Fearless factor.

Byline: Mike Duffy

When he first heard about "Boomtown," Mykelti Williamson wasn't exactly jumping for joy.

"I didn't even want to do TV anymore. I had already decided `I'm going back to movies,' " says the 42-year-year-old character actor, best known for his memorable 1994 performance as down-home Bubba opposite Tom Hanks in "Forrest Gump." The reason for Williamson's antipathy to TV?

He'd just gone through a painful experience on "The Fugitive," a CBS updating of the famous film and classic TV series, which had been picked as one of the "can't miss" new hits for the 2000 fall season.

Well, it missed ... badly. "The Fugitive" disappeared after one brief season, misplacing its narrative clarity after a dynamic pilot episode, though Williamson's first-rate performance as Lt. Gerard glowed throughout the show's abbreviated run. Nevertheless, it was a bitter disappointment.

So when Williamson's agent suggested that he really should read the "Boomtown" script, he did so only …