"Scandalous Me: The Jacqueline Susann Story" (which airs tonight at 9 on USA) is the first of two biopics of the author of the 1966 trash classic, "Valley of the Dolls." But Michele Lee ("Knots Landing"), who executive produced the TV film and stars as the campy writer, says that contrary to printed reports (and the spirit of "Valley"'s catfighting), there was no competition between her project and the Bette Midler/Nathan Lane big-screen comedy about Susann that's currently in postproduction. "Jacqueline Susann was such a larger-than-life character that a lot of people could do her life, in many ways," says Lee. "I don't think Bette Midler could be hurt by Michele Lee's television movie. A TV movie and a theatrical movie are two different cans of peas. And I will tell you the truth: If her movie had come out before my TV movie, she would have hurt me. People that watch television always want to feel that they've seen it first."

The Susann renaissance was spurred by a 1995 New Yorker article by Michael Korda, who edited her third book, "The Love Machine." The piece documented her brash, high-profile lifestyle and dogged determination to sell herself through TV appearances and personal appearances. (It worked -- she sold 29 million copies worldwide of "Valley.") Midler's film (based on Korda's article) is an outrageous comedy while "Scandalous Me" takes a more dramatic look at Susann's life (including her death from breast cancer at 56). But each film makes a similar point. "The theme is perseverence," says Lee. "Jackie just willed (her success) to happen. She's the power of positive thinking... with a very large mouth."

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