When 'Larry' Met 'Ally'

PASADENA

The TV industry has just begun the final week of a three-week confab to present its fall wares to critics and reporters. Our Eric Mink passes along these notes. . . .

The premise is simple: What if Larry Sanders, the most neurotic male character in television, started dating the most neurotic female character in television, Ally McBeal?

Sanders, of course, was the talk-show-host protagonist of HBO's recently concluded series "The Larry Sanders Show," the star and creative force of which was Garry Shandling. McBeal is the young-lawyer protagonist of Fox' hour-long comedy "Ally McBeal," which stars Calista Flockhart in the title role.

The tantalizing and slightly scary idea of Sanders and McBeal getting together became a matter of irresistible speculation over the weekend here as Shandling — smoothly, cleverly and apparently successfully — put the moves on Flockhart in full view of dozens of TV reporters and critics.

Both stars were on hand for the annual Television Critics Association awards ceremonies — he to accept best-comedy honors; she, along with fellow cast members and "Ally McBeal" executive producer Jeffrey Kramer, to collect a new-program-of-the-year award.

As attendees filed into the banquet room where the awards were to take place, Shandling sidled over to the table where Flockhart was sitting and began chatting and joking with her.

Later, Shandling began his acceptance speech for "Larry Sanders" by complimenting "Ally McBeal," one of the other nominees in his category. "That show really should have won," he said. "Calista Flockhart is the most talented . . . " Shandling suddenly stopped, looked directly at Flockhart in the audience and said, "You're single, right?"

When the laughs died down, Shandling continued: "I thought I'd spend a few minutes up here hitting on Calista Flockhart [more laughs)]. I'm honestly not embarrassed to say that. That's how much I've grown [still more laughs]."

And when the event ended hours later, both Shandling and Flockhart (and many others) moved from the banquet room to the cozy confines of the dark-paneled hotel bar. They talked, they joked, they chatted with reporters.

It was after midnight when Shandling rose, said goodbye and left the bar, Flockhart remaining behind. But minutes later outside the hotel entrance, two TV writers saw Flockhart slip into the passenger seat of Shandling's car and drive off into the night.

None of which, cute and dishy as it is, will mean a thing to viewers unless art somehow manages to imitate life on the air. Legal complications — ownership rights to the character of Larry Sanders, for example — make it unlikely that that specific character could turn up on another show.

But that doesn't mean that Shandling couldn't play some other similarly neurotic, similarly TV-based character on an episode or two of "Ally McBeal" and find himself entangled, romantically or otherwise, with the professionally competent, personally screwed-up Ally.