MARISKA HARGITAY and her co-star Chris Meloni have plenty of intense, serious chemistry on "Law & Order: SVU." Rarely do the detectives they portray so excellently, crack wise, laugh out loud or smile. Well, dealing with New York sex crimes is nothing to laugh about.

In real life - Chris and Mariska are just a couple of nuts.They joke, poke one another in the ribs, play tricks on each other, and seem to be light-years from their intense TV characters. Anybody who got up close and personal with these two at the recent GLAAD awards, saw the pair at their playful best.

Both these actors are extroverts, but not in a "look at me!" way. They are cooperative and patient with their many fans. Meloni, who looks younger in person, couldn't leave his table without being dragooned into personal photo ops, autographs and hand-shaking and back-slapping. He was open to each and every request. One woman shoved her male escort aside, saying as he was shaking hands with Chris, "I think he'd prefer to talk to me!"

Hargitay, observing this, quipped, "Oh, he just loves it!" She was within in earshot of Meloni who then began sending fans to her. One admirer was telling her what Meloni had said and she turned, pointed a finger at her co-star and laughed: "You're dead meat!" (Mariska was a stunner on this night, glamorous and movie star-ish. It's a nice change from her tough policewoman severity. Although that has its own sex appeal!)

Both actors seem OK with the perilously thin line "Law & Order" sometimes runs of late with their ripped-from-the-headlines plots. Asked about a recent "Michael Jackson-related" episode, Mariska said, "Well, look, it's all stuff that needs to be talked about. Of course we do alter certain facts." Speaking of Jackson himself, she commented: "It's the contrasting light and the dark that fascinates me. The magic that Michael Jackson was - his musical genius - and then all the strangeness."

Meloni approached with good-natured sarcasm, "Oh, are you being told that the 'whole Liz Smith office' loves you? Well, nobody said that to me. No 'whole office' loves me!" Mariska pushed him, "Can you blame them?" She added, "You see, this is what it's like on the set. You'd never believe we do a serious show."

OK, here's my suggestion: After Alec Baldwin and Anne Heche complete their Broadway run in "Twentieth Century," the producers should cast Meloni and Hargitay as the next co-stars. They'd be smashing - and truly hilarious in this grand old Hecht-MacArthur comedy. (Mariska did tell us, "Chris and I definitely want to do a comedy!")

Chris Meloni has a beautiful blonde wife, production designer Sherman Williams, and she seemed to enjoy watching her famous husband rush from one end of the Marriott Marquis ballroom to the other, pursued by fans. She is very proud of her guy. And vice versa.