As the fifth season of CBS’ Rules of Engagement comes to an end there is still plenty in story for the comedic show. PCM chatted with Megyn Price and Sara Rue about the new bundles of joy on the way, the antics of David Spade, and what the future holds for the show.

 

Rules of Engagement’s in its fifth season so what was it like coming in to this already-established cast?

 

Sara Rue:         Oh, it was great. They are a well-oiled machine. It was – I loved my time there – it’s been really, really fun and, you know, Megyn and I have talked about this on set like how, you know, we’re so lucky to be able to do a multi-camera show where you come in and you really get to like rehearse and play and, you know, when you do an hour drama, it’s completely the opposite.

 

You come in, you rehearse very quickly and then you shoot and you shoot for like 16 hours and being on Rules was just, I mean, it was a dream job just to get to come in. Everybody knows what they’re doing.

Everybody’s super talented, super quick, super funny so I would say it was amazing, it was awesome. It’s an ideal situation I think coming into an already-established cast when they’re nice and, you know, funny.

 

Megyn, what do you think it is about the show that has made it so successful these past five seasons?

 

Megyn Price:   Well, I don’t know. I’m still like all just glowing from all those sweet things Sara just said. I think our show is about relationships, you know, and I think that translates to every country in the world, every person in the world. It’s like we all have relationships and our writers have found the funny in absolutely every interaction.

 

I mean, in interactions you wouldn’t even think, you know, in arguments, in infertility, in every situation they manage to find the absolute hilarious kernels and it’s just a joy.

 

Can you both talk about what you like about the possibility of Brenda having twins?

 

Megyn Price:   What do I think about it? What do we like about it? Oh, let’s see. I think it’s a fairly terrifying aspect. Given the number of friends I have who have twins and have absolutely no sympathy for me with only one child, I think it’s not double the amount of work, I think it’s quadruple the amount of work so I don’t know that Audrey and Jeff would be thrilled about that.

 

Sara since you’ve done a lot of comedy in your career, how does a show like Rules of Engagement align with your own personality?

 

Sara Rue:         It’s pretty on-target I would say. You know, it’s fun for me because I feel like I always or a lot of the time I play just the really nice bubbly ones so it’s fun to come in. Brenda’s got sort of like a sarcastic kind of biting edge to her which I really like so I feel like it’s kind of right in line.

 

I mean, I was a fan of the show before I was on it so it’s definitely, you know, something I watched and now being a part of it, it’s sort of right in line with my sense of humor and, you know, what I find funny and I think that’s maybe why the show has worked so well.

I feel like everybody in the cast and the writers, everyone has a very sort of, I mean, like everything they have a similar sense of humor like they find the same things funny and that’s why I think it works is because they’re all on the same page and, you know, I hope I, I mean, I find the same things funny too so I hope I sort of fit in with that group.

 

You’ve had all these phases of life of flashing back and forth in front of you and fixing them in real life. Have you had a chance to kind of reflect a little more about doing these other things about where you see yourself as far as motherhood and life and marriage and so on and so forth?

 

Sara Rue:         Yes, it’s funny. I’ve played so many pregnant people on TV. I’ve given birth, you know, Jon Cryer delivered my baby on Two and a Half Men. I have had twins on Chicago Hope. I mean, I like I’ve had and I gave birth to I was pregnant, oh, I was pregnant last year on Private Practice. That didn’t end well, never does.

 

You know, I don’t know. I feel like I’ve been pregnant so many times that I’m like yes, I’m on my fourth kid, you know, it’s funny. I’m still ready for motherhood although having played pregnant, you know, one of the things is everyone – when you – one of the things the writers especially on Rules have written about is, you know, the morning sickness and the cravings and the crankiness.

And so I’m very well aware that it might not be, you know, the ideal perfect thing but it’s something I definitely am looking forward to down the road in life for sure and I think about it a lot and it’s fun to play pregnant because, you know, you get to pretend and then at night we leave the set and I’m like oh, thank god, I can have a glass of wine, I’m not really pregnant.

 

We haven’t heard word of the show being renewed yet for next season. Is there anything in place regarding the finale in case it doesn’t get renewed or is it just completely going to leave off at a horrible place with loose ends?

 

Megyn Price:   It’s not leaving off. Bite your tongue, lady. No, I think that our show has gained so much momentum and the fact that CBS ordered four extra episodes of our show this year bodes very well.

I’ve been on a series that was syndicated before this show and we never did 26 episodes of television in one year which is what we’ve done on Rules so I think all of us feel, you know, cautiously confident but we’ve never felt this confident before.

So I think the finale of our show will as it did with me it will leave you holding your belly from laughing so insanely hard. David Spade does the dolphins. That’s all I’ll say about that.

 

Sara, you mentioned Brenda’s personality. How is it playing off of Patrick’s or Jeff’s or I guess maybe both deadpan sense of humor?

 

Sara Rue:         Well, it’s great because they’ve written, I mean, and smartly so I think, you know, when the character’s introduced as his buddy, you know, and they’re alike in a lot of ways. They’re both very dry. They’re both pretty deadpan and it’s sort of fun to have that back and forth and I think, you know, Patrick and I have known each other for years.

 

We did another show together years ago so, you know, we know each other really well and I think I know his rhythm really well and so it was fun coming in and being able to be like okay, well this is like one of his best friends.

I think they’d be on par with one another in terms of the back and forth and I like that she sort of doesn’t back down to him and she’s, you know, tough and I think it’s been kind of a nice – it’s fun – it’s a nice fit for me.

I was able to sort of slide right in because like I said, I’ve watched the show and knowing Patrick as well as I do, it’s sort of like an easy sort of transition for me to come on in and just sort of hold my own with him.

 

What’s it like getting to act with such great comedians like David Spade and Patrick Warburton?

 

Megyn Price:   It’s awful. It’s a chore. It’s horrible.

 

Sara Rue:         They’re quite annoying, myself.

 

Megyn Price:   Yes. It’s great to do scenes with people who including Sara who you just know are not going to drop the ball, you know? I mean, I can call them professional and it sounds really nerdy and boring but it’s amazing.

Like Spade, sort of, he rehearses but he doesn’t really turn on the electricity until the cameras go no and I’m telling you he is so incredible. Every single take, he’s like a little bit different and a little bit funnier. It’s just I don’t know what he does. It’s like magic. It’s so fun to watch and be part of.

 

 

Sara Rue:         It’s funny that you say drop the ball Megyn because, no, it’s funny that Megyn said drop the ball because I always think of comedy as like it’s like a game of catch. It really is and like if you have one person who is just (unintelligible) you are screwed and that’s what’s so great about coming on the set of Rules.

It’s like everybody can catch, everybody can throw. It’s just a good game of catch, you know, and that’s – it’s funny that you’d use that – because that’s how I think of comedy. It’s like all about keeping that ball in the air. It’s like a game of hot potato somehow and everybody is really good and so that’s – it’s really – it’s a joy to come and work with people who are like that.