Comedy seems so natural for you. Where does that come from?

 Some kids like doing sports and some kids like singing. I just always liked to perform and I did plays and things when I was seven. I started auditioning. My dad saw something about a comedy camp for kids. We did it and I really liked it. I got to be a kid and have fun and play different characters and play dress up and learn. It was like an acting class. I made really good friends that I still have now. There were like 30 inner city kids. You would go in with a few jokes and attach it into an act of some sort. Every Friday a veteran comic would come in like Richard Pryor or Arsenio Hall and the comic genius would critique each act and help you make it better.

Had you met your co-star Jennie Garth before?

I was kind of young for Beverly Hills 90210 but I have a picture of Jennie and I when I was doing volunteer work. I was seven years old.

The pilot for the show has a lot of sight gags…falling, crashing, etc. You’ve done a lot of that but is it still hard?

It actually takes practice to fall over things. I’m pretty familiar with that sort of thing because I’ve done it on Nickelodeon for a long period of time. So for me, it was just kind of what I like to do. It was kind of normal. But I get to do things now where I get to be serious and real too. I think that’s good with this show because it has a story and a relationship.

You’ve done a lot of sketch comedy on your show where you play different people. Is this going to be harder or easier?

We’ll see. I don’t know. I think it will be interesting. It’s a change of pace. I’ve done sketch comedy where I’m always transforming and becoming another person, always putting a wig on. To actually be one person and perfect that and make it into a full character will be great. I’m looking forward to it.

You’ve been compared with the timeless star Lucille Ball. Is that a lot to live up to?

I don’t really pay attention to it. I am who I am. I’m just being myself and trying to learn and experience things. I’m not really trying to live up to anything.

But are you an I Love Lucy fan?

Definitely. Yeah. Whenever I’m sad or whenever I was feeling down, I would always watch an episode and she would make me laugh. She was a very talented person.

What is different about doing your sketch show, then a movie and now a TV series?

They aren’t much different in that you have a trailer and you go in every day. With film, when you’re done, you’re done and you can just throw it aside for the day because the next day you shoot something else. On television, you go on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and then you shoot on Thursday or Friday so you can kind of relax. You can just go in your sweats and not really have to do anything for the first few days of the week. Then you have to shoot. It just depends on what you like better. But it’s nice to have a break from makeup and hair every day, I will say.

How about having to do press junkets?

For Big Fat Liar, I was never asked what my biggest lie was so many times. For Nickelodeon you don’t have to do as much publicity. Sometimes they want me to just go to Europe for something and it’s tiring. It’s a lot of questions but it’s fun.

When did you do the last Amanda Show?

I was 14 and now I’m 16 so two years ago [in January 2001, just before filming "Big Fat Liar"].

Did your Big Fat Liar co-star Frankie Muniz give you any tips on doing a sitcom?

No, but I’ve gotten to see his really cool car [the tricked-out VW Jetta from The Fast and The Furious]. I have a Honda Accord.

But the biggest series news to come out of the panel is that Jennie Garth is three months pregnant. Dan Schneider promises that they will work around Jennie's condition as best they can using camera trickery and stunt doubles, meaning Valerie will not be pregnant on the show. Calhoun quips, "She'll be carrying a lot of laundry". They will be shooting the next twelve episodes of the series before Jennie is due.