Eliza Dushku

This is the first spring in the past several that Mike O’Malley has had a free minute, and the sitcom star’s digging the down time. O’Malley, who shot the final episode of ’’Yes, Dear" last fall, is back in town for a few weeks filming ’’On Broadway," in which he plays a priest. ’’The director, Dave McLaughlin, is just a great, great guy," says O’Malley, who lives in LA but grew up in the Granite State. ’’When Dave called, it was a no-brainer." (About an Irish-American playwright who’s trying to stage a production in the back of a pub, ’’On Broadway" also stars locals Joey McIntyre, Eliza Dushku, and Bob Wahlberg.) Off camera, O’Malley has made it a point to catch buddy Bill Janovitz at Toad, where the Buffalo Tom frontman is performing on Thursdays this month.

’’My wife, Lisa, and I met at a party 12 years ago, and our main topic of conversation was [Buffalo Tom]," said O’Malley. (Janovitz and his bandmates later wrote theme songs for the short-lived ’’The Mike O’Malley Show" as well as ’’Yes, Dear.") Next weekend, O’Malley, who’s developing a new show for CBS to air in ’07, will deliver the commencement address at his alma mater, UNH, before returning to Boston to throw out the first pitch at the Sox/Yanks game on the 22d. ’’Maybe I’ll do one of those Bill Murray things and throw it off the screen," said O’Malley, who still watches every game. "I’m a nut — I’ve got a Fred Lynn poster hanging on my wall!"