The Rhea World

These days they're very much a part of that high-powered Hollywood scene, living in Beverly Hills with their children, Lucy, 13, Gracie, 11, and Jake, 8. A longtime family friend of the couple notes that ''DeVito is driven, the workaholic. Rhea's the calm one who balances him out.'' Says Perlman: ''He makes me laugh. I rely on him a lot for his opinion. We have ups and downs, but it's mostly been a lot of ups.''

Many of those ups have been because of their success in television, despite unconventional looks and stature (DeVito measures five feet, Perlman's an inch taller). After moving to L.A. in 1975, DeVito got the plum part of Louie De Palma on Taxi; four years later, Perlman landed Cheers. They starred in a feature film together for the first time in this year's Matilda, which DeVito (Hoffa, The War of the Roses) also directed. ''We've never been competitive,'' Perlman insists. ''We were always grateful that at least one of us was working. But if I hadn't gotten Cheers, it might not have been so easy.''

Longtime pal and Cheers costar Kirstie Alley describes Perlman as ''up for anything. If you asked her to jump out of a plane with you, or start a water fight on the set, she would. And she's a great mom. She doesn't farm her kids out to other people.'' That will still be the case should her new series prove to be a long-running hit. ''The kids are the center of our existence,'' Perlman says. ''Then the work.''

Her work on Pearl seems to be paying off, with good reviews and impressive ratings for its Sept. 16 premiere (the sitcom will move from Mondays to Wednesdays on Oct. 23). After Cheers closed its doors, Perlman says she ''wanted to do a show about how people can still follow a dream at any age...and what happens when you realize you have a lot to learn.'' She presented the idea to CBS two years ago; the concept then went through ''a million incarnations.'' Perlman and sitcom vet Don Reo (M*A*S*H, Blossom), who serve as coexecutive producers, worked on the pilot script for nine months, producing 52 drafts.

The two are confident they can sustain enthusiasm — and plotlines — beyond the first season, even though Pearl currently focuses on a yearlong humanities course, taught by the insufferably arrogant Professor Pynchon, played by Malcolm McDowell. Notes Reo pointedly, ''M*A*S*H kept the Korean War going for 11 years, and in real life it lasted only 3.''

If all else fails, perhaps Pearl has an evil twin named Carla.