Shooting star; Sarasota native Carla Gugino wasn't looking for a TV show when the script for 'Karen Sisco' came along.(FLORIDA WEST)

Byline: JAY HANDELMAN jay.handelman@heraldtribune.com

MIAMI -- Carla Gugino spent her birthday working.

But the Sarasota-born actress didn't mind. She was having a great time filming a new episode of her ABC drama "Karen Sisco."

She smiled and blushed as the large crew surrounded her to sing "Happy Birthday" during a brief break in filming outside a beautiful, white stucco and glass waterfront house that stands in for the home of Karen's father, Marshall Sisco, played by movie and television veteran Robert Forster.

The series, which has its debut at 10 p.m. Wednesday (on WWSB-Ch. 40, WFTS-Ch. 28, WZVN-Ch. 26) is based on the film "Out of Sight," which starred George Clooney with Jennifer Lopez as Karen Sisco.

Based on complex and slightly offbeat characters created by detective novelist Elmore Leonard, "Karen Sisco" is about a U.S. marshal living in Miami who would rather spend time off with her father, a highly successful private detective, …