Jerry O’Connell tells us he’s glad that he and Jim Belushi are able to “split the duties” on their Sept. 22-debuting “The Defenders” CBS series. “That sort of helps it,” he says, speaking of his hectic, chaotic work and family life.

O’Connell and wife Rebecca Romijn’s twin daughters, Dolly and Charlie, who turn two at year’s end, “really are cute, but they’re such a handful. They’re at that age where they wander off and you just always have to watch them. We’re looking into getting those leashes for them. Seriously,” he says. “They’re starting to fight with each other.

“My wife is great. My wife is with them all the time. I owe her a trip or a piece of jewelry,” adds the actor, who did Mr. Mom duty last year when Rebecca was in production with her short-lived “Eastwick” series. Helpfully, Charlie and Dolly “are going to sleep pretty early these days.”

It sounds like Jerry and Jim have already bonded on the show in which they play a rowdy pair of Las Vegas attorneys who are well-acquainted with the seedy side of life. “I’m learning a tremendous amount from Jim. He’s got those Second City improv roots, you know, and 10 years with ‘The World According to Jim.’ He’s such a creative guy, he bring so much to every scene, every day – really dramatic, funny and vulnerable,” Jerry says.

Those of you who were around in 1987 would remember the film adaptation of John Updike’s book The Witches of Eastwick. It was about three suburban wives who were visited by a devilish man called Daryl Van Horne. His occult powers drew them into his wickedly erotic games. The film starred Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer and Susan Sarandon, with Jack Nicholson playing Van Horne (aka the Devil).

Since then, there has been a 1992 TV remake. In 2002, there was talk of a TV series, but that was canned. Now Eastwick is finally back, directed by Maggie Freidman, who is calling it an extension of Desperate Housewives with a dash of black magic.

“It’s a show about empowerment showing how ‘woman power’ can be magical but also real. It’s just that in this show, the reality will be a little heightened.”

It stars Rebecca Romijn as lead “witch” Roxie, a free-spirited bohemian who is suspected of killing her husband and of having a young lover. Joanne (Lindsay Price) is a shy journalist and Kat (Jamie Ray Newman) is a mother of five with a drunken, loutish husband. Enter the devilishly charming Daryl Van Horne (Paul Gross) to tempt this group of “desperate housewives”.

Eastwick was harshly criticised by the press and the “religious Right”, and all ideas of a Second Season were dropped, but it will probably get a cult following.

Since giving birth to twins girls in December 2008, Rebecca Romijn admits that it hasn’t been easy to shed the 60 pounds of baby weight she gained during her pregnancy.

“I’m still working on the last few pounds of baby weight,” Romijn, 37, tells UsMagazine.com. “I really just try to work in a half hour of some sort of workout routine every day. I try to break a sweat every day. It doesn’t always happen that way, but that’s the goal.”

Romijn — who wed actor Jerry O’Connell in July 2007 — also reveals that nowadays, her workouts are more of a family affair.

“We play a lot of badminton, we go tandem bike riding, we try to keep it fun,” the former Eastwick star says. “We try to do things as a couple and now as a family.”

And now that daughters Charlie and Dolly are 19-months-old, Romijn jokes that the two are already starting to become little troublemakers.

“We took the girls on their first merry-go-round ride. One of them was really into it and the other wasn’t having it,” the actress tells Us. “We went for a surry ride with the fringe on top — it’s like a bicycle with the baby seats in the front. They were instructed to wear helmets but they kept trying to take them off. Then they discovered it was more fun to bash each other in the heads with their helmets!”