If the new episodes can capture the bantering charisma of Steenburgen, 43, and Danson, 48, CBS could very well have that hit. For, lovey-dovey though they may be, 11 months of wedded bliss does not preclude some very appealing sparring. Take, for example, the couple's recent visit with their friends the Clintons. ''I started telling Bill about a dinner that Ted and I had been to where we did this little skit,'' begins Steenburgen, ''and I said, 'Okay, Bill, so it went like this — Ted, do what you said!' And Ted's looking at me with, like, total horror, that I'm going to act out this skit in the Oval Office for the President. I can embarrass him to death,'' she adds gleefully.
Danson — who earned two Emmys during his 11 years as cocksure Sam Malone on Cheers — has his revenge during Ink rehearsals, lavishing pointers upon his Oscar-winning-but-still-a-sitcom-rookie wife. (Steenburgen won Best Supporting Actress for 1980's Melvin and Howard.) ''I don't even give her a chance to ask me for advice,'' Danson chuckles. ''I'm shooting my mouth off every two seconds. 'Step over here and do that. It's funnier if you do this.'''
Friendly competition, claims the actor, makes for quality TV. ''Acting, if done in the right way, is a competitive sport. Obviously you're a team, so you don't want the other person to lose. But you also kind of do. Someone goes, 'Watch this,' and you go, 'Yeah? Well, watch this.' In that way you build on each other, in a good way.''
In the end, however, Steenburgen says she usually wins: ''I just hold up my Oscar.''
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