Valerie Bertinelli Reacts to Surprise by Hot in Cleveland Costars Jane Leeves and Wendie Malick

Well, we were talking earlier about, you know, your time with Betty White being on Hot in Cleveland, a show that, you know, I think is held up immense for women. My hands down, my favorite experience in my working life. Really? Yeah. To work with those three women that I got to work with. And there was not a diva on the set. Like we were all like we'd hang out in the morning and just talk before rehearsing. Well, then, without further ado, Jane leaves. No! Betty Malek, everybody! I'm so happy to be with you guys. Oh, thank you for having us. Thank you for hosting us. Oh my god, thank you for making this the party that it is. It's not a party unless you guys are on this set somehow. I have a picture of us all in pink and black. Somehow we always match. Isn't it hilarious? I know, I know. You know what's crazy, because great minds think alike, but I didn't realize that it had been 10 years since you guys finished the finale. 15 years since we started. So how does it feel knowing that it's a 10 year anniversary? It's a decade. That's a very round number. It's crazy. It doesn't feel like it. It doesn't feel like 10 years in another way. It does feel like ages since we've been together. Oh, I love us. But I'm amazed at how many people still come up to me and tell me how much they love that show. It's such a great way to remember Betty. That's us celebrating Betty's birthday. We go out to dinner all the time. I mean, it's so funny because those real friendships. We've all been in dynamics at work where maybe people aren't as close. They don't know each other as well. For some reason they're not connecting. Maybe there's someone who you don't want to connect with. And that can be faked. You work through it. It's different when it's the electric connection. You feel that through. We felt it at the first table read. Well, Val and I, we'd known each other for years. 30 years now? Val and I are always like, you know, 75 years ago when we started. So you guys had known each other. Her nephew and my son were really good friends when they were 18 months. Best buddies. And how did you know Wendy? I had never met Val. I played Jane's mother-in-law in Frasier. I married Frasier's father. That little show, Frasier. But wisely, before we went to the table read, Valerie called us and said, why don't we all have lunch so we get to know each other as a threesome? Which is so smart to do. Was that Jane's idea? Yeah, I think it was Jane's idea. It's such a good idea. Somebody had a good idea. And we all had lunch and thought, well, this is going to be fun. But you still never know until you're sitting around with the other actors to see if you have chemistry. You just don't know. That's why sometimes you see movies with these great actors and it doesn't work. It doesn't mean the actors aren't good. It just means there's not something clicking. And that's where I think it can be faked, and it's fine, and it's enjoyable, but there's something different. You can't deny the chemistry. And Cameron and Lucy, we're actually as close as people can be, and it's real. And sometimes it just takes someone putting you guys together to grow that garden. And it's like the seeds and the water, and it just all works. And it's magical. That's the brilliance of great casting. But what was so great about this show was the feminine energy on the set. It was run by a woman, Suzanne Ryan. Created and run by a woman. Yeah, on that network we'd never heard of before. You guys did so many episodes. Do you have favorites that stand out? Gosh, many. I mean, the amazing guest stars we had. The one that sticks out to me is we had all the women from the Mary Tyler Moore show. Mary Tyler Moore, Georgia Engel, Cloris Leachman. Oh my God. I hear Cloris Leachman can really throw down and be a little naughty. She's very naughty. Much naughtier than Betty. Oh my God. These are my people. What about you, Wendy? My favorite was, and it was a pinch me moment, there were so many of them, but Carol Burnett played my mother. Oh my God. And I grew up watching her and just thinking, wow, someday, that is pretty awesome.