'Early Show' (weekdays, 7AM on CBS) co-anchor Erica Hill tried not to use the world "old" during her interview with Helen Mirren, but the actress wouldn't let her. Speaking about Mirren's role as a retired Mossad agent in her new film 'The Debt,' Hill said it used to be tough for women to find good, meaty roles, especially actresses later on in their careers.

"You mean an old woman, is that what you mean?" joked Mirren. She then went on to credit the greater variety of roles available to female actors to the fact that three generations of women have risen through the ranks in various professions.

"Now we have all of those women, they're all in their 50s and their 60s and they are incredibly powerful in the world," said Mirren. "And people are looking at that going, oh, I see. Yes, women count. Women are powerful. Women have a voice. And as soon as you get that, it's reflected in the world of drama."

Maria Bello has big shoes to fill when she debuts as the star of 'Prime Suspect' in the fall, so she'll doubtless be relieved to know that the rebooted version of the gritty cop drama has received the blessing of the writer and star of the British original.

Producers of the U.S. remake told reporters that while the new series is lighter and has more humor than the original, it has won the approval of series creator Lynda LaPlante and star Helen Mirren.

Executive producer and writer Alexandra Cunningham ('Desperate Housewives') said that LaPlante had written to them approving their updated concept of the series.

"She couldn't be happier that Maria is shouldering the character ... She is happy it is being modernized, and there's nobody better to do it than Maria. And Maria reminds people of Helen Mirren in her strength and her complete lack of vanity."

Helen Mirren is 66-years-old, but she beat out women decades younger, like Elle MacPherson, Pippa Middleton, and Jennifer Lopez, in an LA Fitness "Body of the Year" poll. 'The Early Show' (weekdays, 7AM on CBS) reported on the poll Tuesday, talking to people on the sidewalk in Times Square to see who they'd choose.

LA Fitness polled 2,000 people to come up with Mirren, who appeared nude at 58 in the movie 'Calendar Girls.' "She's got a fabulous body, she really does," said one man on the street, looking at a photo of Mirren in a bikini. "But I don't know, I'd still pick J-Lo over her."

A couple of younger women in Times Square also thought it was "awesome" that a 66-year-old woman could top the poll. "I think she has a better body than I do right now," said one. MacPherson, at 48, came in second, and Cheryl Cole was the only one in the top five under thirty. Who says LA is obsessed with youth?

HBO's untitled Phil Spector movie just got even starrier: An Oscar winner has taken over from an Oscar nominee (and winner of multiple Grammy Awards) in a pivotal role.

Last week production on the biopic was suspended after Bette Midler had to pull out on doctors' orders. Now it's been reported that her replacement is none other than 'The Queen' star, Helen Mirren.

Mirren will play Linda Kenney Baden, a defense attorney who represented disgraced music producer Phil Spector during his first trial for murdering Lana Clarkson.

NBC has postponed its remake of the award-winning UK series 'Prime Suspect' due to casting problems, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Network execs said that they are struggling to cast the police drama's lead character, an uncompromising female detective. In the original seven-season series, Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison was played by none other than Oscar winner Dame Helen Mirren.

Remember that proposed remake of the British crime series 'Prime Suspect' for NBC? You can forget about it... for a while anyway. NBC has shelved 'Prime Suspect' till June and the reason why is all about casting. This, my friends, is exactly what we were saying when the idea first surfaced.

The notion that you're going to find an actress as perfect for the role of detective chief inspector Jane Tennison as Helen Mirren is madness. T'aint gonna happen. She's an Oscar, Emmy, SAG and Golden Globe winner for a reason. She's freaking brilliant.

So, NBC is acknowledging that they have not found another Helen Mirren and will not push 'Prime Suspect' into pilot production at this time. Veteran writer/producer Hank Steinberg -- he did 'Without A Trace' for CBS -- has wisely decided to push the project back and revisit it in June. It could always be created as a mid-season show instead of a fall 2010 premiere... assuming the project comes together.

Ellen DeGeneres embarrassed Helen Mirren with pictures of the actress sporting a bikini and flaunting a body that defied her age while vacationing in Puglia on the southern tip of Italy last year.

"It was luck. It was pure luck, honestly. I swear to you, I do not look like that," the 64-year-old Mirren said of her bikini bod. "I look at that picture and say, 'God, I wish I looked like that,' but I don't ... in reality."

Watch the video after the jump.

Is it cynical of me to question the wisdom of NBC trying to adapt the British detective series Prime Suspect for American TV? It probably is, but after the disappointment of Life on Mars (I know, some of you liked the ABC version, but I was not in that camp), I have worries about the way American writers and producers rework excellent British TV shows and suck the life out of them in the process.

What makes Prime Suspect particularly of concern is that the British show had a great actress starring in it. Helen Mirren has deserved every award -- Oscar, Tony, Golden Globe -- that she's received. As the tough-as-nails detective chief inspector Jane Tennison, she was simply amazing.

Russell Brand made his mark in England as a comedian before climbing up the ladder and landing roles in films. American audiences first got to know him as the aloof rock star Aldous Snow in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and as the host of the 2008 MTV Music Awards. Sunday, America gets its first real glimpse of Brand as a stand-up comedian, when his first one-hour special, Russell Brand In New York City, premieres at 10 p.m. on Comedy Central.

Brand is going to be everywhere in 2009. His autobiography, My Booky Wook, hits shelves next week, and he's working on Get Him To the Greek, a new Judd Apatow-produced vehicle for the Aldous Snow character and a remake of Arthur. He's already got the Julie Taymor-directed film of The Tempest, with Helen Mirren as "Prospera," waiting for release. I caught up with him by phone as he was at the airport on his way to Los Angeles.

TVS: Do you feel you have to introduce yourself to America as a comedian because most people know you from movies or perhaps as a host?

The final episode (episode? movie? miniseries) of PBS' acclaimed series Prime Suspect will air tonight (and conclude next Sunday - it's a two-parter, four hours). Tim Goodman over at The Bastard Machine has a review.

It's titled Prime Suspect: The Final Act and chronicles detective Jane Tennison's last case before retirement (she's almost 60 now), involving the search for a missing 14 year-old girl, a case that's a lot more complex than she first realizes. It also involves Tennison's heavy drinking and blackouts and sadness. OK, so it's not the most uplifting drama.

Actually, Helen Mirren has always given fantastic performances in these shows (she has won an Emmy for Best Actress and the show itself has won three Emmys), and Goodman says that this one is no exception. The state of Florida even figures into this last episode.