Alyssa Milano Tapped Into 15 Years of Bad Dates for Romantically Challenged

Alyssa Milano says she used her many years of awkward dating situations to perfect her role as newly divorced Rebecca on ABC's Romantically Challenged. Premiering Monday at 9:30/8:30c, the sitcom focuses on a group of friends trying to find love while navigating the world of first dates, new relationships, and one-night stands. Milano, 37, spoke to TVGuide.com about how she relates to her quirky character and about the chemistry between the cast.

TVGuide.com: Tell me about your character Rebecca.
Alyssa Milano: She's a newly divorced single mother of a 16-year-old son. She's a really, really, really bad dater because she's never had to do it before — she married her high school sweetheart. She's trying to get over her ex husband [and] takes all the wrong advice from her group of friends.

TVGuide.com: You recently got married, but can you still relate to awkward dating situations?
Milano: Oh, of course. I've had many more years of the awkward dating situation than the marriage. I have a good 15 years to tap into. I'm equally as geeky [as my character]. I was never good at dating. I would rather be anywhere in the world than on a first date. I avoided dating like you would not believe.

Alyssa Milano gets married

TVGuide.com: Do you think viewers will relate to that?
Milano: I think that her quirkiness and her geekyness really make her sympathetic, and I think that people will respond to that. Looking for love is such a universal thing that I think there is something in every episode that people will grasp onto as the series goes on. It's not like she gets better at dating. With all of the characters there are romantic challenges they have to sort of go through, but they're always able to lean on each other.

TVGuide.com: What about the rest of the cast?
Milano: Really the heart of the show is about a group of friends who are totally functional with each other, and then as soon as they step outside of their immediate circle, they're socially inept. I think what makes a show successful and what makes the individual characters successful is the chemistry between the cast.

See photos of Alyssa Milano

TVGuide.com: How did you decide to do another sitcom?
Milano: I never go into a pilot season reading scripts and say I want to do a sitcom or I want to do a drama. I just look for what I respond to — the best of what's out there. I kind of take it all day by day. I have no projections of what I want to do, what I want to play. I enjoy doing comedy; I enjoy making people laugh. I enjoy being able to exercise that part of who I am personally in my job, but I as I've become a grown up in this business, I try to look at all the elements in each individual project to do things that have a good complete package.

Are you excited for Milano's return to TV?