The time and financial constraints of the writers' strike are being felt this TV pilot season. The broadcast networks are developing half the number of pilots they usually do, ordering presentations in lieu of pilots for some and giving others the straight to series order.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - ''If there is anything that kids could walk away with it is that people who use drugs and alcohol are masking something,'' says Leslie Jordan, who plays flamboyant AA sponsor Jesse Jo on the CW's teen soap ''Hidden Palms.''

Actress Amber Heard is determined to make the most out of life after her closest friend was killed in a car accident. The 21-year-old, who stars in new U.S. soap Hidden Palms, admits to being ruthlessly ambitious because she has nothing to lose.