was time-tripping backwards — decked out in a 1960s-style three-piece suit for his role as one-time Mattel CEO Art Spear in the big screen "Snake and Mongoose." The film covers the real-life story of drag racers Don "The Snake" Prudhomme and Tom "The Mongoose" McEwen, whose famous rivalry inspired the Hot Wheels toys. In July, he will film "Scribble," an independent feature about "a group of amateur writers tearing each other to shreds."

Of his schedule, he says, "It's not too bad. I'm only working a few days on each movie." Which leaves more time for Noah, who has been separated from his wife since 2010 to spend with nine-year-old son Owen and six-year-old daughter Auden. He credits "Falling Skies" for "giving me street credibility with my son's third grade class. They're actually more interested in it than he is." The show is inappropriate for Auden, he adds. "But they've both been to the set numerous times."

DIVA DIVA DIVA: Has Kim Kardashian been putting the diva in "Drop Dead Diva" with her forthcoming recurring role? Not at all, to hear the series' April Bowlby tell it. "She was much better than I expected," the actress lets us know. "You never know with someone as famous as she is, who has such a following. But she showed up on set on time, she knew her lines and she was very professional. She came in ready to shoot and have fun."

And fun they do have, assures Bowlby, who plays Stacy Barrett, the wayward best friend of Brooke Elliott's dual soul attorney character, Deb/Jane. In the fourth season, due to launch June 3, Stacy's inventive side emerges again. (Fans will recall the

"armvelope" driving accessory she came up with.) This time, she has the "pake" — a pie inside of a cake — and she does so well with it, she launches "a pakery, of course. It's super fun," Bowlby says. Working with her is Nicky, as played by Kim Kardashian.

"She's not playing herself, you know," Bowlby points out. "She comes in and gives me some love advice, and I follow it."

The "DDD" writers have been having a field day with Stacy, who really did become naughty last season, what with becoming a TV star, getting a runaway ego, breaking the heart of her angel-man, Fred (Ben Feldman) and having an affair with her

costar. She also managed to turn Deb/Jane against her with her wanton ways.

"I got around, I'll tell you that," Bowlby says with a laugh. "I was really surprised with the writing. I was like, who is this character? I'm playing a diva. It was awesome. I feel I lucked out. My character kind of gets to do anything and everything."

However, she admits, "A lot of people were very sweet, and they would come up and tell me, 'I don't like what you're doing. I want the old Stacy to come back.'" And, is she back? "She is doing good," reports Bowlby, as the team is in the midst of its seasonal production outside Atlanta. "She is actually being really supportive of Jane, so thank goodness for that."

THE BIG SCREEN SCENE: Even as Halle Berry's "The Hive" is being shopped to foreign investors at the Cannes Film Festival, director Brad Anderson is prepping for a late June production start on the thriller. It has Halle as a worker at a 911 call center who becomes involved with a call from a young girl — Abigail Breslin — who has been kidnapped and is frantically phoning from the trunk of her abductor's car. Already, there is buzz about how demanding each of these roles is, not to mention Anderson's obvious directing challenge with a plot that centers on two people who are on the phone, one in a dark, cramped spot.

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.