Wendie Malick on Hot in Cleveland and the Power of Betty White

Hot in Cleveland's Wendie Malick knows the art of the sitcom forwards and backwards, but that doesn't mean she overlooks the inspirational perks of working with a bunch of TV veterans. We grill her about playing washed-up actress Victoria Chase, remembering Just Shoot Me, and what she's learned from Betty White.

So, apparently I've caught you as you're heading into a Hot in Cleveland table reading. What are those like?

It's usually [laughs] pretty funny! We have all of the people from the network in the studio, which is sort of a small group compared to most network shows. Then there's the cast and some of the crew heads, and we sit around at sort of a U-shaped table and read the script, and the director reads the stage directions. It's when we first have our guest cast come and read with us, and this week, Susan Lucci is a guest.

Were you on board with the idea of an "old-fashioned" sitcom from the start?

I think their intention was to go back to the classic sitcom form, which served very well for a very long time. To me, the secret of a good comedy is always having great writers -- as well as casting it right, but you really need to start with people who write well. We have a very stellar group of writers. Their pedigree is amazing. I think four of them are from Frasier, one wrote for Just Shoot Me for awhile -- they're just really smart and do more than just jokes. They really understand how to build characters.

Part of what's interesting about Hot in Cleveland is it seems like the cast is playing new versions of parts we've seen them in before. Do you think Victoria is a souped-up form of Just Shoot Me's Nina Van Horn?

What's intriguing about this one is when they approached me, they said, "We don't know if you want to play anything this close to Nina." But for me, it would be Nina ten years later and probably 20 points higher in terms of her IQ. She's a lot more of aware of things than Nina was -- she was more an idiot savant. I think Victoria is somebody who's much more aware of, like, what's going on and trying to figure out how to get through the next 50 years. Or 40. Well, let's be real, maybe 35.

Now, your old Just Shoot Me co-star George Segal is starring on the upcoming TV Land show Retired at 35. Does this mean you'll be reunited with him at all?

Oh, I surely will! I think they're going to relaunch [Hot in Cleveland] when they put his show on the air, and there's been some talk about putting us back to back, which would be wonderful. So we can go out and pound the pavement together again. I adore George.

Talk about the perks of working on this type of sitcom. Alan Ruck told Movieline that multicam comedies are great because they're like one-act plays where you get to do your lines again if you mess up.

Well, you get to have a life, which is the first thing. And if you have kids or a husband or wife and friends, you get to have a normal life and have dinner with them. I have a niece who lives with us, and I sometimes take her to school before I go to work. I sometimes ride my horse before I go to work. I get to have dinner with my family most nights of the week. Friday is the one night we go late, and there is something that is so palpable about getting in front of an audience and having that energy. It just touches everybody in the best possible way. We have a real jones for this kind of work.

You've obviously filmed more of this season than we've seen. Can you talk about the surprising ways in which your character evolves?

My character -- I'm not sure how much she evolves. [Laughs.] But what I love about this show, they keep throwing us into situations where we think we can do what we used to do 20, 30 years ago. We recently had a wonderful episode and Huey Lewis was the guest. He and I had a wild. crazy, torrid affair in our twenties, and we're reunited and trying to relive what we used to do. And of course, my back goes out, he has a medical ordeal, the whole thing is just poking at some of the real concerns people have when they're older. You can't quite repeat what you did when you were a kid, and how do you make that fit into your life at this point?

What's it like to work with Betty White during this pretty unprecedented renaissance in her career?

I have to tell you, it's one of the most affirming relationships I've had. She's so inspired us, and in particular, me. I'm in my late fifties, Jane [Leeves] and Valerie [Bertinelli] are in their late forties. This is a town where people have been programmed not to reveal their real ages because someone won't think you're young enough to play a certain part. And Betty has given us all the courage and the pride in owning who we are at this stage in our lives and the experience that has brought us to this point.

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