House of Usher

When ''Sabrina, the Teenage Witch'' needed an R&B lothario to play a witchy ''love doctor'' who offers advice in song, one name came to mind. Well, two. ''Although Barry White musically would have been right, I don't think our audience would know him,'' says exec producer Paula Hart. ''Usher is perfect.'' Hart says ''Sabrina'' is ''stunt-casting roles wherever we can'' and, following a season opener with Sisqó also filmed episodes with Hanson and Vitamin C.

For Usher, his February sweeps appearance isn't just to promote his top 10 album ''8701'' but to ''reintroduce myself to Hollywood. After I did 'Moesha' [in 1997], I received offers to do my own sitcom,'' which he nixed. Now he's itching for his own show and would ''love to segue between dance and acting, the way Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire did.... I'm hungry for it. I really want to move to L.A. I want to get in where I fit in, you hear me?'' Dude, u got it bad.

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