5-Minute Time Out: Megan Mullally & Cheryl Hines
The stars of "In the Motherhood" want to act out your life.
by Vivian Manning-Schaffel
March 20, 2009
Anyone who's gone and spawned can tell you that for all the heartache and hassles, real-life parenting has more punch lines, prat-falls and gut-busting laughs than any scripted TV show. That's the idea behind In The Motherhood, the upcoming ABC series premiering Thursday, March 26th at 8 p.m., starring Cheryl Hines and Megan Mullally, two of the most formidable female heavyweights in sit-comedy.
Known as Larry David's wife Cheryl on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, Hines is an accomplished actress, producer, director and mom to a five-year-old girl. Mullally's conquered Broadway (Young Frankenstein), screen (Bee Movie and the upcoming Fame), and TV, with her hilarious, multi-Emmy award-winning turn as Karen Walker on Will & Grace.
In The Motherhood is unique in that it's truly interactive. The writers and producers mine real-life parenting stories that viewers submit online for actual storylines and plot points centered around three mommy archetypes: Rosemary (Mullally), the free-wheelin' rocker mom who does nothing by the book; Jane (Hines), a working divorcée just trying to get through the day, and her sister, the uptight, Type-A Emily (Jessica St. Clair).
Babble had a candid chat with this comic brain trust, along with one of the show's producers, Jenni Konner (mom to two kids, five and two), about bringing the craziness of modern motherhood to prime time. — Vivian Manning-Schaffel
Jenni, you and Ali Rushfield (co-producer of In The Motherhood) have been friends forever. How is that reflected in what the show says about friendships between women?
Konner: We're just hoping to tell actual true stories about friendships between women. At least for me, there's honesty between mothers that I haven't yet seen reflected on TV. The way my friends with kids talk is more candid than I'm used to seeing. It's like No Sex In The City.
Hines: Motherhood is not a perfect science. You need some friends who are also mothers because they can only really understand what is going on.
Megan: "Someone that I barely knew approached me and asked me if I wanted to have a baby with her."
Cheryl, has anything that's happened to Jane, happened to you?
Hines: Actually, there is going to be something on an episode coming up where I lock my baby in the house. The true story was, I was over at my brother's house, and for some strange reason, I was with all the kids in his Florida room (a patio) that has sliding glass doors. And the doors got locked. I was literally in this room with six kids and my daughter, who was really a baby at the time, for quite a while. At first it was kind of funny, but after forty-five minutes it wasn't so funny anymore. Sooner or later, someone was going to need formula. We didn't know if we should take the door off! Eventually someone showed up and set us free.
Seems like this collaborative way of working allows you guys to really put your own personal stamp on your characters.
Konner: With Megan it was a bit daunting because she's a TV icon, and had a very famous and beloved character that she played for eight years. Her struggle was trying to find a character that felt different enough, but was still close to her. With a lot of her help and a lot of exploring, we came up with Rosemary.
Megan, you don't have kids . . .
Mullally: No. But someone that I barely knew approached me and asked me if I wanted to have a baby with her.
Wow! What did you say?
Mullally: It was someone that I knew through work, but it wasn't like we ever went out to lunch together or anything. She sent me an email saying, "I just thought that if you wanted a baby, I could do it for you and we'll work out the terms."
©2009 Vivian Manning-Schaffel and Babble
About the Author
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Vivian Manning-Schaffel has written for Parents, Parenting, The Advocate, The New York Post, Business Week and a variety of other publications. She lives and works in the heart of breeder Brooklyn with her husband and two kids. She's on the web at vivianmanningschaffel.com. |
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