In the competitive cutthroat world of television, it's easy to understand why lawyers have always managed to survive. From Perry Mason and L.A. Law to the long running legal/cop hybrid Law & Order, viewers have always been fascinated by the high stakes drama inside the offices and the courtroom. After a successful first season debut on FX, Damages returns to the airwaves in January 2009, with returning cast members Glenn Close, Rose Byrne, Tate Donovan, and former washed up Red Sox hurler turned bartender from Cheers, Ted Danson.

At the recent TCA press tour a couple of weeks ago in Los Angeles, we had a chance to catch up to Damages stars Glenn Close and Ted Danson to find out what's in store for Season 2, what the dynamics were like in the first season, and how Danson is enjoying his role as a self-made multi-billionaire. And yes, Arthur Frobisher will be returning after last season's finale.

Does working with you in the past help someone get on the show?

GLENN CLOSE [laughs] No, it actually works against them I think. Are you talking about Bill [William Hurt] in particular? No. No, I wasn't... They always ask me what I think and in this case it was, "Wow, I should be so lucky."

Can you tell me about Patty's motivation, things we learned about her towards the end of the season and how that might carry over? Any insight about that that you wanted her to give to us, the dead child?

CLOSE: Yeah, well I think you saw something incredibly private and incredibly painful, to where she's very fragile and very few people know about that I think. So that's still to be worked out. I think in the beginning of the second season Patty is suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome as well. I mean, what she went through is highly traumatic and made her lose control to the extent that she put out a hit on Ellen. So she still has a lot of very unresolved issues going on that take more energy to cover up than before. And I think it takes something very compelling to want her to jump back into the arena again.

This is your third year in an FX series, but the first one where you're returning to a familiar character. Did you have... apprehensions and are you doing this on a year to year basis, or have you made a standard series commitment?

CLOSE: I've made a standard series commitment, but I don't think about it much. [laughs I don't think about that with Paddy because I think she's such an incredibly rich character and I can't begin to fathom what will come out of minds of these three guys here. So for me it's a consummate creative experience, and I love the fact I'm with a team of actors that we can basically deliver anything that they ask for, but I wouldn't presume to know what that's going to be. So in many ways the peeling away the many layers of this character is a revelation for me as well as for the audience. I really have gotten into that, I think it's just fun. I think it's an amazing mind game and I really like the whole process.

Everybody knows you as Sam Malone and Becker and so forth, but you've done a lot of other things. Have you ever done a character that is whatever Arthur is - evil, dirty, dark. Have you ever done one that seriously evil before?

TED DANSON: Only when I work with Glenn. I'd guess you'd have to say that the incestuous father wasn't a nice guy. But no, I've never had carte blanche to be as narcissistic, except in life, as I have in this part .

Is it the most fun to play this kind of a person or is it more fun to be an easy going, womanizing, bartender.

DANSON: When you're in your thirties, it's much more fun to be the easy going womanizing bartender. [laughs]When you're in your sixties, this is way more fun.

You've gone from The Shield to Damages. I'm wondering if you personally see your character in either of these shows as sort of an arc? It seems the only thing they have in common is they're both strong women. And also can you compare the working experience on The Shield to Damages?

CLOSE: I don't think they're related at all, I've never thought that. To create Monica in The Shield, I actually was very lucky to meet an actual commanding officer in New York, who was at the time the only female commanding officer of all of the precincts. And I was so impressed by her that I said, "I want to be you and I want you to check in regularly to make sure I'm doing okay." So I definitely had somebody in mind that I wanted to - She was very inspirational to me. Patty Hewes, to me, is a totally different creature. And though I did a lot of research with women who are at the top of their fields, then you just go off and you have to create your own character.

The Shield I didn't have - I wasn't the star and I didn't have kind of that weight on my shoulders, though the working experiences are very much the same in that I was with an extraordinary ensemble of actors and I consider myself part of that ensemble. And for me, at this point in my career, you choose to do things that will be worth leaving your family for, going out of your house and going to work. And I have to say, honestly, I'm lucky to be working in New York where I live, and I look forward to it every day. It's the process for me. We don't know how it's going to be edited, we don't know how it's going to be marketed, so what we have is the joy of the process and we do have that. When I see all of these guys, I think I have the possibility of doing scenes with, it's about playing, it's about collaboration and it's basic to our craft. So I feel every day for me is a great creative adventure, an imaginative adventure. So I'm very energized by it.

Can you talk a little bit about your appearances on Curb Your Enthusiasm and how do you fit those into your schedule. Is it just Larry David calling you saying, "Hey, I've got an idea."

DANSON: Working with Larry, it's Larry's world. So he just assumes that when he picks up the phone you will come, and we do. You know, it's as whimsical as this, I have no idea. The phone rings and for some sad reason I'm available, so I'm off to do Curb or Damages.

Ted, can you talk about what [Arthur] Frobisher did for your career? I think a lot of people took another look at you. Have you been getting more evil characters?

DANSON: The writer's strike was an unfortunate little moment and now the potential - I don't know, yes, to answer your question, absolutely. And I'm still very much available to do Larry David's - so I don't know. I'm hoping yes, let's go with yes. [laughs]

What about the reception? I mean the reviews I was reading. You were getting some of the best reviews of your career.

DANSON: True. Nice, huh? [laughs] You know, I don't know how to answer that, except I am so grateful to part of this cast, to be part of this show. For me that part is hard to tell. If I had 400 film scripts in my lap, I could be a little more arrogant about my answer. But for me, what it did was, it made me really excited about going to work as an actor again. And that is worth everything to me. I'm really excited to be acting and that had kind of diminished for me a little bit, so I'm really grateful for that.