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Formerly an executive producer for Moonlighting and a writer for Hill Street Blues, Director has exploited his experience to craft a deft send-up of the TV industry. Sidelined by writer's block, Billy Ziff, staff writer for a cop show, fears imminent dismissal. When he stumbles upon an abrasive, alcoholic priest who serves the Dreams Come True Foundation, Father Joey is born. The series-about a priest who fulfills the last wishes of the terminally ill-becomes a megahit. Americans embrace the show with tube-and-Bible parties. The Post Office plans a Father Joey stamp. The Smithsonian requests his collar. Off the soundstage, however, things are less sound. A trio of wily producers stalk Billy. Fawning adulation inflates the show's already egomaniacal star, Tony Paris. Things really sour when Billy makes two nearly simultaneous discoveries: his anti-ulcer medication reduces sperm count and motility; and Dayna, his wife, is pregnant. Suspecting Tony of fathering the child, Billy commits creative acts of revenge in the editing room, fashioning a scandalous year-end episode which not only zaps Tony but also infuriates a nation of viewers. (""They were pissed off in Paramus. Aggrieved in Asheville. Burned in Brattleboro."") The title refers to the domestic tranquillity to which Billy returns, after leaving the wiles of Hollywood far behind. Billy's first-person narrative solidifies an energetic novel that's punchy and funny, economical and driven by a slangy erudition. (Mar.)