Cbs Pairs Danson, Steenburgen As Divorced Journalists In ‘Ink’

Ted Danson had better be really nice to his new wife, Mary Steenburgen. If not, he’ll have to answer to the president.

Steenburgen, amid a small circle of reporters after a press conference for the couple’s new comedy series, “Ink,” recalls the time Bill Clinton put her husband-to-be on official notice.

“I mean, he’s like my big brother,” Steenburgen says of the president. “So Bill did this whole big-brother number about how, ‘If you ever hurt her’ and all this stuff.”

Ten months after their marriage, the two still seem firmly entranced with one another. “Madly in love,” to be specific.

Not only that, they’re big-time pals with the president. Steenburgen, a native of Little Rock, Ark., knew Clinton long before he became the world’s biggest somebody.

“It’s harder now to get together,” she says of their friendship. “But once we do, it’s very much the same as it always was. If anything, I think we’re closer than we’ve ever been. The Clintons need people who know who they really are. It’s been nice for them to draw on those friendships.”

Steenburgen and Danson play a divorced couple in “Ink,” which premieres this fall on Monday nights at 8:30 following the new “Cosby.” As Jack and Carrie Brittenham, they still work uneasily together at the struggling New York Sun newspaper, where she’s just been named his boss.

“We didn’t want to play exactly what we are,” Steenburgen says. “We didn’t want to comment on our life together and try to make some TV version of that. I can’t imagine that it would be too appealing to anyone in America to watch that. It’s distasteful to us.”

“Ink” is Danson’s first TV series since NBC’s legendary “Cheers.”

“I was always a big ‘Cheers’ fan. That was the one show I wouldn’t miss,” Steenburgen says. “And I had met Ted over the years two or three times. I thought he was a really nice, funny, sweet man. But I never, ever, never would have guessed in a million years that I’d end up falling madly in love with him and marrying him. Ever.”

Each has two children from previous marriages, “and they are by no means the Brady Bunch, unless there was a much more demented Brady Bunch that was invented,” Steenburgen jokes.

Three of the children are teenagers, Danson hesitantly volunteers. They are purposely vague on further details because “the other parents of these children are out and about, and it’s kind of awkward to talk about families,” Steenburgen says.

Her ex-husband, Malcolm McDowell, is co-starring with Rhea Perlman on Wednesday nights this fall in the new CBS series “Pearl.”

Before “Ink,” Steenburgen and Danson played husband and wife last season on NBC’s acclaimed adaptation of “Gulliver’s Travels.” The experience convinced them they were meant to work together in times when their shared children are spending their last years at home.

“You don’t want to have what happens to so many relationships,” Steenburgen says. “You go out and have a whole other experience, and the other person can only hear about it over the telephone. For us, this is a real affirmation of what we want in life.”

The pilot episode of “Ink” isn’t entirely what the stars or CBS executives wanted. Entertainment president Leslie Moonves says the show needs work, but will right itself. Danson says the recently filmed second episode is “a lot funnier, and actually could be used as the first episode.”

“It’s one of those things where I don’t disclaim the baby,” he says. “It has some funny little marks on it at the moment, but it’s growing and I’m very excited about it. … I’m proud of us, too. We didn’t come roaring out of the chute effortlessly, and we’re really rolling up our sleeves and working together.”

Steenburgen compares the experience to making pancakes. “You throw out the first one, but that doesn’t mean the last pancake wasn’t darn good.”

Danson, outfitted with a hair helmet in “Cheers,” has decided to let the world see his pancake-size bald spot in “Ink.” He is asked whether he has “come to terms” with his hair.

“Yeah, I have, actually,” he answers after a few false starts. “I have to admit, when you’re 37 and losing hair, it’s pretty rough. Now I’m madly in love. I could give a …

“Besides,” he adds, “my hair is not my problem. I look in the mirror, and I look fantastic. When I turn my back to you, then you’ve got a problem. So I have empathy for you, but I’m quite happy.

“I’m happy to say that I’m the proud owner of contacts and a bald spot. So there you are.”