C.J.: Mann knows it's a fine line between eccentric, crazy

"Let's just say by the end of filming we did not speak," said David Mann, of Fine Line fame, regarding his appearances on DIY Network's "Rehab Addict" with Nicole Curtis.

But their TV time together won't come off as "Nicole vs. David." At least that's what I gathered after a lengthy Wednesday interview with Curtis about what could be called "The Mann Episodes" of the show, just picked up for a third season. The first "Mann" episode airs at 9 p.m. Thursday.

Curtis' show, from Minneapolis-based Magnetic Productions, rehabs dilapidated, and sometimes historic, houses in her hometown of Detroit, as well as in Minneapolis, where she now lives.

A Realtor and interior designer, Curtis said: "Restoration is my passion. The house [at 3047 Harriet] got done. It looks great.

"I had tried to buy the house, and we bid against each other and he won the house. I don't chase the dollar, I chase the project. I was really passionate about restoring that particular home. So I found him to see if we could work together to bring it back to where it once was. I look at these old homes people say Oh it's not worth saving, and I'm the one who goes in and saves them."

Mann told me feedback from promos suggest "the show is quite entertaining [and] humorous," with his "usual eccentric behavior" shining through. He embraces the notion that the "difference between crazy and eccentric is two zeros." Mann is the personification of risqué but he can flat out WORK YOUR NERVES.

Equanimous Curtis showed me no inclination that she wanted to go Manno-a-Manno with combative David. "Went well," was how she described the project.

What did Curtis think of Mann, who I know to be a little high maintenance?

"It takes all kinds of people to make this world go around. I saw an old home I was dedicated to restoring. Our views are not always the same, but our goal was. We all need to work together," she said.

What of Mann saying you and he weren't speaking by the end?

"I leave my ego at the door, and it's all about my project. I'm a strong woman. Sometimes silence is golden. I have to take a step back sometimes. I feel the house," said Curtis. "There was no reason for me to go do this house. There was no profit."

Asked if she would work with Mann again, Curtis did not directly answer the question but said she was working for the betterment of Minneapolis while appreciating that "I have this great opportunity, a show that's on HGTV Saturday mornings and DIY Thursday evenings. All these projects are my money, my time, my effort. There are a lot of rehabbers who are in it for profit. I'm not a TV star, in quotes here. I've been working on old homes for 15 years."

Mann is a TV show waiting to happen.

"We buy neighborhoods and we fix them up and make them beautiful," he said of his company, Soapbox Productions, with Jeremy Bay. "I have the most interesting crew. I have Mitch; I buy him a tooth every month. I have girls who work for me, who wear lingerie while working. Let's just say [for] Nicole Curtis, that was a little too risqué. We are on the first five episodes, and they are interested in shopping me around to a less staid network; a channel that will appreciate my being neurotic and nuts."

While Curtis and Mann weren't talking, he stressed, "We respected each other and worked well as a team."

Lucas in town?Word has it filmmaker George Lucas has been seen in the metro.

Mr. "Star Wars" himself! And not as a hologram. Hologram, although "Star Wars" featured one, is the word of the week thanks to Tupac's late appearance at Coachella.

Be forewarned, George Lucas: If I see you, I'm kissing your ring for spending your own money to make "Red Tails."

Turner gets ravesKathleen Turner, at the Pantages in "High" through Sunday, knows her best camera angle.

Am told that when she made appearances at KARE11 and Fox 9, she suggested that camera angles be adjusted.

These cameras need to be higher. I'm not as young as I used to be, or words close to that, Turner reportedly remarked at Fox 9.

"And she was right," said a Fox 9 insider, who also described Turner as "charming" throughout her time at the station.

Turner's been garnering nothing but rave reviews from everybody in the media I've talked to about her. A few years ago when she was here I heard a story or two that suggested she could be rather tough on people. She's apparently mellowed. And she may be especially chill while at the Pantages because one of her favorite spots to ruminate is the very pastoral Sculpture Garden.

C.J. is at 612.332.TIPS or cj@startribune.com. E-mailers, please state a subject -- "Hello" doesn't count. Attachments are not opened, so don't even try. More of her attitude can be seen on Fox 9's "Buzz" Thursday mornings.