-l 0 - N |vo 6 t]l s.</p><p> By MICHAEL GIITZ T h" hottest couple on teen I TV nearly broke up over I New Year's.</p><p> Not |essica and Nick.</p><p> Drake Bell and |osh Peck, stars of the hit Nickelodeon series "Dmke&)osh," nearly came to an end three weeks ago today when a guy fell asleep at the wheel and slammed head-on into Drake's vintage Mustang.</p><p> The Mustang, a1966 model, of course had no air bags and no shoulder harness.</p><p> Suddenly, a week before their first TV movie, "Dnke & fostt GoTbHollywood" r,r/as set to debut, the highest-rated show among'tweens - that awkwardly. named group of9- to l4-year-olds - was in serious trouble. "I don't have kids, but I imagine the feeling I got when I got the call was very much like a parent's feeling," the show's creator, Dan Schneider, says. "I knew his face had been cut pretty bad and his jaw had been smashed," he says. "But that stuff is cosmetic. and we all knew we could fixthat. "But he alsohad a slight neck fracture, and that was what was really scary. "He easily could have beenkilled or found himself in a wheelchair." "Drake & Josh Go To Holly'wood" aired as scheduled last Friday to an audience ofover 5 million viewers - the biggest thing on Nick in five years.</p><p> The series, now in its third season, is about two high- school classmates who know each other only slightly - until Drake's divorced mom and |osh's father started dating and eventually marry.</p><p> Suddenly the boys - Drake, the handsome, rock-band leader who gets all the girls, and fosh, the exuberant, portly tag-along - are stepbrothers and roommates.</p><p> The act is pure Dean Martin and jerry Lewis - and it still works.</p><p> Both actors are 19 years old.</p><p> Schneider - a mini-mogul around Nickelodeon who has created a string of hit shows for the network, including "Zoey lol" and "Kenan&Kel'- built the segies around their chenristry. "Drake has the market comered on cool," says Schneider.</p><p> Josh "has got this jackie Gleason quality," he says. "Not only can fosh do the physical comedy and the pratfalls, but he can also sell a soohisticated joke and a touching moment."As is often the case, Drake and |osh did not hit it off right away.</p><p> But things improved when both were cast on "The AmandaShow." "I walked into'The Amanda Show,"' remembers Josh.'And he said,'You do comedy, huh?' I said.'Yeah.' He said.'Tell me a joke.'So I told him a joke from my act, and he laughed hysterically.</p><p> So I thought, 'He can't be all bad if he thinks I'm funny."' Now they're best pals. ]osh was one of the first people at the hospital the day of the accident.</p><p> Drake is out of the hospital, recovering at home.</p><p> He is sitting around and playing his gtri1x1, t"tt Schneider.</p><p> But his jaw is wired shut, and he is restricted to a liquid diet until it heals.</p><p> Plastic surgeons will take care ofthe scar on his iaw after that, says the producer.</p><p> Production on Season 4 of "Drake & Josh" was halted, but is expected to resume in mid-March.
