Billy Gardell

LOS ANGELES - So what's the difference between the last time "Mike & Molly"'s Billy Gardell played Treasure Island Casino and his upcoming appearance Saturday at the same place? "Same joks, cost more money," Gardell said at the TV Critics press tour Wednesday. "The last time, I just had 65 people and most of them had gotten a coupon just to get them off the floor."

That's what happens when your show is one of the most popular on the air and your co-star is one of the hottest names on the planet. It was a little more than a year ago, that I had breakfast with McCarthy at Hell's Kitchen, the very day her show was premiering. Now she's an Emmy winner and there's strong buzz that she'll be nominated for an Oscar for her scene stealing in "Bridesmaids."

"It's been pretty crazy," she said, battling a case of laryngitis. "I think I'm going to be hit by a bus because everything's been going so good."