WHEN Michael Weatherly, best known as the cute Logan/Eyes Only from the teen sci-fi series, Dark Angel, went to play Tony DiNozzo in NCIS, nobody would have guessed the secret to his success.
Yet the outgoing 38-year-old actor who plays a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed naval investigator is the first to tell you: it’s that he doesn’t wear underwear.

Michael Weatherly may play an ex-college jock with a bachelor’s degree on CBS’ hit series “NCIS.” But in real life, Agent Tony DiNozzo’s alter ego was a BU dropout who ended up selling shoes and singing in the subway!

“I had all kinds of ideas at age 18 and none of them included the normal undergrad lifestyle,” said Weatherly, who is in town this week on promotional and personal biz. “The fall of 1986 was incredible – the Red Sox and Mets in the World Series, Elvis Costello and Aimee Mann at the Orpheum. I had to go off and join the circus!”

Irrepressible, hunky Michael Weatherly of CBS’s “NCIS” refuses to be pinned down on the season-ending story of the show, which will include the departure of a major character. “I feel bad that this is being put out that someone is leaving “NCIS.” People assume it’s one of the actors, but it’s a guy in wardrobe,” he deadpans. “Zippy, we called him, because he was the guy who installed all the zippers.

CBS has ordered one new installment of The Amazing Race for next season versus the two installments it ordered for this season.
The network caution follows the 9-11 p.m. debut of Race on Feb. 28, when it averaged a 4.1 rating in adults 18-49 versus a 4.9 rating a year earlier.

But the three-time Emmy winner for best reality competition series faced tougher competition in the slot this year and, as a competitor noted, still delivered solid demos for CBS as it prepared to settle into its new 10 p.m. time period Tuesday.CBS Monday initially announced it had picked up the 10th and 11th installments of the series for next season, but later said the addition of the 11th season was a typo and that only the 10th installment for fall had received a renewal order, along with a spate of other returning shows.

Of the pickups, three were series that debuted this season: Criminal Minds, Ghost Whisperer and How I Met Your Mother.
However, not making the initial short list were veteran comedies King of Queens, Still Standing and Yes, Dear. 2005-06 freshmen Close To Home and Out of Practice also were not on the list.
In addition to the three rookies and Race, CBS also will bring back 60 Minutes, Cold Case, NCIS, Numb3rs, Survivor, Two and a Half Men, Without a Trace and all three C.S.I. shows.