Give Robert Downey Jr. a real break _ stop the merry-go-round.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

Robert Downey Jr., new CNN anchor Andrea Thompson and a show called "Jackass."

It's hard to be upbeat about television you consider this trifecta of tragedies and misplaced priorities.

Fans of Fox's "Ally McBeal" have paid homage to the infusion of energy and delight Downey has brought to that quirky series this season as Ally's odd but engaging new boyfriend. Working from some masterful scripts by series creator David E. Kelley, Downey has proved that he has an on-screen presence to rival any male TV star.

Too bad that when he's off-screen Downey is a wretched individual racing toward self destruction. It's time for Hollywood to stop providing him the means to accomplish it.

Let him do all the rehab necessary to get clean, send him back to prison if that's what a judge thinks is warranted.

But when he's pronounced clean, when he walks free from those prison walls, Hollywood should not be waiting with a limo, a seven-figure contract and a starring role.

Last year Downey got that second chance _ some would say it was his fourth or fifth chance since his first drug arrest in 1996 _ when he went from wearing an orange jail jumpsuit to being Calista Flockhart's co-star.