Middle Age Hollywood

Kathy Griffin is used to making people laugh, but her upcoming guest role on NBC's "Law & Order: SVU" was no laughing matter.

The comedian plays a gay activist who works with Detectives Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Stabler (Christopher Meloni) after a woman from a lesbian community is found dead. The episode airs March 3 at 10 p.m..

"With [the cast and the crew] watching you, and the pressure is on, when you mess up a line, you don't want to do it again," Griffin told The News. "My mind is programmed to go for the joke. My whole life is looking for the joke, but this was no joke. I didn't want to disappoint them."



Griffin, who stars in her own Bravo reality series, "My Life on the D-List," scored the plum guest role after "L&O" executive producer Neal Baer attended last September's Creative Arts Emmys (or "Schmemmys," as Griffin calls them), which Griffin hosted. Without even meeting the funny lady in person, Baer vowed to a Griffin pal that he'd write her a part that would get her an Emmy nomination.

"I do think it's a little bit A-list that I'm in this category where people just write parts for me and I don't even have to audition," said Griffin, who is in town for her three-night concert, which kicks off tonight at the Theater at Madison Square Garden.

When Griffin received Baer's script, she was relieved to see that she would be playing Babs Duffy, a "white, lesbian Al Sharpton," rather than a goofy version of herself.

"Playing myself gets kind of boring," said Griffin. "There's enough of myself already out there. I'm sick of myself."

Griffin says she's never been so nervous about an acting gig in her life, despite having run through her lines with the legendary Liza Minnelli (who will appear in an episode of "D-List" in the coming season), as well as with Hargitay.

"By the third day, I worked up the courage to ask Mariska if she could run lines with me. She said, 'I want to be there for you,'" Griffin said. "At first, I thought she was kidding ... she and Chris were so helpful."

In the episode, Griffin's and Hargitay's characters share a kiss - Griffin's first same-sex smooch.

"I was so nervous about getting my character right that the last thing I gave a s- about was kissing a girl," said Griffin. "When it came to the actual kiss, I kind of don't remember it. I'd love to sit here and say her lips are soft, but you'd have to ask Babs."

Though she continues to claim her spot on the D-list ("I'm always putting the hustle on, D-list-style"), Griffin hopes her time on "SVU" proves that she can act, and she's also holding out hope for the Emmy that Baer promised.

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