7 Questions With Jenna Elfman of NBC’s “Growing Up Fisher”

Emmy-nominated actress Jenna Elfman may be best remembered as the first half of the titular couple Dharma & Greg on that hit 1997-2002 sitcom, but she’s back on TV in another comedy, NBC’s Growing Up Fisher. The series is being previewed following coverage of the Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony Feb. 23 at 10:30pm ET before moving to its Tuesdays at 9:30pm ET timeslot starting Feb. 25.

7 Questions With Jenna Elfman of Growing Up Fisher

Elfman plays young-at-heart mom Joyce Fisher — a mom who is perhaps too young at heart, Joyce’s teenage daughter Katie might argue. “[Joyce] wants to be able to actually shine because she was very young [when she got married],” Elfman says, about the elements that find her character comically trying to become her daughter’s BFF. “She was someone’s daughter and then someone’s wife — she got pregnant on the second date — and then someone’s mother. … And she couldn’t ever grow. … [Joyce] is taking all of [her] cues from [her daughter]. Trying to do her jeans, her thing. I’m getting in on her social life. I’m living through all of that because she’s right there and it’s fun. I want to be her best friend because I feel like my mom was so mommish, and so, now, I’m going the other direction. … Right when [Katie’s] sort of hitting the territory where she needs a mother, her mother is acting like a kid. So there’s that conflict.”

Growing Up Fisher, based on the life of executive producer/creator DJ Nash, also stars J.K. Simmons, Ava Deluca-Verley and Eli Baker.

7 Questions With Jenna Elfman

1. You’re at a magazine rack and can only pick three titles. Which ones do you choose?
Elle Decor, Vogue and Elle magazine.

2. If your TV carried just three networks or shows, what would they be?
Well, seeing as how I’m working full-time — 12- to 15-hour days — and raising two small children, there are actually no hours in the day to watch television. So my shows — if I could bring back The Carol Burnett Show and watch Tim Conway and Harvey Korman again? I could watch that till the end of time. I could watch them forever. [Also] I Love Lucy. And Get Smart. I kind of am a fan of the older [shows].

3. Is there a movie you can watch over and over again?
Yeah. It Happened One Night.

4. What has been your strangest fan encounter?
Well, it’s a whole story. There was this girl who would write me fan mail; she was a teenager. And she was so — I could just tell from her letters that she was very determined to meet me. So I decided — this was when I was doing Dharma & Greg — I called her up at home. And she almost had a heart attack [laughs]. Not really. She was in the shower, apparently, and her mom went and got her, and she like couldn’t breathe and like was going to cry. I flew her out and her mom, and took them to Disneyland, and put them up at a hotel and went out to dinner. She and I stay in touch to this day. She ended up interning at The Tonight Show. She was from Texas, and then she ended up moving back to Texas and having a family. She has a little daughter and got married. And I did that because I could tell how genuine she was from her letters, and I thought, “If I was her, what would I want?” I would really want to hear from this person, you know? I think it would be so cool to write someone you admire and have them respond. So I was like, “I want to do that because that’s what I would want to done for me.” So it’s just kind of a Golden Rule moment that I could execute at the time. And so we did, and it was really cool.

5. Do you have a favorite sports team?
That’s really my husband’s territory. It was the Lakers, years ago in the magic days of Shaq and Kobe. I was their good luck charm. If I was at the game they won. But now I can’t claim that any more. I’ve got nothing! [laughs] So, no.

6. Tell us about a time when you were starstruck.
Jean Reno. I turned into a total moron meeting him. I love him.

7. What are three things you have to have in your fridge or pantry?
Poco Dolce chocolates, artichokes and … I don’t really eat it much, but I love buffalo mozzarella [laughs].

Following a preview Feb. 23 at 10:30pm ET, Growing Up Fisher airs Tuesdays at 9:30pm ET starting Feb. 25.

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Jenna Elfman in “Growing Up Fisher”: Colleen Hayes/NBC