Celebrity Stage Stories with Gerry Strauss

We loved as Punky Brewster's partner-in-crime during her childhood and grew up with her for almost a decade as "Maxine" on "Family Matters"... but what was it like for HER growing up on prime time? CHERIE JOHNSON joins us to chat about balancing her teen years with being on TV, emerging as a character alongside "Steve Urkel" and "Waldo Geraldo Faldo", and her upcoming return to her roots alongside Soleil Moon Frye for Peacock's "Punky Brewster" reboot!

She's done it all, she's worked with everyone and we love her for it. From starring in some of Fox's first sitcoms ever to popping up in A-list comedies like "Cheers" and "Family Ties", ALISON LAPLACA has been an ever-present force on our television screens for many years.  This episode, we dive into Alison's entire career before focusing on the role that will live in infamy: Joanna -  Bloomingdale's Executive, Chandler's freaky short-term relationship, and Rachel's boss on "Friends".  Alison tells all about working with the cast, her character's untimely demise and the long-term affects that the role had on her career... plus LOTS of stories about everyone from John Larroquette to Roseanne & Tom Arnold. If you like TV, don't miss this amazing conversation with one of our generation's most accomplished icons!

It was gone before anyone could realize it's genius, but Judd Apatow's brilliant slice of high school life known as "Freaks and Geeks" effectively set the stage for 20 years of well-received TV and big-screen projects to come. In one abbreviated season, the show not only managed to build a world of relatable hilarity for anyone who remembered what high school was REALLY like, but it also managed to help launch the careers of Apatow, James Franco, Linda Cardellini, Seth Rogen, Busy Phillips and countless others. This week, SARAH HAGAN, who played Cardellini's (aka "Lindsay Weir's") best friend "Millie" joins us to talk about the show's casting process, the network's problematic attitude about the show, whether it was ahead of it's time, and the episode she hand-picked to chat about: "Dead Dogs and Gym Teachers".

This show supports No Kids Hungry, a national campaign run by Share Our Strength, a nonprofit working to solve problems of hunger and poverty in the United States and around the world. After 25 years of successfully investing in local nonprofits and helping find the best approaches to eradicating poverty and hunger, Share Our Strength launched No Kid Hungry in 2010.

She's shared a creative bunker with everyone from Tina Fey to Mindy Kaling (and scored an Emmy in the process!). After making her mark on shows like "30 Rock" and "The Mindy Project", she created and led "Great News" to a successful two-season run on NBC. Now, the pressure is REALLY on, as generations of rabid fans anxiously anticipate Tracey Wigfield's newest project: a newly-imagined single-camera reboot of "Saved By The Bell"! Fans are clamoring for details, and Tracy doesn't disappoint as we get in-depth about how this show came to be and what we can expect when we all return to Bayside High!

She's one of the coolest people you'll ever meet, so it's only right that she was invited to hang out at the cool table on TV comedy back in 2000 when she was cast in the role of "Elizabeth Stevens" - aka the college student who sparks a relationship with Ross Gellar aka daughter of Paul Stevens, played by Bruce freakin' Willis, who simultaneously is dating Rachel - got that? Elizabeth chats with us about working with David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston and the man who starred as John McClane in "Die Hard", the movie that Chandler and Joey ironically revere... plus, how she scored the gig, how she was asked to DRESS for the audition, and all things about the episode she chose to break down with us - "The One Where Paul's The Man" (and, in the episode's most memorable scene, "Just A Love Machine"). Get Up, Close and personal with Alexandra Holden on this week's episode!

She burst onto the Hollywood scene back in the 90's with appearances in classic movies like "Clueless" and "Bring It On", and she's been a fixture on our big and small screens ever since. This week, NICOLE BILDERBACK chats with us about the unique experience of stepping into the fastest-paced comedy on TV today (as Captain Kim on this season's premiere) , "Brooklyn Nine-Nine"... plus a whole lot more!

If "Welcome Back Kotter" and "The Big Bang Theory" conceived a baby sitcom, it may well have been "Head of the Class"... an 80's hit about very intelligent teens facing very normal teen problems. With a cast that included sitcom legend Howard Hesseman and a young Robin Givens, one of this ensemble comedy's most popular stars may have been Leslie Bega, who played the gorgeous, whip-smart Maria... but this show was just in Bega's amazing life and career. We chatted with her about her world travels, transitioning in and out of Hollywood, and the episode she hand picked, "Partners", which focused on Maria and her new boyfriend - a rookie actor named Brad Pitt!

Her IMDB page may as well say "Va-Va-Va-Voom!" because Alex Meneses has been wow'ing us with her vivaciousness, versatility and acting chops for quite some time! We've loved her on everything from dramatic roles to a starring turn on Eva Longoria's "Telenovela", but her most memorable character may be her turn as "Stefania", the exotic beauty that Robert Barone fell for on "Everybody Loves Raymond" who evolved into a recurring character spanning multiple seasons. We chatted about her experience working with the cast at the peak of the show's popularity (both on their soundstage and on location in Italy), wrangling Ray Romano for a fundraising event, and holding her own with Brad Garrett!