PASADENA, Calif. — Lily Tomlin and Martin Short are known for making people laugh. And there aren't a whole lot of laughs in "Damages."
As a matter of fact, "Damages" is pretty much all heavy legal drama. Which is why it might come as some surprise that Tomlin and Short have joined the cast for the third season, which begins Monday at 11 p.m. on FX.
"We've been huge fans of both of theirs for really our entire lives," said executive producer Todd A. Kessler, who knows people will be expecting them to be funny. "One of the things that we try to strive for on 'Damages' is that nothing is as it seems."
This season, the show's main case pits Patty Hewes (Glenn Close) against a Bernie Madoff-like character, Louis Tobin (Len Carion), who has swindled hundreds of millions of dollars from investors.
Tomlin plays Marilyn Tobin, the matriarch of the swindler's family; Short plays Leonard Winstone, the family lawyer.
The two are new to the series, but casting against type is not new to "Damages." Sitcom star Ted Danson played tycoon/criminal Arthur Frobisher in the first two seasons.
"It continues to just amaze us to work with actors and performers who aren't always given the opportunities to do something other than what they're primarily known for," Kessler said. "We just thought it would be an amazing opportunity to work with both (Tomlin and Short) and then also have them embody this sense of nothing is as it seems."
Tomlin certainly didn't have to be convinced to sign on as a recurring character.
"I was a fan of the show from day one," she said. "It's the only show I've ever run home to see, no matter what.
"And when I'd see Glenn at an event or anything, I would just jump all over her, and I'd say, 'You've got to tell us. What's going to happen? Why can't you be on every night? Why can't you be on all year? Why do I have to wait now?' "
And then there was the time she ran into Kessler at a photography show.
"When someone told me who he was, I completely lost it," Tomlin said, adding that she jumped on him like one of those women who will "jump on a guy they know really well and put their arms around his neck and their legs around his waist."
"So I think when it came to do the third season, they thought, 'Remember that girl that jumped on you at that photography show? She really likes the show.' "
Tomlin said she was "thrilled" to be offered a part. "I didn't have a hesitation. I wanted to be on the show very, very much."
Short is well aware that he's taking somewhat of a leap with this role in terms of what people expect of him. But he doesn't think it's that big a leap in terms of acting.
"I wouldn't say I've done an endless amount of serious roles, but I think of myself as a character actor. And you play characters in a sincere fashion," Short said.
Even comedic characters like the over-the-top Franck in the "Father of the Bride" movies.
"If you're trying to be funny as that character, you won't be," Short said. "But if you sincerely play him as this eccentric person who exists in the world, then you're basically acting the character, who happens to be unusual. So I don't really look at it as a differentiation between comedy and serious."
Close has won two consecutive best-actress Emmys for her role in "Damages"; she's won a couple of Golden Globes over the years; she's been nominated five times for Academy Awards. And she's more than enthusiastic about acting with Tomlin and Short.
"It was a very surreal experience, having watched them my whole career," she said. "And I can't tell you how invigorating, inspiring, fun it is. For me, it's just pure fun. You get a well-written scene, and you have actors that can do anything that's asked of them and have a million ideas."
Tomlin has one idea she's continually pitching to the show's writers and producers.
"Well, I'm always writing (to the producers) and begging them to make me bad. I want to be a really bad character," Tomlin said.
"You don't know. You might be," interjected Close.
(And, yes, you never quite know who characters are on "Damages.")
"I want to go toe to toe with Patty," Tomlin said. "I'm sort of bad. We don't know how bad I am. What is my bottom line? (Will I) off Leonard?"
As Short laughed out loud at the prospect of his character being "offed" by Tomlin, Close joined in with her own theory about who Season 3's bad guy is.
"I think it's all Leonard, myself," she said with a laugh. "I think he's the worst. He's probably the baddest of the bad."
e-mail: pierce@desnews.com