I love sci-fi. Growing up, I was a big fan of the 'Alien' series, 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,' etcetera. Plus, anything apocalyptic - 'I Am Legend,' '1984,' 'Battlestar Galactica.'

When I was growing up, we had cats, dogs, guinea pigs, rabbits, goats, chickens - a whole menagerie.

It's always nice when someone comes up to you and tells you they enjoy the show. At least they're not coming up and saying how much they hate it.

Female clothing seems to be extremely difficult and almost like a puzzle for a man to take off. But I think if you get there, you win. A kilt is the complete opposite. The kilt is so easy to take off.

In her second career as a minister, my mother defied a legacy of chauvinism to become a leader of our community, overseeing a church that served as a hub, offering parenting classes, a food pantry, after-school programming, and - in the wake of Hurricane Katrina - a lifeline to those ravaged by loss.

I told my father to stop smoking around the age of two or three years old and he stopped smoking. So the relationship between the kid and the parent is very powerful, and if you give the kid the right information, it can be very useful to the family.

We hear the stories every day now: the father who puts on a suit every morning and leaves the house so his daughter doesn't know he lost his job, the recent college grad facing up to the painful reality that the only door that's open to her after four years of study and a pile of debt is her parents'. These are the faces of the Obama economy.

Ranveer was almost three when I began my second stint. I took up TV assignments so that I could have enough time at home. While being 24/7 with my child was amazing and his company stimulating, I missed adult conversations.