Melissa Joan Hart on Her Boys' 'Little Butts' - and Her New Show!

Melissa Joan Hart on Her Boys' 'Little Butts' - and Her New Show! The busy star — mom to boys Mason Walter, 4½, and Brady Hart, 2 — has been hard at work on her new show, Melissa & Joey,

which premieres at 8 p.m. tonight on ABC Family.

ByStaff AuthorPublished on August 17, 2010 11:00AM EDTComments It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Melissa Joan Hart (@mellyjhart), and for good reason!

The busy star — mom to boys Mason Walter, 4½, and Brady Hart, 2 — has been hard at work on her new show, Melissa & Joey, which premieres at 8 p.m. tonight on ABC Family. (It also happens to

feature one of our favorite celeb dads, Joey Lawrence!)

When Hart hasn’t been filming, she’s been helping Pillsbury promote their new My Sweet Sunday Moment campaign. We recently spoke to the actress about her growing boys and her super-fun

family friendly set.

PEOPLE Moms & Babies: So, how are the boys?

They’re doing great! I didn’t get to see them much last week, and now I’m in New York City doing promotional work. I miss them like crazy!

As they keep growing, how is their brotherly relationship developing?

They are best friends and worst enemies, like most brothers are, I’d think. They love wrestling, but sometimes it can be hard to pull them apart. Especially when they’re naked and getting

ready for bath time. It’s just little butts up in the air!

Have they hit any big milestones lately?

Mason is going to return to his preschool this fall, and Brady is about to enter his first preschool class. We’ve got to get him potty-trained before his first class, though; we have about

three weeks.

Luckily, I know a lot of tips and tricks because I worked with Pull-Ups when Mason was potty training, but I figure with Brady, I’ll let him take his time. We’re just going to be consistent

for a few days: have him go to the bathroom every hour on the hour, put him on the potty, let him watch [his] big brother and get him excited about wearing real underwear.

You’re obviously a very involved mom; how do you balance your work with motherhood?

I was lucky in that we started filming Melissa & Joey in the summer. But now that the boys are starting school, it’s harder.

If we’re lucky enough that the show continues, I’ll be away from them every other week. I’ll have hiatus weeks, and time between seasons though, so I’m not too worried about it yet.

If anything, it’ll be harder on me. They’ll be home with their dad [husband Mark Wilkerson] and friends, in their own beds, at their schools and they’ll have consistency.

I’ve dragged them all over the world for the past four years — it’s time for them to have stability!

Is your Melissa & Joey set kid-friendly?

Yes! I rode my bike to work every day, so some days they’d ride their bikes over and see me for lunch, or we’d meet at set and ride to dinner, or I’d go home and we’d ride to dinner. We’re

doing a lot of biking these days.

My room and Joey’s room are practically adjoined, so we had toys for the boys and candy for the girls when they’d visit. It was like Romper Room over there.

Do your boys have play dates with Joey’s girls?

They do. We go to the park, and actually live around the corner from each other. They have a really little one (daughter Liberty Grace, 5 months) who’s still on a napping schedule, but

[4-year-old] Charli does come to play. We were supposed to go to Disneyland together, actually, but Liberty got sick, sadly. But we’re all totally friends.

I wonder about when Brady is a bit bigger, if he’ll start hitting on Mason’s girlfriends. When the time comes that they do start fighting over girls, I’m sure Charli will be one of those

girls!

Tell us about Melissa & Joey!

It’s really great! We’re having such fun. We think we have a really good thing going, and hope everyone agrees. I think it’s funny, smart and a little edgier than people are expecting.

Joey and I play these great characters, and mine in particular is extremely flawed, which is great. We have a lot of head-to-head combat, and there’s a great banter between us. I think that

makes for great comedy, when you have people that can kind of fire off at each other. It’s like old-school comedy style.

We have great chemistry. We have a lot of things in common, both personally and professionally, and that really helps us on camera. It comes across on television.

We’re enjoying the time, and the crew. We feel really blessed to have work, as well. We’ve known each other since we were about four years old, running around the Nickelodeon studios in

Florida — we ever buried a time capsule together! So it’s great to finally have the chance to work together 30 years later.

Is it weird to play a mom on TV when you’re a mom in real life?

No, because it’s different. In reality, I’m dealing with diapers and bedtimes and baths, and on the show they’re teenagers who are failing chemistry class. So it’s not too similar.

I have totally bonded with the kids though. Disney recently had a World of Cars Online party, so we went and had our first red carpet experience together. Another time, I had a party for the

cast at a restaurant I own, and had a cake themed for the show. We go out for lunch together, too. We’re having a good time together.

Do you prefer sitcoms to other acting endeavors?

Not over movies, but over drama, yes. I love being silly, I love having fun.

You get to know everyone so well, and if you’re lucky enough to have a good, long run, you develop these characters, and not only build them, but build an audience, too. Plus, you get to

have some great running jokes.

We film in front of a live audience, and it feels like a mixture of theater and television. It’s an interesting combination. I’ve never done a taped show in front of a live audience, so it’s

new and exciting for me.

We’re so old school: You hear Joey or I at the beginning of each episode, saying, ‘Melissa & Joey is filmed before a live studio audience.’ We interact with the crowd, too: Joey dances for

them, and we grab the microphone and talk to them sometimes.

Tell us about your partnership with Pillsbury! Why did you get involved?

First of all, I’m a huge Pillsbury fan. It’s in my life constantly. Every great moment I’ve had seemed to be on a day that started with a Pillsbury product! The cinnamon rolls were a

favorite as a kid, and now a favorite of my boys’ too.

Editor’s Note: The My Sweet Sunday Moment content, which ends Sept. 2, encourages families to reconnect on Sunday mornings. Parents are invited to share their sweet Sunday morning stories

here, with finalists being judged on creativity, originality and inspiration. One winning family will receive a weeklong trip to California and a visit to Hart’s candy shop, SweetHarts!

— Kate Hogan

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