Alexis Stewart and Jennifer Koppelman Hutt are taking over the Hallmark Channel with their new show, Whatever with Alexis & Jennifer. After four years on Sirius radio and two past seasons of Whatever Martha, the team takes on daytime televisionand recently talked with Windy City Times.
Windy City Times: Hello, ladies. Describe your new show, Whatever, to people.
Jennifer Koppelman Hutt: The show is a talk show. There are portions of the show that are very much like the radio show. Alexis and I are used to talking to each other so we are just going to be doing that on television. We are having guests everyday which we didn't have on the radio show. It's fun and open and honest and sometimes silly. Hopefully, people will just like it and be entertained.
WCT: Are you super-busy getting the show finalized?
Alexis Stewart: You know, we have been taping so we just finished one or our third. I don't know; I am losing track already.
WCT: Is it getting up early now to film?
Alexis Stewart: I always got up early but now it is running from one thing to the other and forgetting where you are supposed to be. It is having a giant bag of shoes and underwear in case you don't know what you are wearing.
WCT: You are filming in New York?
Alexis Stewart: We are actually filming in my mother's studio. They have a set that folds up and tucks behind hers.
WCT: Wow, that's handy and very Martha. What makes this show different than the others?
Alexis Stewart: I think it is Jennifer's and my personalities that make it different. I think we are a little more offbeat than other shows and we are not so concerned with the main headline. We are more concerned with the secondary because everyone else is talking about the main thing. It is very personality driven. It is driven by the questions that we will ask our guests. Not the typical questions, maybe.
WCT: How is it set-up? Do you have a cooking segment or crafting?
Jennifer Koppelman Hutt: I don't know if we are big crafters but Alexis does cook, maybe down the road but not off the bat. We will certainly be talking about things she has cooked or I have ruined.
Alexis Stewart: We chat in the beginning, have our guest and then we finish out the show. We don't have a cooking segment, I am sure that is not out of the question but we haven't done that yet.
WCT: I heard you have Rosie O'Donnell as a guest?
Alexis Stewart: Not yet but we had Mario Cantone. I am such a bad name person…
WCT: Paula Abdul?
Alexis Stewart: She is coming on next week.
WCT: Do you have a dream guest that you would love to have on the show?
Jennifer Koppelman Hutt: Yes, hopefully they read this because I love Seth Meyers, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Kristen Wiig. I am a big SNL fan.
WCT: That would be fun.
Jennifer Koppelman Hutt: That would be amazing.
WCT: I interviewed Wendy Williams before her show took off.
Jennifer Koppelman Hutt: Let me tell you: That Wendy Williams is a superstar! She is fantastic because she is who she is. I really admire that.
WCT: How did you two meet?
Alexis Stewart: Jennifer and I met at my mother's office. She was temping as her father's assistant for a little bit. I had to keep walking by her everyday and she kept saying hi and I kept trying to ignore her until it became impossible.
WCT: How long have you been friends?
Alexis Stewart: We met five and half years ago. We did the radio show almost right away.
WCT: You have always had a good chemistry?
Alexis Stewart: Yeah, I think it works. We are very different but essentially we come to the same conclusion usually about things that really matter. We have a different take on things but if we agreed on everything it would be kind of boring.
WCT: Your mother had no problem making fun of her on the Whatever Martha show?
Alexis Stewart: It was her idea so if she has problems then it's her problem. ( both laugh ) Too bad!
WCT: I heard there is going to be a season three on the Hallmark Channel.
Alexis Stewart: Yeah. It will start in January. We already filmed that.
Jennifer Koppelman Hutt: Yes, in June. So right now we are doing the television show and the radio show.
WCT: I know gay guys love your show because my roommate watches Whatever Martha all the time.
Alexis Stewart: Oh, that's great. I know they like the radio show, too. "They"that sounds so rude. It helped that we were friends with a bunch if people at OutQ on Sirius Radio and they were very nice to us in the beginning. That helped people switch back and forth at the commercial breaks.
WCT: Great. I just interviewed Tim Gunn about his book. What is your response to [ the book ] ?
Alexis Stewart: It is completely bizarre. Somebody wrote that for him. I almost e-mailed him from my show e-mail because at this point I don't want him to have my personal e-mail. I don't get it. We were on a set and I had a mic on. Whatever he claims I would never say. There are plenty of times that I am angry with my mother but I tend in front of strangers not to talk about it a lot. I happened to not have been angry at her that day. I remember that day very well because I was getting paid a lot of money to do nothing and I was happy. I only had good things to say about him so I don't know what his problem was. I guess he wants to sell some books. It must be tough when you have nothing left.
WCT: Okay. So you two should being the show to Chicago if it travels.
Jennifer Koppelman Hutt: I would love to go to Chicago. I hear you have great deep dish pizza. I am big fan of pizza!
Whatever with Alexis & Jennifer airs weekdays at 11 a.m. CT on the Hallmark Channel and on Sirius Channel 112/XM157. Visit www.hallmarkchannel.com for details.