- All right, everybody. Let's get my first guest on the line. She was a star on TV from a young age, and she went on to become
a real live neuroscientist because, why not? You know her from
"Blossom," I do at least, and "The Big Bang Theory," and now she's hosting
"Celebrity Show-Off." You can watch it Tuesdays on TBS. Let's say hi to Dr. Mayim Bialik - Hey, how are you? - I am so good, and I
am so impressed by you, and I love you, so I'm
so excited about this. - Thank you, it's such an
honor to meet you. (laughs) - Oh my God, you're so funny! No, I mean, I literally,
I've been so excited. I was just telling my producers
before I got on this call, it was like I'm a little
nervous like interview, you're so intelligent and
beautiful and successful. - Oh, that's really sweet. (laughing) - Well before we start, I
saw you posted a picture of your Zoom setup. This is amazing. Is your laptop really on a board game? It's on two board games. (laughing) - What are the board games? - Okay, today the board games are a game called "5 Second Rule Junior." - Okay. - Where you have five seconds to, it's kind of like if
they give you a category and you list examples of it. And the other one is called,
"Flash Point Fire Rescue," which is a cooperative board game that hippies like to
buy for their children. - Oh, my gosh. I love that. I'm a gamer, I love games. - Well, we got whole list of choices, but that's what you're literally on today. - So one of my favorite facts about you, is that, and I love first of all that you said, you know,
you watched me grow up, same thing with you, since "Blossom." So I'm the same with you, but anyway, one of my favorite facts about you though, is that you played a neuroscientist on TV, but then that was after
you'd actually become a neuroscientist for real,
which like no one does. So why was education so important to you? You didn't need to go that route, but obviously was really important. - Yeah, I was on "BlossoM'
from the time if was 14 to 19. And I'm actually a second
generation American, which means that I have
Eastern European grandparents. And I was raised with a very strong work and education ethic. My grandparents did not finish, I don't know if my grandmother
finished elementary school. My grandfather did not finish junior high, so they came to America
and worked in sweat shops and so they raised children,
who then raised children who believed that you'd go to
college really no matter what, even if you had your own TV show. So I also, wanted to be appreciated, kinda for what was in my head and not just what I could offer. And I think you can probably relate. You know, people get so much
from us when we're talented and do things and put ourselves out there, but like there's a person in here. So I just wanted to
develop that part of me, and I fell in love with science and wanted to pursue science,
so that's what I did. I left the industry for 12 years. - And it's incredible
and then you came back and part of the biggest shows ever. It's like your story is incredible. - It's unbelievable. I don't mean like I'm unbelievable, it is an unbelievable story
even to me, like it's- - And can you imagine,
like your grandparents? You just said they didn't even
get out of elementary school. They didn't have much schooling at all. And to have their offspring created people that are neuroscientists? - My grandfather said,
they told me the streets were paved with gold,
like when he moved here as a teenager from Poland. And he's like look, you
have your own TV show. - It is gold. (chuckles) That's amazing, that's so cool. It's a great like American
tale, like an American dream, it's really cool.
- Thank you. - Well, some people have
been taking quarantine time to bake bread and do all
this stuff that I don't do. But, is it true that you've been trying out TikToK dances? And I really wanna see one. - Here's the thing, like I
think that anyone with children is probably observing them
playing a lot more video games than you had planned this summer,
because of the quarantine. And so one of the things
that I've been trying to do to find any way to engage with them or like connect with them. And my older son, he's
14, has gotten into, I mean he's always on his phone and usually he's scrolling through TikTok. I didn't even know what it was. So I have a You Tube channel,
and so we did a video that we posted on You Tube, of me basically saying to
my kid, like what is TikToK? How do I do it? There's a lot of this motion.(chuckles) You've got names for it,
there's a lotta like, no and it like goes with a song. (chuckles) - Oh, my god I love this. I think that's a good challenge for all parents to have to do. - I tried to do that one that Normani, I can't remember the it
was some kind of dance, there was a basketball involved. I had to pop it off my behind. I was like, look. - They're very fast, it's
like they're very fast and I was like why can't we do it slow? And Miles, my older son said, 'cause you're an old person
and you shouldn't be on TikTok. - You shouldn't be on TikTok. (laughing) That's awesome. So, I ask this only because
you're a neuroscientist in real life. How does dancing actually
help our brain, or does it? - Yes, so I mean, any movement is good, especially for your mood,
especially during quarantine. That kind of movement, it
does, it stimulates serotonin, also doing something that's enjoyable. It increases the amount of happy hormones that are in your brain and in your body. Also, things like adrenalin are important. Getting your heart
moving, 'cause I literally feel like I've been
barefoot for three months, sitting on my couch. So anytime that I'm doing something other than like walking to
the fridge or the bathroom, it feels like a real accomplishment and that actually is, it is,
it's good for your brain, it's good for your physiology. And that's one of,
kinda of the only thing, especially in the heat of the quarantine, it's really one of the only Things that we have been able to do. Just move our bodies. Sometimes it's TikTok dances. Sometimes it's vigorous walking. - Yeah, I'll take walking. And like music or and audio
or audible or whatever, listen to books. - Welcome everyone, to
"Celebrity Show-off". The wildest star-studded
variety show on TV where you decide who gets
renewed week in and week out. Last week, (screaming) Kevin Smith had us laughing again with another installment of his sitcom. - Best sleepover ever. - [Mayim] Tori Spelling
had us crying tears of joy at a virtual wedding. - Met online, marry online. - You will never, ever, ever forget this. `- [Mayim] Ja Rule's defiantly
defeated the Internet. Jason Mraz served us another perfectly pleasing mrusical. ♪ To catch a big old fluffy cat ♪ - [Mayim] We said goodbye
to the highly talented, Bella Thorne.
- Oh, my god. - [Mayim] And we said
hello to our newest celeb, Diplo has joined the competition. - Welcome back everybody. I'm hanging with Mayim Bialik and that was a look at her new
show, "Celebrity Show-Off." You can watch it Tuesdays on TBS. And congratulations,
Mayim on the new show. How does it work? - So, "Celebrity
Show-Off," I'm hosting it, which is excising since
I've never hosted anything. And I like to be in charge. - It's fun, I never did it either, and it' really fun.
- It's very fun. So we have five celebrities
who basically are sent camera equipment and they
have to make an episode of a show, that's like
five to seven minutes. And every week, they
make a different episode. And the audience gets
to vote which episode of which celebrity shows they like. And the ones that get the most views get to do another episode next week. And the ones that don't, get canceled. And we being in a new
celebrity to do a new episode. So, basically it's quarantine show, where these are celebrities in their home, usually being filmed by
whoever's in the house with them and they get to design whatever they want for a tiny episode of a made-up show. - And it's any kinda show. It's just whatever show
they wanna make up, right? - Oh, there's some with music. There's some that are
like take-off on sitcoms. There's a horror film
in the first episode. It's a huge variety. Let's just say I didn't know Jason Mraz had so many costumes in his house. (laughing) - Says a lot, I love it. Are there any celebrities
you're worried about after shooting the show? (laughing) - I mean, I think just like many of us that are worried about ourselves, you will worry about these celebrities. I said, that watching
some of these episodes either feels like you are
on drugs, or should be. (laughing) - So far, enjoying it. - Yeah, it's like a lot
of, it's a lotta down time that we all have, like
celebrities are people too, and they have down time,
and they get to create you know, little bits of
entertainment and distraction. Ja Rule, they actually
released a clip of his. He does a, he's supporting
a small business and he's dancing in a shirt that says, "I love grease." And it's incredibly bizarre, but also really beautiful and touching. And his message and the
charity he's playing for, it's really, it was one of
the more touching aspects of this first episode that I
was really surprised about. And it was just lovely. - So it is for charity. You said that each episode is for charity. That's really cool. - Yeah, each celebrity
picks a different charity that they are playing for and every time that they get
advanced to the next week, their charity keeps gaining money. So everybody's got their own
charity they're playing for. - Oh, that's awesome. So not only fun to watch, but
also you're helping people. That's really-
- oh we, yeah. - Yeah. So, one of the things you spoke about, during the pandemic was keeping
track of our mental health. And we touched on it a bit here. How is your mind doing during the, mine has been a roller coaster. - Yeah, it's definitely
been a roller coaster and you know, I've been
very open and vocal about growing up with
mental health challenges. And that that's a
continuing, you know, issue for many of us who struggle. Also, the notion that
it's okay to not be okay. That's some of the messaging that NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness tries to really spread the word about. You know, I'm not gonna sugar coat it. It's been incredibly taxing,
you know for many of us. Especially for those of
us who struggled before. I'm an introvert by nature,
which means I don't mind being on my own and not
really going out a lot. But the notion that that's
being chosen for me- - Yeah, the option has been ripped. - Yeah, we're really
isolating and you know, my temper's been short,
my sleep's been weird. You know, I started
getting heartburn again, like just like all the stress things. But those are all stress
things for my body. And I'm also talking with a girlfriend, and even my ladies cycle
has felt more emotional during the quarantine, like
everything is heightened. I'm like, my mom has a
pinched nerve in her back. She's never had that before. And I said like we're all stressed. We're living in masks, we don't
know what tomorrow brings. The news is insane. The country's falling
apart, it feels like. It's very stressful even for someone who has zero history
with mental health stuff. And for those of us who have
OCD, like there's plenty of things to have new obsessions
and compulsions about. I promise. (chuckling) - I know, definitely. It's been a roller coaster. I can, I suffer from
depression and it's like one of those things where I don't do what, and I'm an extrovert. So, this like not seeing
humans, and not interacting and I like really feed
off of people's energy. And I love the people that
I've chosen to surround myself with, but I
definitely miss, even like my glam squad, you know. I don't miss glam, I love what they do, but I don't miss the
hour of sitting there. But, I miss them and I
miss talking with them and I think all of us are
like that with work and stuff. - Well you can only like do so
many Zoom meetings you know. Like you can only do so
much, and even socializing, it's just not the wame. And like you have to use
your voice differently and you have to like
worry what I look like. And I end up just like staring at myself the whole time. I'm like why do I look like that? That's not helpful either. - Yeah, I don't even do that. I just never look. (laughing) That's the key, just don't look. Well, switching gears a tiny bit, congratulations, Epicenter's
giving you a thumbs up with your "Big Bang Theory"
co-star, Jim Parsons for a new show. But, he's not in it. - No, he's doing other things in life. Jim Parson's company and
my production company, Sad Clown Productions,
we are producing together an American adaptation of a BBC show, that was called "Miranda". And, I'm playing a woman who's 39 and who doesn't have it
all, but is still happy. And, it's a very sweet, sweet show. Hopefully we'll be going
into production this fall. We are on Fox, we have
13 episodes ordered. So really grateful that we
already have a crew and a staff, that is ready to work. Been an incredibly
different time economically for this country. So we're grateful that we have you know, a couple hundred people who
are ready to get to work. - That's awesome, I can't wait to see it. That's really cool. I love that you all are
teaming up for some things. Well, thank you so much Mayim. Thank you for just Zoomin' with us. I can't wait till we actually you know get to hang out in the studio. I keep sayin' that to everyone. - No, it's really, it's
an honor to meet you and I've heard such good things about you and you just seem like
such a natural, person and I just think we
should be best friends. - Oh, my gosh, I'm down, but
I gotta be honest with you. Your bar's gonna be lowered
as far as the intellectual capacity of your room. Like, I'm not a neuroscientist, but I'm real fun. - Oh, you're awesome. You're so talented and I
swear I've had many a good cry singin' along with you
in the car. (laughing) - Thank you so much Mayim for
stopping in our Zoom room. "Celebrity Show-Off" airs Tuesdays on TBS.
