A conversation with Debbie Reynolds

On Oct. 8, the Disney Channel will air the third of its Halloweentown movies, with Debbie Reynolds reprising her role as Aggie Cromwell, a witch who tries to do good things for her family and for the world. Aggie and other witches live in a place called Halloweentown. When the portal to earth opens for a short time on Halloween, Aggie visits her daughter (who gave up witchcraft in favor of living her life as a mortal) and grandchildren, who have inherited the family’s magic powers.

In “Halloweentown High,” the portal will stay open for a longer period, allowing a student named Marnie (played by Kimberly J. Brown) who is half mortal and half witch to invite her Halloweentown friends to attend her human high school.

“And, as you may expect,” Debbie Reynolds says, “some very strange things begin to happen, and Aggie has to do something about it, although Marnie may have seriously jeopardized any chance of making the Cromwell magic work.”

Reynolds, who has a recurring role as Grace’s (Debra Messing) mother on “Will and Grace,” says she’s delighted that the Disney people have brought her back twice to play Aggie Cromwell.

“I love this character,” she says. “And when I play her, I feel something magical is going on.”

Reynolds quickly notes that she’s not referring to kettle-stirring hocus-pocus magic.

“I mean the kind of thing that anyone can experience when something very special is happening to them. For actors, that’s when you connect with a role differently from how you usually do, and find yourself responding to it in that special way.”

Reynolds says that maybe it’s Aggie’s witchcraft that appeals to her.

“When you think about it,” she notes, “who wouldn’t want to have the powers she has to do all those wonderful things she does to help people? But I think what I find I relate to most about Aggie is that she believes that her family is the most important thing in her life and that she must do everything she can to keep them safe. And, if that also involves straightening up some magic-related mess, that’s fine.”

Besides her family, what Debbie Reynolds values most in her life is being an entertainer. “I love the work I do, and if it means doing it in a television or movie studio, or traveling to anywhere in the country to appear in a cabaret or theater, you just tell me where and when, and I’ll be there.”

In Focus

Keith Carradine (“Deadwood”) stars in the new ABC series “Complete Savages,” which, he hastens to explain, has nothing to do with the way participants behave on some reality shows.

“I play a guy named Nick Savage who has five teenage sons, and each of these guys is a perfect example of what it’s like to be an adolescent male. And, I can tell you, it’s not easy for Nick to deal with it, but somehow he’ll always find a way to do the right thing.

Carradine says the role appealed to him for at least one major reason:

“It was different from most of the things I’ve done,” Carradine says. “And I liked how the character handles his responsibilities as a father and how he’s trying to raise these boys to be good men without breaking their youthful spirits or discouraging their sense of adventure.”

There was another factor Carradine found persuasive in his decision to do the show. “Too often they show the dads on a lot of shows as being inept; sometimes even pitiable. But with Nick Savage you have a guy who may not always know what to do in a situation, but he won’t give up trying to find his answers. He’s strong and he’s loving, and is a great example of the kind of man each of his sons could become.”

Coming up for Keith Carradine is the recently wrapped film “Our Very Own,” in which he co-stars with “West Wing’s” Allison Janney. The film also stars Jason Ritter, son of the late John Ritter.

Dial Tones

On Oct. 11, HBO premieres the documentary “Diary of a Political Tourist,” which was made by Alexandra Pelosi, who followed candidates for the Democratic nomination — John Kerry, Dick Gephardt, Joe Lieberman and Bob Graham — around Iowa where they visited hog logs, tasted deep-fried Twinkies and generally mingled with the people they hoped would vote for them in the primary.

On Oct. 12, Carmen Electra will host Bravo’s “Manhunt: The Search for America’s Most Gorgeous Male Model.” This is an eight-part series that takes the audience into the still largely unexplored male model industry.