Back to School with Topher Grace

10/21/2004 at 06:00 AM EDT

In his new movie P.S., Topher Grace plays a would-be graduate student who becomes involved with a much-older admissions administrator (played by Laura Linney). But offscreen, his career didn't allow him to do much by way of hitting the books. "I had a one-year-in-college experience. And then someone (who) had seen me in a high school play asked me to come audition for (That '70s Show)," he said recently. "It was a real trade-off, me leaving college. We were filming on the Columbia (University) set for P.S., and there was a big part of me that wanted to kind of throw on my backpack and run away with the kids. But I do get another kind of education doing this."

Producing Results
Along with her new life as a mommy (to 4-month-old daughter Coco), Courteney Cox has become quite the productive producer of late. Her company, Coquette Productions, is "producing six different shows right now," Cox told us at a recent party for Hollywood uber manager Bernie Brillstein's new self-help book at the Beverly Hills Zegna store. "Well, we've sold six shows. One of them is for HBO, and it's one that I will star in if it goes. It's about a girl with an addiction problem." But even her success in producing doesn't match motherhood, Cox told us. "It's fantastic," she said. "Coco is amazing. It's the best thing that I've done for sure."

It's in the Bag
Saturday night brings the biennial Carousel of Hope charity event, benefiting Denver's Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes, to be hosted by Jay Leno. Honoree Halle Berry and all the attendees, including Beyonce, Oprah Winfrey and Faith Hill, will receive an enormous gift bag, worth more than $17,000 – and we got a peek inside it. (There's also one being auctioned off on eBay beginning Monday.) Some of the luxe items: a four-night stay at Marquis Los Cabos resort in Mexico (worth $3,600), a T-Mobile Sidekick device and six months of service ($1,200), a $460 Dyson vacuum, a three-night stay at Ho'oilo House in Maui ($1,160) and a $115 silk pajama set from Fredericks of Hollywood – plus shoes, luggage and even a set of dumbbells. All proceeds from the auction will go to the Barbara Davis Center, so bid early and often.

It's in the Bag, Part II
What does one pack for a six-week adventure in the world of reality TV? We asked Bachelorette-to-be Jen Schefft, just before she went into seclusion to film her upcoming show in New York. "I'm packing like a crazy woman!" she told us. "I packed my Ugg slippers, my favorite pajamas, and pictures of friends ... to keep me in reality. I'll have no contact with the outside world for about six weeks, no cell phone. It's so crazy. Since I've done it before I sort of know what I'm getting myself into, but not entirely."

• By SONA CHARAIPOTRA, MARISA LAUDADIO, ALISON GEE and SARAH PRESTON