Downey Back on 'Ally

By Stephen M. Silverman

05/19/1998 at 12:00 AM EDT

Though he faces a court hearing next Wednesday in his latest drug possession case, Robert Downey Jr.., 35, has agreed to appear on eight more episodes of the Fox series "Ally McBeal," it was announced on Wednesday. As the on-air love interest of the show's star Calista Flockhart, Downey has already appeared on 10 episodes of the series and picked up a Golden Globe award for his role. This new announcement would suggest that the actor -- who only got out of a California state penitentiary last August -- had assured his producers that his legal troubles would not interfere with his working schedule. But Downey's attorney, Robert Waters, told Reuters that no plea bargain agreement has been struck with prosecutors. In a series of statements released by Fox TV, Downey said, "Working on 'Ally McBeal' has been such a satisfying process that I am grateful to have been asked to continue on for the remainder of the season." Chimed in series' producer David E. Kelley: "Robert is an incredible talent, and he and Calista just push each other to new levels week after week."