Unique Mo’Nique: ‘I’m sleek and sexy’
It’s one thing to measure a TV star’s popularity through ratings, and another to measure it through sheer human emotion – kind of like the frenzied reception that Mo’Nique generated while visiting us last week fresh from an appearance on “The Rosie O’Donnell Show.”
Not only were people flocking to meet Mo’Nique, but she says she can’t believe the impact that “The Parkers” has had in its two short years on UPN (it’s the #1 show in African-American households).
“People feel like I’m their mom, their wife and their auntie,” she says about the appeal of her on-screen character, Nikki Parker, who attends college with her daughter, Kim (Countess Vaughn).
“She’s touchable – I actually have people coming up to me to tell me their life stories because Nikki is so real,” she says. “Most of my fan mail is from big women who say, ‘Thank you for being sharp and sexy.’
“The awesome thing is that I’m helping to make people feel better about themselves again,” she says. “I’m 220 pounds and I’m OK with that. I like being different, the big girl in Hollywood.
“And I have plenty of men writing in to thank me for making their wives feel better about themselves.”
Mo’Nique, who starred in the big-screen “Queens of Comedy” movie, says she has two more movie deals lined up (both comedies) and is continuing her stand-up comedy – the platform that launched her TV career.
“As Steve Harvey told me, ‘You’ve got to dance with the wolf that brought you to the party,'” she says.
Rohm, N.Y.: Elisabeth cast in ‘Law & Order’
Elisabeth Rohm will replace Angie Harmon on NBC’s “Law & Order,” playing an assistant district attorney.
Rohm starred on TNT’s “Bull,” played Det. Kate Lockley on “Angel” and had a brief stint as Dorothy Hayes on “One Life to Live” for six months back in 1997. She’ll be teamed with Sam Waterston.
Go grab that Penn and make a correction
People are already coming out of the woodwork to question “correct” answers on NBC’s “Weakest Link” – a problem that plagued ABC’s “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” when the show first launched (but had no effect on its ratings).
Reader Michael Levine e-mails that, on its very first telecast last Monday, “A question asked was, ‘What is the oldest university in the U.S.?’ The contestant’s answer of Harvard was declared correct. Actually, Harvard is the oldest college, but the correct answer to the question is the University of Pennsylvania, which was the first college to become a university.
“I contacted the show, which denied that their researchers could make a mistake,” he writes. “If I’m correct, it seems to me that the researchers are the show’s weakest link.”