KOOL TV BABE OF THE WEEK: 'BODY OF PROOF's DANA DELANY

Red delight! Actress Dana Delany. Image: via ULIKE.

Her semi-regular appearances in hit modern soap DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES as fiery and clever Wisteria Lane neighbour Katherine Mayfair (who should have been named Katherine Maymean), and as Medical Examiner Megan Hunt, the criminologist with the sharp instincts and the equally sharp wit in the popular ABC drama BODY OF PROOF (currently showing on the UK"s ALIBI channel), may not make any impact with KOOL TV in general, but our interest in sexy actress Dana Delany has been a constant ever since we first saw her back in the late-eighties, in TV's Vietnam War version of MASH, CHINA BEACH, playing sparky and compassionate Colleen McMurphy, and winning several Emmy Awards in the process. A vibrant personality, and still downright sexy in her mature years, the sassy New York- born talent has carved a solid career on the big and small screen playing all kinds of heroines and bitches, winners and losers, including appearances in movies like out there comedy EXIT TO EDEN (alongside Dan Aykroyd) , family drama FLY AWAY HOME and TOMBSTONE (with Kurt Russell), as well as roles in hit series like CHEERS, THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW, Oliver Stones sci-fi fable WILD PALMS (as the doomed Grace, wife to Jim Belushi), short-lived thriller series KIDNAPPED, CASTLE and BOSTON LEGAL. She's also lent her memorable, often sardonic voice to numerous DC COMICS animated series, and was a pleasing Lois Lane in the mid-nineties SUPERMAN series.

Delany as Colleen McMurphy in CHINA BEACH. Image: ABC.

Taking a rest on the slab in BODY OF PROOF. Image: ABC.

With BODY OF PROOF's three-year run now over, we're sure that Miss Delaney's own unique "body" of future work will continue to be both diverse and satisfying for her fans...

WELCOME TO LEVEL SEVEN! "MARVEL's AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.' ARRIVE...

Ready to defend us. MARVEL's AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. Images: DISNEY/ABC TV

Ready and capable of handling the oncoming storm of dark and dangerous threats to Humankind in these unstable times when "Earth's Mightiest Heroes", The Avengers, are indisposed, the equally steadfast and reliable agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics) make their impressive debut on UK television from Friday, September 27th on the UK's CHANNEL 4, bringing with them all the humour, action and excitement seen with the organisations big-screen appearances across six incredible box office juggernaut comic book film adaptations from MARVEL STUDIOS, a bold and distinctive company now making their first brave and likely indelible foray into weekly, small-screen storytelling mode.

▶ Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - Trailer 1 (Official) - YouTube
▶ Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. | Starts 27th September | Channel 4 - YouTube
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

The popular Agent Phil Coulson, as played with sublime, straight-laced wickedness and a clear-cut patriotism by writer/actor Clark Gregg, had a love and dedication in bringing the at first dysfunctional Avengers line-up into miraculous being- no small task and one that seemingly cost him his life, yet good heroes are hard to kill, and he's now alive and well after all (how he got out of that one apparently being a relevant surprise to what lies ahead for the organisation!), bringing together his own new, formidable band of super-agents who, though they may not have the incredible powers of the Hulk, Captain America, the Asgardian Thor or Tony Stark's Iron Man, are still the best of the best within the worlds super-spy elite. Within this diverse and attractive, all corners brought bunch- looking like they've sprung from the pages of GQ magazine rather than MARVEL's acclaimed graphic novels- the Men (and Women) in Black who now wear Armani!- are ace pilot Melinda May (ER's sexy Ming-Na Wen), Black Ops specialist Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), cynical civilian recruit and top computer hacker Skye (Chloe Bennet), Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) -a top weapons specialist, and Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Hesntridge)- a life sciences genius and sister to Leo. To say that their premier gathering is going to be interesting is likely to be an understatement!

Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) in action with S.H.I.E.L.D. boss Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) in the first THE AVENGERS movie.

With new villains and technological terrors, both foreign and domestic, emerged from The Avengers first battle against extra-terrestrial dominions, bringing their own set of problems and challenges to the team, the series looks set to be glossy, thrilling fun all the way, as beloved geek film and TV adaptor/creator Joss Whedon, also surely mining fifty years worth of MARVEL history and characters (and past events from the previous films), brings that unique, just this right side of smart-ass fun of his, as well as ambitious high-tech adrenaline adventure set pieces worthy of James Bond, to a crowd-pleasing mix, in what is also likely to be one of DISNEY/ABC's most expensive TV series yet. If this is a success, there will be more like this on the airwaves in years to come, hopefully adding greatly to the popular audience main dish experience of the continuing superheroes in their movie series phenomenon...

Fingers, arms, legs and everything crossed for a successful and audience-hip UK debut...