Jenny McCarthy Is Ready to Party!

So, Jenny McCarthy calls last Friday....

TVGuide.com: I have to be honest, when I put in this request to talk to you, it was for E!'s 101 Craziest TV Moments special, which you hosted but which will be over with by the time this Q&A is published. But we'll find other things to talk about, right?
Jenny McCarthy: Oh, I think so!

TVGuide.com: So, um... how is the weather there?
McCarthy: It's actually quite beautiful. It’s a little crisp, but at least the sun is shining.

TVGuide.com: Did you make it onto E!'s Craziest Moments list?
McCarthy: Of course! 

TVGuide.com: How? Did you belch in Joy Behar's general direction on The View?
McCarthy: [Laughs] No, but I made out with a 90-year-old man. They sent me out into a casino dressed like a showgirl and said, "Go be funny." So I just walked up to an old guy and made out with him.

TVGuide.com: What TV are you liking these days?
McCarthy: [Sighs] Teletubbies — I'm a mom [to a son, Evan, 3]. But what else is on my TiVo list...? Breaking Bonaduce — it's interesting to see the new take on a dark reality show, with somebody who’s willing to show the worst ever. Watching those shows makes you feel a bit better about your own life. [Laughs]

TVGuide.com: You must get pitched a lot of reality TV.
McCarthy: Probably about 20 times a year. I'm never going to do one because I am pretty normal, believe it or not. There's not much drama to me.

TVGuide.com: People want to believe you're that wacky, tongue-wagging...
McCarthy: ... party girl. But I'm really quite serious and boring. It's true.

TVGuide.com: Next you're going to tell me there is no Santa Claus.
McCarthy: Or Easter Bunny. But I just enjoy comedy too much; why would I give that up to show the dark side of my life?

TVGuide.com: Has it been a recurring roadblock in your career that you look the way you do and are funny? Do people not want a Playboy Playmate to make them laugh?
McCarthy: You know, I think the reason I have gotten where I am is because I'm kind of ironic in that way. So it's fortunate that I have the boobs and the hair and am able to make people laugh, but it's also still a challenge because there really aren’t roles [for me]. Usually it's the funny guy/straight girl in movies, or the bimbo on TV. I try to at least find things that I will enjoy, and try as much as possible not to sell out. [Laughs] I'm not going to stop putting on fake eyelashes and wearing my push-up bra so I can get more jobs.

TVGuide.com: Here's a story that will suck up some space: When your first series, Jenny, premiered, my writing partner and I had a near-identical unfinished pilot at the time, except it was about two guys. Needless to say, we were very distraught.
McCarthy: Oh no, I'm sure yours was much better.

TVGuide.com: Perhaps, but it didn't have George Hamilton. I see you're hosting the 2006 Lingerie Bowl, to air opposite the Super Bowl halftime show.
McCarthy: Yep. My sisters are playing in it, so I thought, "I am so going to do the play-by-play." It's probably going to be the most insane pay-per-view play-by-play ever. I'm just going to be stupid and crazy.

TVGuide.com: Would you ever compete in one of those games? Is there a tomboy inside you?
McCarthy: Oh, god. I'm a tough chick! I fought many fistfights in college and broke the noses of a few producers that tried to get on me in Hollywood....

TVGuide.com: I imagine many of those college fights started with a girl telling you, "Back off my boyfriend!"
McCarthy: No, it was usually, "Get off that bar stool, bitch! I was sitting there first!" [Laughs]

TVGuide.com: Has motherhood mellowed you?
McCarthy: I don’t know about "mellowed," but it has made me focused, as you actually have someone to live for and support now. You become a bit less narcissistic, doing things more for the sake of your kid than the sake of your ego. And now I'm a single mom.... [McCarthy filed for divorce from director John Asher in mid-August.]

TVGuide.com: Yeah, I'm sorry about the whole "end of marriage" thing.
McCarthy: Oh, it's OK.

TVGuide.com: Is it hard to be Jenny McCarthy's husband?
McCarthy: [Laughs] No! No. And I think he would probably say the same. It was one of those things where we met, got engaged after two weeks and then never really got to know one another. I jumped into it and after years we went, "This is who you are?"

TVGuide.com: Would you ever get married again?
McCarthy: Maybe.... Maybe if love really does happen.

TVGuide.com: How are your books doing?
McCarthy: They're doing great. I'm writing my third one right now.

TVGuide.com: The first two were titled Belly Laughs and then Baby Laughs. What's next?
McCarthy: Life Laughs. It's pretty crude and dirty and funny, the best of the three. It was due yesterday and I still have 10 chapters to go. But it will be out in May.

TVGuide.com: Did any post-separation insights make it in?
McCarthy: Oh yeah. I started out writing a book called Marriage Laughs, and after 29 chapters I realized I wanted a divorce. I was like, "Whoaaaa."  And then I had to change the book completely.

TVGuide.com: Was your publisher OK with that?
McCarthy: Very. I sent them really funny chapters and they were like, "Call it whatever the f--- you want. It's great!"

TVGuide.com: What's the plan for No. 4? Retain a ghostwriter to do "Death Laughs"?
McCarthy: [Laughs] That’s very funny! No, my last book is for when I'm about 80 — "My Husband's Dead. Now What?"

TVGuide.com: Anna Nicole Smith could help you on that one.
McCarthy: Ba-dump-bump! And then I've got my new E! show, Party @ The Palms, which premiered last week.

TVGuide.com: You do? That must be what we should be talking about! Is it like Taradise or something?
McCarthy: No, god no. Please.

TVGuide.com: What a train wreck.
McCarthy: Really. I did kind of a spoof on her, too, last week. Party @ The Palms is every Wednesday at 10, and it has me doing comedy bits and really insane interviews. I go and crash Lance Burton's magic show....

TVGuide.com: Did he make you disappear?
McCarthy: No, but he made me levitate.

TVGuide.com: I hope he at least bought you dinner first.
McCarthy: Then I pulled a stuffed rabbit out of my ass.

TVGuide.com: Out of your what?
McCarthy: Ass?

TVGuide.com: Is that where it's been hiding?
McCarthy: [Laughs] [The Palms] has been fun for me. I realized that these dumb characters I've been doing on sitcoms just don’t fit me. But this reminds me of the days when [MTV's Singled Out] gave me a microphone and said, "Go be you."

TVGuide.com: That's when America's love affair with Jenny McCarthy began. At least for people without Playboy subscriptions.
McCarthy: 'Tis true.