Lisa Hartman Black Is Back

Lisa Hartman Black kicked off her career as the star of the Bewitched spin-off, Tabitha, then became the TV-movie poster girl for oppressed women, losing husbands in coal mines, grieving over abducted kids, getting trapped in burning skyscrapers and so on. Somewhere in there she found time for a dual role on Knots Landing. As of late, we have seen little of Black, but now she is back in the Hallmark Channel tearjerker Back to You & Me (premiering Saturday at 9 pm/ET).

 

TVGuide.com: As a fan of your first series, I have to say: Tabitha really got shafted.

Lisa Hartman Black: It did. I think it was bad timing. It actually just came out on DVD. My stepdad got it for me as a surprise, and I didn’t know it was me [on the cover]. It looks like Debbie Reynolds or something. [Laughs] And they arched my brow, like they did with Nicole Kidman [for the Bewitched movie], to get that "witchy" kind of look.

TVGuide.com: So there isn't any witty DVD commentary from you or costar Robert Urich?

Black: No, no.

TVGuide.com: Back to You & Me is your first project in seven years. Where have you been?

Black: Well, [country singer husband Clint Black and I] started trying to get pregnant, and then we had Lily, and I just didn't want to miss out on anything. But when she turned 3, I realized I could go back to work and that life was going to be fine. It felt like I hadn’t been gone that long.

TVGuide.com: What's it like, being the wife of a country singer? He must write a helluva birthday-card inscription. Like, "Buffalo wings are spicy, but never as hot as you."

Black: [Laughs] He writes great cards. I go to sign a card and always just put, "Love, your wife." Creative, right? But he's a phenomenal writer. The first night I saw him in concert I thought, "Boy, not only is he great-looking and he sings, but he writes all his stuff." And it's pretty heavy stuff. I was fascinated.

TVGuide.com: Why Back to You & Me for your comeback?

Black: This script was edgy, something different, something I hadn’t done. It was pretty challenging material, a lot of long scenes with a lot of dialogue. And I was glad they cast Rue [McClanahan] as my mother.

 

TVGuide.com: Did she share any juicy Golden Girls gossip?

Black: No, but she had a lot of great other stuff! She has lived a very, very interesting life, and she's a very serious, committed actress. A great human being.

 

TVGuide.com: How was it taping Knots Landing Reunion: Together Again a few weeks ago?

Black: It was so much fun to be back there and see all those people. We had the best time. We sat in one of the [set] living rooms and told stories about each other and gave each other a hard time.

 

TVGuide.com: Pop quiz! Who killed Ciji?

Black: Chip!

 

TVGuide.com: And then he fainted onto a pitchfork — ouch! — when Ciji's look-alike showed up the next season.

Black: Exactly. I had forgotten that. I was on the show three and a half seasons; these other [cast members] did 13, 14 years. They would talk about certain episodes and I just sat there, a fascinated onlooker.

TVGuide.com: Can we count on seeing you again sooner than seven years from now?

Black: I hope so! I'm a typical actor, reading scripts and looking for that next interesting thing to do. I'd feel really comfortable doing a series now, so my agents are on the hunt!