Paula Cale
In 1995, Cale made her TV debut with a recurring role on that sitcom as McGovern, an obnoxious former MTV on-air personality who lands a spot on fictional news program "F.Y.I.," representing the youth voice. Based on real life vee-jay Kennedy, McGovern projected a trendy style that belied her conservative Republican leanings, beliefs which caused constant clashes with Murphy. Cale's characterization was appropriately grating and crafty, and established her as a capable and engaging comedic actress. The real-life daughter of a conservative lobbyist and liaison to the Nixon and Ford administrations, Cale and her family found her casting on the program ironic, considering that the sitcom was the target of a highly publicized conservative tirade against TV's liberal values. In 1996 following this recurring stint, the actress took regular roles on two concurrently running sitcoms, playing the eccentric wife of an aspiring filmmaker in "Buddies," a failed ABC spin-off of "Home Improvement" and a spunky neighborhood waitress on Fox's short-lived "Local Heroes." Back on stage, Cale made her Broadway debut in 1996 with playing the nymphet who is seduced by a defrocked minister in the Roundabout Theater production of Tennessee Williams' "The Night of the Iguana." The following year, she gave a winning performance as the late Gilda Radner in the Off-Broadway production "Bunny Bunny--Gilda Radner: A Sort of Romantic Comedy," penned by Radner's longtime friend and former "Saturday Night Live" writer Alan Zwibel (played by Bruno Kirby). The actress shone in the role, nailing Radner's energy, accent and manner, and managing to evoke the charming comedienne without doing a simple impersonation. Cale also made her film debut in 1997, with an appearance in the independent horror comedy "Office Killer," starring Carol Kane and Jeanne Tripplehorn. She returned to television with a recurring role on "The Naked Truth" (NBC, 1997), playing the sister of Tea Leoni and daughter of Mary Tyler Moore as well as one on "Cybill" as the title actress' starstruck niece in 1998, the same year as she took a featured role in the HBO biopic "Winchell." In 1999, Cale debuted as zany but affable single mother Joanie Hansen on the surprise hit series "Providence," a mid-season replacement drama on NBC. As the sister of the often overwrought Dr Sydney Hansen, a prestigious Beverly Hills plastic surgeon who returns to her titular hometown looking for a new start, Cale brought a lively spark to her role, lending much needed comic relief and a refreshingly down-to-earth point of view to the sometimes syrupy show.