Ted Danson Happy to Play Glenn Close's Adversary in FX's "Damages"

Ted Danson says he's enjoying a respite from comedy now that he's playing Glenn Close's adversary in the FX "Damages" series premiering next Tuesday (7/24) -- with Danson as the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, and Close as the hurricane-force high-end attorney out to win a class action suit against him at all costs.

Ted Danson Plays Glenn Close's Adversary in FX's "Damages"

"Comedy has this kind of music in the background that you need to follow," notes the multi-sitcom veteran who immortalized barkeep Sam Malone in "Cheers. "It's really nice not to have to do that for a while. This is kind of like an old-fashioned potboiler in that I don't know what's happening next. I keep opening scripts and going 'Holy moly -- I didn't see that coming.'"

He's a sight to behold, in scenes including Danson's leather-clad character shouting on a cell phone amidst the mud and motorcycle pandemonium of a motocross course, ticked off at his brother-in-law's life-threatening injury. "That motocross thing came straight out of Enron," says Ted, who studied -- and spoke to -- real-life CEOs to get the feel of his character on the show that also stars Rose Byrne. "These are all very macho guys, who get cart blanche to do what they want."

 Yet it's not certain just how bad a guy he is. "I think that's one of the purposes of this; the writers are working in that gray area. People who do bad things aren't all bad, and those who do good things are not all good. Glenn Close's character's personality is at best ambiguous."

Danson points out that he and Close previously worked together in "Something About Amelia," the acclaimed 1984 TV film that dealt with incest. They've been friendly since, and "obviously, she's a big draw. She picks really good material, so it obviously interested me. God knows when I'll actually work with her," he adds. So far, their characters are firing shots at each other from within their respective camps -- figuratively speaking.

GET OVER IT ALREADY: "Greek" co-star Spencer Grammer has a few choice words for those college student protestors who mounted an online protest to keep the ABC Family Channel's new "Greek" series off the air because of its portrayal of the Greek system of sororities and fraternities.

"Apparently a lot of people are angry about it and I'm like, 'Lighten up, you guys. It's just a TV show,'" says the daughter of TV icon Kelsey Grammer. "The people who hated our show hadn't even seen it yet. And that's fine. That's what happens. Everyone may have preconceived notions, but you have to be willing to give it a chance and accept it for what it is. Our show isn't trying to tell everybody the Greek system is an awful thing," adds Spencer, who plays a sorority member. "It's a TV show entertaining people and giving them something to laugh about or cry about. It's not about hating. And it's not really just about sororities and fraternities. It's about your college experiences and the main college experience is that you learn who you are."

THE VIDEOLAND VIEW: James Kyson Lee's Ando Masahashi becomes "a full-fledged regular" on "Heroes" in the new season, the actor is glad to report. As far as he is concerned, Ando, who started off as the rather reckless and feckless pal of Hiro (Masi Oka) on the NBC hit, "has gone through one of the biggest growth transformations of all the characters. He started off thinking Hiro was living in a fantasyland, but slowly became a believer. Now he's started spearheading some of their actions. He's an important part of this mission, even though he doesn't have powers right now. That's something people can latch onto -- the idea of facing danger knowing you're mortal and don't have super abilities. Ando plays the perspective of an audience member, and asks a lot of the questions viewers would ask."

The Seoul-born, Bronx-bred Lee says that as far as socializing with the rest of the "Heroes" cast, "We try to when we have time, but there's not a lot of time. We work at such a frenetic pace. One week I had to shoot four different scenes with four different directors. It was insane."

WHEN YOU'RE HOT: Since his critically acclaimed indie film "Over the GW" became the first feature-length film in Slamdance's 12-year history to get a distribution deal after its first screening, nascent actor/producer George Gallagher has been on a serious fast track. "It's unbelievable. I'm on rocket fuel now," says Gallagher, who plays a troubled young man whose family commits him to a New Jersey treatment center where a 30-day stretch turns into two years of imprisonment, physical abuse and brainwashing in the fact-based indie drama. Among his projects, Gallagher's working with writer Allan Knee, who wrote "The Man Who Was Peter Pan," (the play on which the 2004 Oscar-winning "Finding Neverland" was based) on "a modern day telling of 'Sweet Bird of Youth' called 'Jake's World,'" he says. "It's about an artist who meets a down-and-out aging actress, and they end up using each other till she betrays him."