TOO SEXY: Shahi’s character on “The L Word,” Carmen de la Pica Morales, gets a lot more screen time this season.

The actors from "Brokeback Mountain" are getting heaps of praise for going the distance during their brief same-sex love scenes. Big deal. If you've ever caught an episode of "The L Word," there's an endless supply of incredibly graphic girl-on-girl action.
"I haven't seen "'Brokeback' yet. But all this fuss about guys making out with other guys is driving me up a wall. We're actors. We should all be able to do this," Sarah Shahi says from her apartment in Los Angeles.
Shahi must be one heck of an actress. On "The L Word," her sex scenes practically sizzle. She plays the sultry Carmen de la Pica Morales, an up-and-coming D.J. who was introduced last season. For the new season, which premieres Sunday, Shahi receives much more screen time. So does her onscreen relationship with androgynous bed-hopper Shane McCutcheon (Katherine Moenning).
Born in Euless, Shahi has come a long way. In the late '70s, her parents fled the Islamic fundamentalist grip was choking Iran. In fact, Shahi (birth name Aahoo Jahansouzshahi) is a direct descendant of Fath Ali Shah of the Qajar Dynasty. But little Sarah didn't have difficulty assimilating to Texas culture: In 1997, she was crowned Miss Fort Worth.
"My mom's as American as apple pie. When I was 10, she told me that my boob was no different than my hand," Shahi says.
And then, slipping into a Farsi accent, she imitates her mom, a Dallas resident and an avid "L Word" watcher: "I think lesbianism is hot," she laughs.
During her senior year at Trinity High School, Shahi became a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. A few months later, she enrolled at Southern Methodist University to study opera.

BRING IT ON: In 2000, Shahi was the Cowboy Cheerleaders’ calendar covergirl .

When Robert Altman made "Dr. T and the Women" in Dallas, Shahi got her first taste of Hollywood, playing a Cowboy cheerleader. Actually, when the cheerleading honchos heard that the Altman's story included a lesbian cheerleader, they refused to let official uniforms be used in the film.
"I never heard that before," Shahi says. "When you're a cheerleader, they just give you a pair of boots and pompons and tell you where to go."
Meeting Altman was influential: The filmmaker encouraged Shahi to pursue an acting career. So in 2000, she quit SMU and moved to Los Angeles.
She landed some bit parts in the films like "Old School" and the TV show "Alias." But "The L Word" has significantly helped her burgeoning career.
It's a safe bet that Shahi star will only grow brighter in the next year or so. She recently finished shooting the newest Christopher Guest film, "For Your Consideration," where she plays a news anchor on a TV show called "Wake Up, L.A." She also stars in a new NBC series called "Teachers," which is expected to air this spring.
During the Christmas holidays, Shahi visited Dallas. "But I didn't go out," she says. "I just relaxed and chilled out on my mom's couch while she made me food."
And she's never hit Big D's gay nightlife scene.
"In school, all I did was study, rehearse and work," she explains. "On weekends, I went to my mom's. Sundays I cheered at Cowboy games. And on Sunday night, I was back in my dorm room."
But in the sex department, she has "dabbled" with women.
"Yeah, but that wasn't in Dallas. Only when I moved away," she says. "You know how when you're young and you move to a new city and start experimenting?"

LOCAL "'L WORD' PREMIERE
The Human Rights Campaign and Showtime team up to premiere the third season of "The L Word" On Sunday at Station 4, come dressed as your favorite character which means copping the look of exceptionally stylish and rather thin West Hollywood dykes. First place wins $75; second place, $50, third place $25.
Station 4, 3911 Cedar Springs Road. Jan. 8. Doors at 3 p.m., show time at 5 p.m. Limited seating. To RSVP, send an email to HRCDFW@yahoo.com.

FAITH IN "'DANIEL'

FATHER AND GAY SON: Quinn, left, and Campbell.

If the American Family Association hadn't launched a boycott against "The Book of Daniel," NBC might have canned it after the first five episodes. But now that the show has ignited moral outrage, let's hope it gets picked up.
In the series, Aidan Quinn plays Daniel Webster, a pill-popping Episcopal priest, who chitchats regularly with Jesus. Daniel has a queer Log Cabin Republican son (Christian Campbell), a smart-alecky, pot-peddling daughter and an adopted Asian son with a killer bod, by the way.
The series is an obvious cut-and-paste job on "Six Feet Under": Instead of Fischer & Sons funeral home, the main setting is a priest's residence. Instead of visits from an omnipotent dead father, we have Jesus. Instead of too-cool-artist daughter Claire Fisher, we have Grace Webster, the so-over-it computer animator.
The problem with "Book of Daniel" is that it does way too much, too soon. In the first two episodes, there's murder, embezzlement, an arrest, bisexual lesbianism and the Mafia. But this is NBC, not HBO. And with shows like "Everyone Loves Raymond" dominating the Emmys last year, you have to give NBC credit for being provocative. However, the gay Republican is so immaculately wholesome he's seems more boring than Mary Cheney.
Don't give up hope just yet. "Book of Daniel" seems desperate for attention. I'll keep tuning in only to see if the already hinted-at flirting between the adopted son and daughter switches gears and takes a same-sex turn. Which wouldn't be too farfetched.
Grade: B-
Premieres with back-to-back episodes on Jan. 6 at 8 p.m. on Channel 5.