Samantha Who?'s (Mondays at 9:30 pm/ET, ABC) mother/daughter duo, Christina Applegate and Jean Smart, dish on dating, fashion and what’s next for our favorite amnesiac.

TV Guide: Does your on-screen mother/daughter relationship extend into your off-screen lives?
Jean Smart: Yes, I feel extremely maternal toward Christina. Though it is a little weird feeling maternal about her because my husband finds her very attractive.
Christina Applegate: You mother me better in real life than Regina mothers Sam [on the show]!

TV Guide: Sam is getting closer and closer to her ex, nice guy Todd (Barry Watson). Jean, what kind of man would you pick for Christina?
Smart: I love playing matchmaker. He’d have to be kind and very smart. And cute. Kind, smart and cute, in that order.

TV Guide: Christina, your character was manipulative pre-accident, kind post-accident. How is it playing those two sides?
Applegate:  I get off on playing bad Sam. She has her eye on what she wants and doesn’t care who she hurts in the process. The second that bad Sam wig comes on, I feel very relaxed.

TV Guide: So you like bad Sam's low-maintenance hair?
Applegate:  Definitely. It’s a lot easier than good Sam’s curls.
Smart: Farrah Fawcett is clearly a big influence on Regina. But I’m a brunette now. My husband loves it.
Applegate:  Yeah, they always do.

TV Guide: Regina's got a very retro sense of fashion, too.
Smart: She grew up watching Ann-Margret movies!
Applegate:  [When it comes to Sam’s style], good Sam is SoHo and bad Sam is Bergdorf’s.

TV Guide: You are both hilarious women who happen to be gorgeous. Do you ever feel that in show business, beauty and humor are at odds?
Smart: The beautiful girls on our show have no reservations about being goofy. They have no vanity. And yes, I think that’s unusual.
Applegate:  Comedy means not being afraid to look ugly or silly. You have to have total abandon to do comedy.

TV Guide: You must have always had that abandon, since you've been doing sitcoms forever.
Applegate:  No way, José. I came into Married…With Children probably the most serious person on the planet. Over those 11 years, I kind of figured out what my humor was.

TV Guide: Christina, you injured your foot during a performance of Sweet Charity. Jean, you injured your foot in a play, too. So what was less fun, busted ankles or the writers' strike?
Smart: God, when the strike started, it felt like I’d been sent to the principal’s office.
Applegate:  I felt like my head was being held in a toilet bowl.

TV Guide: You're back now. As for next season, Sam will continue piecing her life together, Regina will continue being well-meaning but narcissistic and…?
Applegate:  The season’s going to end with more questions about Sam’s relationship with Todd. Next season, I really hope they develop the other characters’ personal lives. Then I might actually have time to go to the gym.

Use our Online Video Guide to find clips and full episodes of Samantha Who?

For more features, news and inside scoop, check out the latest issue of TV Guide, which features a sneak preview of 20 finale shockers and a breakdown of the remaining Dancing with the Stars couples. Try four risk-free issues of TV Guide now!

Send your comments on this Q&A to letters@tvguide.com.