DOWNEY'S ACTION SELFISH

What a trooper that Robert Downey Jr. is.

Apparently the embattled actor -- who, only three months ago, was
released from prison after serving time for drug possession -- is not
letting his recent drug arrest stand in the way of fulfilling his
commitment to Ally McBeal.

"He's concentrating on work and himself," said spokesman Alan Nierob
of his troubled client, who was back on Ally's set yesterday. "He's a
recovering addict. Recovering addicts have lapses. He's working hard
at his sobriety as he has for the last 18 months."

Downey Jr. was part way through filming his ninth episode -- he has a
10-episode contract -- when he was arrested on the weekend in a Palm
Springs, Calif., hotel after the cops were tipped off by an anonymous
911 caller.

Since his release on bail Sunday, Downey has been under the care of
the Walden House, a California residential support group, and is
staying at an undisclosed location. He is scheduled to be arraigned
Dec. 27 on charges of cocaine and methamphetamine possession.

"We certainly hope he'll be part of it (the show) and if he is that
will be wonderful, and if not we have Anne Heche coming in for three
episodes" as a guest star, Gail Berman, Fox's programming chief, told
a news conference. "We have our wishes and prayers with him but we
have a television show to produce."

The irony here is that perhaps a commitment to TV may have played a
large role in the actor's return to a world of drugs.

Think about it. Episodic TV is a grind. Add to that the pressure
Downey Jr. must have felt after he was canonized by fans and critics
alike as the saviour of this stupid show.

Pressure like that is huge and when you are a drug addict pressure is
a powder keg.

What's interesting in all this is how Downey's troubles made this
week's Ally seem even poignant as the line between the character Larry
Paul and the person Robert Downey Jr. was eerily blurred.

In case you missed it, while the lawyers whooped it up -- they do a
lot of that -- Larry was subdued, suspended in his own world.

Turns out he was sad about being estranged from his young son. Downey
- -- due to his prison stays -- has also been estranged from his
pre-school-aged son.

The show's melancholy feel is magnified as Paul slides into the bar
one afternoon, sits down at the piano and plays a version of "Jingle
Bells" guaranteed to knock any holiday spirit out of your system. That
numbskull Ally -- I'm sorry, I've so had it with this character --
sees him and melts. The pair then convene at her place and sing "White
Christmas."

Those dispirited deliveries of classic carols and Downey's obvious
talent go a long way to making his woes seem more troubling and his
actions even more selfish.

Let's face it. Even after doing more than a year of hard time, he
still chooses drugs over anything else in his life. Thanks to that
preference, he faces a maximum of one year in state prison or county
jail on each of the two possession charges. He also faces between 90
days and one year on the charge of being under the influence. And
because the state of California doesn't look kindly on repeat
offenders, he could find himself in jail for a very long time.

While Ally fans and critics who must watch the show will mourn the
fact that Downey is gone for good, the biggest losers are Downey, the
people close to him and a system that treats drug addicts as heinous
criminals -- not people suffering from a severe illness.