THERE’S one great thing about being a cellar dweller: You don’t mind taking a few chances.

Which is probably why, overall, ABC has the most promising slate of shows of the Big Three broadcasters. This week the network rolled out six dramas and two comedies for TV critics gathered here for the annual summer press tour.

The hands-down favorite is "Desperate Housewives," which stars an ensemble cast including Sunnyvale’s Teri Hatcher as a frustrated single mom and Felicity Huffman as a frustrated career woman whose fast-track job has been sidelined by motherhood.

"There’s no job in the world harder than being a mother," Huffman says. "Working outside the home is infinitely easier than spending your days looking after your children."

"Desperate Housewives" creator Marc Cherry says he’s a bit confused by the standards and

practices department of ABC, which didn’t question a scene in which a housewife has sex with her 17-year-old gardener.

"They didn’t mind the statutory rape or the adultery, but they were really upset by the fact that she lights up a cigarette afterward," Cherry says. "They wanted me to take that part out because it’s not good to show smoking on TV, but I guess sinning is OK."

Another critic suggested the woman even violated sexual-harassment-on-the-job laws.

’Lost’ found in Hawaii

The fantasy/adventure series "Lost," about plane crash victims landing on a strange island created by J.J. Abrams ("Felicity," "Alias"), is another winner.

"Alias" co-star Greg Grunberg says he was happy when Abrams offered him a guest star role in the pilot because "Lost" films in Hawaii.

"I thought, what a wonderful thing. I get to vacation in Hawaii and get paid for it," Grunberg says. "Of course, he failed to mention that I get yanked out of a plane by my head and brutally killed."

Grunberg’s "Alias" co-star, Berkeley’s Carl Lumbly, says he’s been hard at work at his other job: working on his home.

"I had to remove mold from my basement," Lumbly says. "I’m now quite an authority on the subject."

And you thought being an actor was all about limo rides and good times.

’Boston,’ but no Kelly

Prolific Hollywood producer David E. Kelly ("Ally McBeal," "Boston Public," "The Practice") couldn’t make it to the session on his new drama "Boston Legal," starring William Shatner and James Spader.

He and wife Michelle Pfeiffer are spending this week moving away from Hollywood to the saner environs of the Bay Area. The show producers say that the Kellys have moved to "some rural area by Palo Alto." Since they enjoy riding horses, the smart money is on Woodside.

No ’Monday Night Football’

Say it ain’t so, ABC.

For those who missed the news in the sports pages, for the first time in the history of "Monday Night Football" there will be no Oakland or San Francisco games in the lineup.

And Pleasanton’s John Madden isn’t happy about it.

"A lot of people watch those games, but my mother (Mary, who lives in Redwood City) called it at the end of last season," Madden says. "She told me I wouldn’t be coming back here because the teams didn’t make it into the playoffs."

Madden agrees with the wisdom that there are two kinds of people in the world: Raider lovers and Raider haters.

"And either way, they all watch," Madden says.

Talking about Madden’s power, an ABC person said that after a story ran in the paper about the "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" Livermore home renovation running out of money in May, the network got an angry call from Madden.

"He picked up the phone and called the network and told the executives to give them more money," the insider says.

Producers say there was enough money to finish the project, just not to put in all the extras inside. The on-air folks, from Ty Pennington to Tracy Hutson, say they enjoyed working in Livermore and thought the people there were the best. After their session here with critics, most of the designers flew back up to the Bay Area to Penngrove, where they are working on another remodel.

Money, money, money

Life as an actor is good. But life as a billionaire is better.

Mark Cuban, who earned his money in the dot.com industry and now owns the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, decided to give Donald Trump a run for his money by launching a competing reality series called "The Benefactor," in which contestants try to win $1 million.

"I’m just having fun," says affable Cuban, who earned his fortune all on his own — unlike Trump, who took his wealthy dad’s seed money and turned it into a fortune.

His friend and business partner, Todd Wagner, says he has as much money as his friend but hasn’t bought a sports team and doesn’t aspire to be on a TV show.

"I live in a high-rise in Dallas because I like it, but I’m not any different than I was before I started making money," Wagner says. "Well, I did buy a jet, but that was just because it’s so cool to fly in your own jet. And you don’t ever have to worry about being late for your flight, because it doesn’t take off until you tell it to."

Mel Gibson, funny man

So writing team Julie Thacker-Scully and Mike Scully ("The Simpsons," "Everybody Loves Raymond") were talking to a fellow parent at their children’s school about a sitcom idea they had involving a father raising six boys.

That other parent was a guy named Mel Gibson.

Gibson is co-producing the show, "Complete Savages."

"Mel’s a great guy and we really loved working with him. He gets along really well with the boys on the show because he’s just a kid himself. He directed the pilot and even wrote about five jokes," Thacker-Scully says. "Here’s a man with everything, and when he found out we used his jokes, he had the biggest smile on his face."

It’s so good to be Mel.

Living the good life

Midseason replacement "Grey’s Anatomy" stars Patrick Dempsey, who says he’s spending the weekend at the Le Mans race at Sonoma’s Infineon Raceway.

"The beauty of being (an actor) is that I don’t have to worry about the traffic," Dempsey says. "They just fly me in on a helicopter."