Monday, August 03, 2015

Seven Questions with Krista Allen of Significant Mother; The CW Moves Up Fall 2015 Monday Shows by a Week

Today, we've got another installment of Seven Questions and this time we have Krista Allen from the new comedy Significant Mother, which premieres tonight at 9:30|8:30c on The CW. She is talking to us about that series of course, but also her career to-date, what type of genre she likes and what else she has in the works. Krista has had numerous television credits. She had regular roles on Days of Our Lives and Baywatch Hawaii. In 2005 she was one of the stars of HBO's Unscripted produced by George Clooney, playing herself as an actress who struggles to overcome her sex symbol status in order to win more serious roles. Her other numerous TV credits include recurring and guest roles on series such as What About Brian, Mistresses, The L.A. Complex, The Philanthropist, The Starter Wife, Castle, Melissa & Joey, Cashmere Mafia, Dirty Sexy Money, Freddie, Jake in Progress, Rules of Engagement, Hawaii Five-0, I'm With Her, Charmed, Two and a Half Men and Head Cases. On the big screen, her credits include an appearance as the "Elevator Girl" in the Jim Carrey comedy Liar Liar, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Anger Management and The Final Destination.

And now of course she stars in the new TV comedy Significant Mother on The CW. The series premieres tonight, so go read our review on what we thought of the premiere. So without further adieu, it's time for our "Seven Questions." with the great and beautiful Krista Allen!

"Seven Questions with Significant Mother's Krista Allen"

Krista Allen

SitcomsOnline: Hi Krista! It is such a pleasure to be interviewing you. We've been a fan of your work from the start from Baywatch Hawaii to What About Brian to your fun guest appearance on Melissa & Joey! I personally cannot wait for Significant Mother, because it looks really funny and has a great cast. So, to start it off...it's been such a long time since The CW has had a comedy series. Can you tell our readers a little about Significant Mother and your character Lydia?
Krista Allen: Oh thanks! Yes, sure. Significant Mother, it is a coming of age story, I guess you could say for everybody... Lydia Marlowe has been married for almost 30 years to a guy hasn't been to most faithful, played by Jonathan Silverman. He plays a character named Harrison and he plays him brilliantly, by the way. They decide to separate and he moves out of the house so that he can have his affairs, and all these things. Then something happens...Lydia goes 'I need a change...I feel gross, I feel yucky, I feel ancient, I feel all of these things...and I need a change in my life.' So something happens where it's almost Nate's (her son) birthday and she goes over to Nate and Jimmy's house, they live together, to drop off these baby pictures and things that she is going to give to him for something he is doing for his birthday. And then "something" just happens...I don't know it just happens, and then it kind of happens again, then well it happens again and again and again (laughs). Nate is out of town and they are both in this place going 'OK this is not going to happen again' and then it happens again and it happens again. Then Nate comes home to find Jimmy in the kitchen completely naked, thinking that he has some hot young chick upstairs ...only to find out, it's his...mother! So that's where we start this story (laughs)...it's not so much 'oh gee Jimmy is this hot young guy and I'm like a (roar) cougar.' I've known Jimmy since he was a kid (laughs), which is kind of creepy, but he makes me feel youthful and he makes me feel fun, and all of these things and spontaneous and silly, all of these things that I haven't felt in almost 30 years. I got married when I was 18 and I had a kid and there you go...it was boom. There's a whole different life for Lydia and now because of Lydia's choice everybody's life there's this wrench that's been thrown in, so it's just not my life that's changing, it's Jimmy's, it's Nate's, it's Harrison's, it affects everybody. It is an emotional kind of connection, but we handle it as a family. I know it sounds really weird (laughs), but we do (laughs).

Krista Allen

SitcomsOnline: Now I know the series was originally developed for CW Seed, which is the digital home of The CW, so were there any changes made to the series when they announced the show would air on the network instead? And I'm sure you guys were ecstatic that it would air on the network instead, too?
Krista Allen: It was such a huge deal for us because it just said 'we do have something good...I knew it!' It was that reaction, 'oh my God I knew this was special.' Other people on set were saying, 'wow this feels really magical, what are we doing?' It was confirmed, they were saying...'nope, actually let's not do the web series, let's push it to the network.' And we were like, 'what!?' It was like that Sally Field moment where she is like 'they like me, they really really like me!' That's what it felt like (laughs)! It was so cool, so they picked us up, the episodes were written and we went to Portland. And we knocked out these episodes in the shortest amount of time...6 weeks; the entire first season was done in 6 weeks. It was a lot of work and we definitely worked really hard...everybody did, but we're going to be on the air Monday, so hey it paid off!

Krista Allen

SitcomsOnline: You guys have some really cool guest stars coming up as well to join the already well-rounded cast...can you tell us who will be joining in on the ride and how they will fit in to the plot-line?
Krista Allen: Yeah, we really got lucky. Linda Gray plays my mom, who is fantastic. We kind of resemble each other in a way too and I'm such a big fan of hers from Sue Ellen on Dallas, oh my gosh. She was really wonderful and just really great. Mircea Monroe, she was fantastic and great. She's so funny and she's become a friend of mine, like we go do things. I adore her... I really love her a lot. Let's see we had, Terry Kiser from Weekend at Bernie's and we did a Weekend at Bernie's episode and Johnny Silverman called him up and said 'hey want to come in and play the hobo?' And he was like 'yes!' so it was really great. Oh Denise Richards came in for a day and played, and that was really fun. Let's see who else, Jerry O'Connell, he came in and played my real estate and that was really fun. His wife is working on The Librarians down there, so it was really, really nice he was down there because he came over and played with us for a little bit, so that was really cool. Yeah, we have some really fun people that came in to play.

Krista Allen

SitcomsOnline: So you guys shot the series on location in Portland. How was that experience like and how many episodes can we expect to air this summer?
Krista Allen: Well, we have 9 episodes. The more people that tune in and the more people that love it, the better chance we have being able to pick-up the back end of that. So we have 9 episodes and it was really fun shooting in Portland. It's great; it's such an awesome city. Everybody was really nice and the food is amazing and they have microbrews and local wines. It's super green and we had a really fun time filming in Portland...it's a really cool city. If you've never been, I highly recommend going, it's a great place. They're budding as a place to film right now...there's a lot of production going on there right now, which is pretty cool.

Krista Allen in Baywatch Hawaii

SitcomsOnline: I think you're brilliant in both drama and comedy. You have such versatility in everything I've seen you in. What type of acting do you prefer, you know like comedy or drama, single-camera or four-camera comedies, dramatic dramas, etc.?
Krista Allen: I love comedy. I love it, but it's a trick question for me. Because honestly, if somebody gave me a script that was a comedy, that was a mediocre script or a great script that was a drama that blew my mind, of course I'd pick the drama...and the same on the other end. I really love comedy, but it's just like a song. When you get into your car and you're listening to the radio station, it depends on what mood you're in. If it's a good song, it's a good song, it doesn't matter what genre it is, you just want to listen to it. It can be some ridiculous genre that you never even listened to like dubstep or something and you're like, 'whoa this is kind of a cool beat' and you've never listened to it before. So I think for me (laughs), it's about the quality and I love comedy but I also really love drama. I love getting in there and getting dramatic. I definitely see the good in both...I just love good projects. I love great material and I love making it to come to life. I live for it, it's so much fun.

Krista Allen

SitcomsOnline: I've got to talk about your career to-date. You've done so many TV shows, whether it is guest appearances or a series regular. I personally loved you on What About Brian opposite Barry Watson and recently on ABC's Mistresses, but what shows or movies did you enjoy working the most on, besides Significant Mother, of course?
Krista Allen: Let's see, one of my all-time favorite ones that I ever did was Unscripted (2005 HBO series). That was an HBO series I did that most of the episodes were directed by George Clooney, and Steven Soderbergh & George produced all of these for HBO. It was in that style, that very smart style, on how they do shows. It was a really funny improvisational show, with dark humor, so it wasn't like 'that is slapping my knee funny,' it was like 'oh God, that's awkward and it's kind of funny.' It was that kind of a humor (laughs), but that was one of my all-time favorite, most rewarding jobs because, I mean, Frank Langella played my acting coach, it was brilliant. Bryan Greenberg, Jennifer Hall, these amazing people that I got to work with and got to become friends with. So, it was really, really fun and we had great guest stars. Jane Lynch was a guest star on it, well anyway that was that, so that was probably one of my most favorite things for acting cause it was the most challenging but one of the most fun things that I did. I loved working on Hawaii Five-0. I got to do an episode of Castle that was super fun. Yeah it was really fun, because Ted McGinley played my husband which was really cool. I have fun with every job that I do, so good luck trying to get me to pick a favorite (laughs).

Krista Allen in What About Brian

SitcomsOnline: And finally, what else do you have coming up that we can look forward to? I know I read about a Hallmark movie and something about being on ABC's The Muppets?
Krista Allen: No, that was actually (laughs) I'm not on The Muppets. That is a promo for somebody else for ABC actors that I got to go because I'm super cool (laughs), so I got to do that and get my picture taken with Miss Piggy, Fozzy Bear and Kermit the Frog, so I know you're jealous (laughs). Yeah, I'm doing a little Hallmark movie for I guess Christmas, it's a sweet little Christmas movie called Rodeo and Juliet (laughs). The horse's name is Rodeo (laughs) and it's a cute little story so that should be fun. Right now, I just got back from Portland, I guess a couple weeks ago and I'm doing all of this stuff and that’s about it. But there's some really cool stuff coming in for me so I'm excited about that...I promise I'll keep you posted!

Krista Allen

We appreciate Krista Allen for taking the time to talk with us! She is very fun and informative. She really seemed excited about Significant Mother and wanted to share with us as much as she could. We encourage fans to check out the series premiere of Significant Mother on The CW tonight at 9:30|8:30c. But first, don't forget to check out/follow Krista Allen all over the web and social media. Follow her everywhere!



Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Jane the Virgin

Moving on to other news, we'll stick with The CW, as The CW has moved the Fall 2015 premiere date for the series debut of freshman one-hour comedy/drama Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and the return of the award-winning comedy/drama Jane the Virgin to Monday, October 12. The series were originally scheduled to premiere on October 19. The CW's summer Monday series will have their finales tentatively on Monday, October 5, including the half-hour comedy Significant Mother. The new comedy Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, starring Rachel Bloom as an unhappy lawyer who quits her job and moves across the country in search of love, with her inner monologue providing irreverent musical interludes, will debut at 8:00-9:00pm ET, followed by AFI and Peabody Award winning series Jane the Virgin, starring Golden Globe-winner Gina Rodriguez, returning at 9:00-10:00pm ET.


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Thursday, November 21

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "The 6:10 to Lubbock" (CBS, 10:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Georgie and Mandy get fed up staying with her parents and reconsider their living situation after a fight with Mandy’s mom, Audrey.

Ghosts - "Man of Your Dreams" (CBS, 10:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Sam learns that one of the ghosts’ powers is to enter the dreams of the livings and influence their decisions. Also, two of the ghosts think they’ve learned the secret to moving on.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of November 18)

Thursday, November 21

  • Jim Gaffigan (The Jim Gaffigan Show/My Boys/The Ellen Show/Welcome to New York) - Catch Jim on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Rita Moreno (One Day at a Time/Happily Divorced/9 to 5) - Rita appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Justine Lupe (Nobody Wants This/Cristela), Jackie Tohn (Nobody Wants This/GLOW) and Timothy Simons (HouseBroken/Veep) - Justine, Jackie and Timothy are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Kristin Chenoweth (Trial & Error/Kristin) - Kristin appears on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 10pm on Bravo.
  • Maura Tierney (NewsRadio/The Van Dyke Show) - Maura is in the studio to discuss the neww season of Law and Order on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your listings.
  • Paul Reiser (Mad About You/Red Oaks/Married/My Two Dads) - Paul is telling Drew about his huge return to comedy after thirty years with his standup special, Life, Death and Rice Pudding, and his new movie The Gutter on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • John O'Hurley (Seinfeld/Over the Top/The Mullets) - John will be on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:40am.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

Friends - The Complete Series (4K UHD) Young Sheldon - The Complete Series Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)

09/10 - Rick and Morty - The Complete Seasons 1-7
09/10 - The Ropers - The Complete Series (VEI)
09/10 - Ted - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/17 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - Video Scrapbook
09/17 - Top Cat - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
09/24 - Friends - The Complete Series (4K UHD)
09/24 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Seventh Season (DVD) / The Complete Series (DVD) (Blu-ray)
10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
10/22 - Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/12 - The King of Queens - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (2024 Release)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
11/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 4 (Blu-ray)
12/03 - Angel (1960-1961) - The Complete Series, Volume 1
12/17 - Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (4K UHD)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)

More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive


Recent SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Posts

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11/14 - CBS Midseason 2025 Schedule; Reasonable Doubt Renewed for Season 3 on Hulu
11/13 - Harlem Season 3 Drops in January; James Acaster HBO Comedy Special
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11/08 - CBS Orders Full Season for Poppa's House; The CW Acquires Bob ♥ Abishola Reruns; Remembering Alan Rachins of Dharma & Greg
11/07 - A Very Merry MeTV 2024 Schedule; Stranger Things Final Season in 2025
11/06 - Outer Banks to End with Season 5; Nothing to See Here Season 2 on Netflix
11/05 - ABC Holiday Schedule for 2024; NBC Holiday Schedule for 2024
11/04 - Freeform's 25 Days of Christmas Schedule 2024; A Nostalgic Night with Macaulay Culkin at NJPAC
11/03 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of November 4, 2024)
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11/01 - BET+ Renews Churchy for Season 2 and The Ms. Pat Show for Season 5; Remembering Teri Garr
10/31 - Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage Gets Full Season Order; Fox's Going Dutch Trailer
10/30 - Clifton Davis Joins CBS Daytime's Beyond the Gates; Ronny Chieng's 3rd Netflix Special
10/29 - The Simpsons Monday Night Football Disney+ Telecast; Prime Video Announces The Sticky
10/28 - Fortune Feimster Gets 3rd Netflix Special; Cruel Intentions Series for Prime Video
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10/26 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Matlock Renewed for Second Season; Happy's Place Off to a Solid Start
10/25 - Peacock's Based on a True Story Returns November 21; CBS to Honor Jerry Mathers at Awards Show
10/24 - Family Guy's Gift of the White Guy Holiday Special; Laid Arrives December 19 on Peacock
10/23 - Bad Sisters Season 2 Returns November 13; Trailer for Hulu's Interior Chinatown
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10/21 - Fox Adds Martin Short to Grimsburg; Secret Level Cast Announced by Prime Video