Movieline caught up with Megan Mullally today on the set of Children's Hospital, the gleefully subversive web series from Rob Corddry that graduates to Cartoon Network's Adult Swim this summer. We asked the Will & Grace star and two-time Emmy winner, who seems to have no qualms with moving freely between network, cable and online, if there's perhaps a looser attitude now among TV actors when it comes to choosing projects. We also asked her how she felt about Conan O'Brien's recent treatment by her sometime-employer, NBC. In a word? Pissed.
"I think there's something really cool that's happening right now in Los Angeles with comedy," Mullally told Movieline. "Because there's this really, really big network of super funny, smart people. And they all support each other, because they all want each other to succeed. They all give each other jobs. It's unheard of. I'm really happy to be a part of it."
"There's a little comedy mafia, almost," her costar Rob Huebel, a Daily Show vet and star of MTV sketch show Human Giant, added. "Everybody's writing their own stuff and doing their own stuff."
"But it's not in a competitive way," Mullally was quick to point out. "It's so supportive. And to get in the group, guess what -- just be really nice, and be really good at your job."
The absence of Conan O'Brien from the late night landscape, meanwhile, is deeply felt around the Hospital set. Huebel says O'Brien gave him his first shot, and calls him "one of the spokespeople for this comedy movement."
"I was driving home last night and thinking I miss Conan's face and his whole sensibility," said Mullally, who starred in an early promo for O'Brien's ill-fated Tonight Show. "This whole group was super pro-Coco. It was pristine, his handling of [his cancellation]. Could not have been any better. But he'll be back, and he's going to have the last laugh."
"I will say I do love Jaywalking man," Huebel said, sarcastically referring to Jay Leno's recurring man-on-the-street intelligence tests, prompting Mullally to respond with mock enthusiasm, "That is so funny. People are so stupid!"
As for the comedy stylings of Sarah Palin, who tried out a stand-up set on Leno's first night back, Mullally observed, "Could it be any more bald-faced that he's going after the red states? It's insane. It's just right out there, full on...Amazing. And she was wearing jeans. 'I'm gonna wear denim! I'm gonna dress it down!'"
"Sarah Palin gives me diarrhea," Huebel added.
Here's the full audio of our exchange, which is well worth a listen:
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