Oh, my gosh.
Oh, my goodness.
Desi!
Look at this.
So Catherine and I met how many years ago?
Just a few.
Two or three. We're so young.
Just like two or three.
We're so young, impossibly fresh and young.
We met doing a hidden camera prank show--
That's right.
--that I believe NBC called their worst
prime-time ratings in history.
[laughter]
Did they really say that?
Or something like that.
I think they might have said that.
Yeah. Yeah.
But you know what?
They say that about all the shows that--
we were very special.
- We really were. - Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
We really were.
And this was my first big break,
The Real Wedding Crashers.
And I think it was yours too.
So we really cut our teeth together.
DESI: We did, for 10 weeks in Vegas.
And we somehow made it out alive.
I don't know how.
I mean, by the skin of our teeth.
I was slapped.
A bitch slapped me.
True.
True story.
A bride-- a bride who was in on it just [bleep]
five-fingered me right across the face.
DESI: Yeah. Yeah.
That was a rough day.
We couldn't even afford a medic.
The budget was so low.
You just had to, like, grin and bear it.
No, I just held a Coke can to my cheek, and--
Yeah.
Now, has that ever happened on Working Moms?
Gotten slapped?
Yeah, right in the face?
Dani Kind, who plays Anne on the show,
loves to slap a bitch.
She'll get in there.
She's very physical.
I love her for it. DESI: [laughs] I love it.
Oh, my god.
So you-- I mean, you're one of those actors who
has always been the total standout in everything
that you've been in.
You're so damn funny.
You're constantly working, steal every scene.
But now, suddenly, there's this baby of yours, seven seasons--
Isn't that crazy?
--of Working Moms.
Oh, my-- 83 episodes?
Yep, dropping on Netflix this Wednesday, April 26, guys.
[cheering]
And this show, you created it, you star in it,
you direct it, you executive produce it.
What is it like seeing your baby all grown up like that?
It's wild, you know.
I mean, I entered the show thinking, all right,
I'll probably get one season.
And I'll just try to be as authentic
as I can, tell all my stories, cram it into one season.
And each season that we got picked up for another one,
I was in disbelief.
I still am.
It's so good.
It's so funny.
And it feels-- it genuinely-- I know you.
You're a friend.
Like, it feels like you.
You can tell that you put so much of yourself into it.
You cover just in this--
I may have snuck a few episodes of this last season
because I got a friend-- - You got a hook up.
I got a hook up.
Don't be asking me.
[laughs] And just in-- just in this season,
you explore so many themes and issues that are so important.
You have an entire storyline on the male birth control pill.
That's right.
Yeah.
You explore destigmatizing shame
in female sexuality, marriage ruts, the complexities
of female friendships.
How do you get ideas for these stories?
I guess I just live.
You know what I mean?
Yeah, just a day in the life of a woman.
I mean, and I'm sure your audience could speak to this.
It's, like, having a kid, and, I mean,
just watching this incredible show tonight, and seeing
all the horrifying statistics of what it means to go back
to work, knowing that you're going to be looked
at differently for being a mother,
was so paralyzingly terrifying to me.
I didn't even know I had postpartum depression
when I started this show.
And getting through it--
I had a three month old when we started shooting.
And when we wrapped the show, and I
all of a sudden realized-- like,
I feel like I white-knuckled through it.
Like, I don't think I took a breath until they
said cut the last time.
Yeah, and that was part of the inspiration for the show,
right, you having gone through that and thinking,
like, there aren't shows out there that
really dive into these topics?
There sure are more now.
Seven years ago, it was a wasteland.
I mean, I couldn't find any--
a storyline, meaning the main plot point of the show,
about a woman who happened to be a mother and work.
I mean, look, on Working Moms, the actual amount of time
where you see the female characters with their kids
is like 5%.
This is about women being something
outside of the nursery.
It's a women in the workplace show.
And yeah, they've got to juggle it all
and try to have it all, whether that's possible or not.
Do you think it's possible?
[laughter]
Yeah!
DESI: You got this, right?
Totally.
Kind of backed against the wall.
They say you can have it all but not all at the same time.
I think someone wise said that.
I think it's different for each person, right?
We all have our ways of sort of working it out,
of making sacrifices.
The guilt is real.
DESI: The guilt is real.
The guilt is real.
DESI: You said something about mom guilt
that really stuck with me.
Sounds like me.
Yeah, very profound.
[laughs] You said something in regards to the way
that you talk to your children about going to work.
Ah.
Yeah, I don't say, I have to go to work.
I say, I get to go to work.
And I just flip that tone.
I go-- like, before I flew to New York
to do this lovely thing with you, I told my kids,
I'm so excited.
You guys, I've never gotten to do this sort of thing.
I'm so happy with it.
And they feel the joy radiating off of me.
And then tonight, they were like, we're
so excited for you!
And that shift's great.
[applause]
That's so beautiful because you
are following your passion.
And you are clearly meant to do this.
And you bring so much joy to so many people.
And you're teaching them that they can one day do that too.
And that's really important.
That's really powerful.
Or marry a woman that takes care of them.
- Yes. - You know what I mean?
Yes.
Also wonderful.
Also very powerful.
You work with your husband on the show.
I do.
He plays your actual husband.
Yes.
He also is an executive producer
and directs on the show.
How-- how does this work?
Because there was a very brief time during the pandemic when
we were filming from home, and I one time
asked my husband to hold the camera.
And we almost got divorced.
CATHERINE: [laughs]
So how do you navigate that?
It's tricky.
I mean, we've definitely had some serious fights.
There's-- but then you also find ways--
I mean, look, for those of us who work in separate places
than our husbands or wives, you get to come home and try
to share what happened.
And there's sort of like a lack of connection
because you can't talk about what you've done.
When I get home, Phil knows exactly what I've done.
DESI: Right?
He witnessed all my wins.
But he also witnesses when I fail.
So that makes it really complicated.
Lucky for me, I got a guy who's a serious cheerleader,
you know.
He's-- yeah, he's had my back.
It was his idea to push me into writing
this thing in the first place.
So thanks, Phil.
DESI: Well, you're lucky to have each other.
You're lucky to have each other.
[cheering]
I am so grateful for you making this show
because I finally feel like there's a show
where working moms are seen.
And it means a great deal to me.
And it's such a joy to see you do your thing
and shine your light because you are just--
you're a total inspiration.
So I'm really happy for you.
And I'm proud that I get to be your friend.
Can I return the favor real quick that--
Oh, come on.
--how amazing is it that we broke our teeth on the first
Real Wedding Crashers show, which was a hit, maybe
not critically acclaimed. But it was a hit.
Clearly a hit, real critical darling.
Yeah, totally.
We were doing some really cool stuff there actually.
But that I get to now witness your first night
hosting The Daily Show.
[cheering]
Thank you.
Thank you for being here.
I love you to bits.
I really do.
Thank you.
You can watch the seventh season
and the final season of Working Moms on April 26 on Netflix.