Kelley's Heroes

"It's one of those things you choose not to think about," whispers Peter MacNicol, who plays John "The Biscuit" Cage, an even weirder lawyer on the show (the one who whistles through his nose in court).

Even Kelley seems to realize there are limits to how many legal pads he can fill up in a week. "It's probably going to be a bigger problem with Ally," he concedes. "The Practice is a little more conventional. Its stories are more linear. So it's more accessible to other writers coming in. But Ally is more voice oriented. The characters are much more distinct.

"You know," he goes on, "I've always looked at The Practice and Ally as the tortoise and the hare. Ally was so unconventional and different it was easy for people to seize upon it right away. It's pop. It's fun. It's escapism. But that will make it harder to keep it fresh and original in the long run. The network will scream to hear me say this, but it strikes me that Ally is a five-year show. It'll be tough to do it more than that. Of course, Fox would probably be happy to have Calista come in and read the phone book for a sixth year."

Over on The Practice's soundstage, the five-year plan looks a bit brighter. Ironically, the show that's still crawling across the airwaves to find a following could turn out to be the one that sticks around the longest. At least one Practice actress--Camryn Manheim, who took home an Emmy last week for her role as the show's outspoken Ellenor--sees justice in that eventuality. "After all we've been through," she says, "we're finally getting our reward."

Another fabulously successful, amazingly prolific storyteller--fellow by the name of Aesop--put it best: "Slow and steady wins the race." And he wasn't even married to a movie star.