Last May, when CBS's The Guardian wrapped its first season, Nick Fallin — as played by Simon Baker — was in sorry shape. Let's recall the attorney's docket of woes, shall we?

His father (Dabney Coleman) had sold the family firm to a crooked politician to save Nick from jail. Plus, Nick's crush Lulu (Wendy Moniz) was engaged to a sleaze who cheated on her in a bathroom stall at his own bachelor party. (And this spicy show won two Family Television Awards?!) Worse yet, the cops were about to find the corpse of junkie-urchin Mandy in Nick's home. Sheesh!

"The finale was very interesting, wasn't it," Baker tells TV Guide Online. "Every other show is about setting something up, letting it go out and pulling it back in at the end of the episode, to a degree. [Our] finale was about setting up 15 loose ends and letting them all hang!"

Can Baker hint at what's to come in season two (debuting Sept. 24)? He claims not to know. Ha! "I don't," he insists. "I'm telling you, I don't. I'm still in the show, obviously..." Well, he admits we can expect to see even more of his hard-edged yuppie's softer side. Remember that heartfelt apology Nick phoned in to his papa?

"In the [finale's] last scene, I got to reveal a side of the character to the audience that had sort of been building up the whole year," he enthuses. "I was excited about having to play that moment to call my father... and to apologize. And it was a very indirect, safe way to do it, on an answering machine. It was a great thing for me because I'm more interested in the character journey than anything else."

After a year-and-a-half of marriage — a time when many J. Lo-esque celebrity couplings already are history — actress Kate Hudson and husband Chris Robinson are going strong. In fact, the Almost Famous starlet still gets giddy at the mere mention of the Black Crowes frontman's name.

"He's truly amazing," Hudson gushes. "And he gets more amazing as our relationship goes on."

Her musician hubby — whose solo debut New Earth Mud is due out this fall — didn't always have it so easy. His much-publicized feud with brother/bandmate Rich and their hard rockin' lifestyle took a toll. But Robinson's hazel-eyed wife respects what he's overcome. "He went through a lot in his life," the 23-year-old admits. "He has dealt with a lot of things that you deal with as a musician who becomes a rock star... [especially] if he believes more in his music than being a rock star. Then, when you mix alcohol and drugs with that, you get an angry boy."