LOS ANGELES — Every season after production wraps, David Krumholtz and Rob Morrow, stars of the CBS drama "Numb3rs," lead the cast and crew on a celebratory retreat. But last year's Las Vegas excursion was limited to those who work on set: No spouses, no significant others.

The show's executive-producer partners Cheryl Heuton and Nicolas Falacci, however, each brought their better half — which stands to reason since they're married to each other.

"It felt kind of weird," Heuton says.

"Yeah, we felt bad," Falacci inserts, "because no one else could have their wife or husband there, but we get to be there. ... We both work on the show."

Such partnerships, it turns out, are not so unusual in the TV world these days. A number of husbands and wives are running series this season. They include Kim and Eric Tannenbaum (CBS' "Two and a Half Men" and ABC's upcoming midseason comedy "Notes From the Underbelly"), Kim Moses and Ian Sander (CBS' "Ghost Whisperer") and Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa (Fox's " 'Til Death" and ABC's "Big Day," currently on hiatus).

"One of the advantages for couples in a creative field such as this is that you develop this kind of emotional shorthand, so you can begin to really get your working pattern to run as smooth as a sewing machine," says marriage and family therapist Les Parrott, who, with his wife and partner Leslie Parrott, authored "Your Time-Starved Marriage: How to Stay Connected at the Speed of Life" (Zondervan).

BALANCING WORK, FAMILY

Heuton, a former journalist, and Falacci, an independent screenwriter, met in 1990 while rock climbing in Southern California's Topanga Canyon. After their marriage a year later, they moved to New York where Heuton developed a propensity for screenwriting and the two began penning pilots together. "Numb3rs" is their first series.

"We're a very balanced partnership in terms of ideas and who writes," says Heuton. "He's better at production issues and I'm probably better at story planning and story analysis."

Falacci agrees: "Cheryl has a great sense of overall story structure, where I try to bring verisimilitude to the scenes. As a team, our writing is always better together than us separately."

Krumholtz respects how Heuton and Falacci look out for one another "not only within the realms of the business, but within the realms of their art. ... If one criticizes the other, the other knows that that criticism comes from a place of truth and caring and protection, and in that way they're truly a team."

The challenge of juggling work on the set and family at home can be daunting for even the best producing partners.

"Balance is important," says Kim Tannenbaum, who met her husband nearly 12 years ago when he was president of Columbia TriStar Television and she was head of comedy development there. Eventually they became producing partners. "It really depends on what's going on at the company, how we divide and conquer."

Says Eric Tannenbaum: "If I take the lead on doing all the business stuff and working with the studios, the networks and agents, then Kim is right there and reading every script and all that kind of stuff, but nothing happens without both of us signing off on it."

Moses and Sander met on the job some 20 years ago at Ohlmeyer Productions, where Kim was producing the docuseries "How'd They Do That?" and Ian was developing telefilms.

"We worked right across the hall together and really got to know one another right from the start," Moses says. "Maybe that's why we can work together, because the chemistry was tested from the very beginning."

GENDER DIVISION

Certain gender logic defines their labor divisions: he's the nuts and bolts businessman; she takes care of the glamour and promotion.

"You have to have complementary skills — your business, your personal and your creative skills," Sander says. "But you also have to work on it, and it's a conscious thing."

With any creative partnership, disagreements are inevitable. But for a show — and especially a marriage — to run smoothly, ego-driven power struggles of who's right and who's wrong have to be quickly resolved.

" 'Til Death" star Joely Fischer says she's constantly in awe of producers Godsmith and Yuspa.

"I have a husband who's in the entertainment business (actor Christopher Duddy), and I don't know that we would be able to work together every day," she snickers. "I think anybody who is able to work together, live together, sleep together, parent together, and write a joke together, deserves a medal."