Here is what you want to do... you make a table with a background image and put background color in some of the table cells. All this looks good in Internet Explorer, but the moment you check it in Netscape, you get a rude shock. Netscape blatantly ignores the BGCOLOR attribute of <TD>, overriding it with the BACKGROUND (image) of <TABLE>.

Here is how the table would look... (the table has a picture of Freddie Mercury as its background). Note: Internet Explorer users might not know the difference since the two tables below are rendered in the same manner. Hence, it is recommended that you view this page in Netscape.

Here is a simple solution to your problem.
Put a BACKGROUND attribute in each <TD> where a background color is desired and supply it with a URL of a 1X1 pixel transparent .gif image. The code for <TD> which works both in Netscape and I.E. is:

<TD BGCOLOR="#color_you_desire" BACKGROUND="blank.gif"> Cell Contents</TD>