Leanne Morgan’s star continues to ascend. But two days before her titular sitcom debuted Season 2 on Netflix, the comedian, who drips sweetness from her mouth like a maple syrup bottle, insists “nothing’s changed” since achieving her new-found level of fame.
“Chuck Morgan's not going let us buy anything,” she tells USA TODAY of her famously frugal husband, often mentioned in her standup act. “I am going to the grocery store. I go to Costco. I'm still doing my laundry. I love doing laundry. I feel like everything's the same. I really do.”
For about 25 years, Morgan, now 60, chipped away at success, performing consistently in comedy clubs, at corporate events and fundraisers, while raising three children. When she was 57, sitcom sage Chuck Lorre
visited her Tennessee home and pitched a series. He was inspired by Morgan’s bit about a friend going through a divorce and returning to the dating pool, included in her first Netflix special, “I'm Every Woman,” released in 2023.
“I dreamed big, but I never knew it was going to be this big,” Morgan says.
Season 1 of “Leanne” premiered in July 2025. Since then, Morgan has completed a second 10-episode installment (now streaming), was named one of The Hollywood Reporter’s 100 Most Powerful Women in Entertainment, released a second Netflix special, with a third on the way, and embarked on The Time of Our Lives Tour, which continues through January.
“I couldn't sell 12 tickets, and now I'm doing arenas, and that's crazy,” Morgan says. “And then the television part − even though it's hard and I had to learn a lot, and I'm still learning a lot − it feels right to me. It feels like I'm where I'm supposed to be. I'm thankful. But it's just bigger and sweeter than anything I ever dreamed of.”
Morgan also acted with Glen Powell − “the yummiest, sweetest, most down to Earth, precious person that you would ever even dream of,” she says − in “The Comeback King,” a comedy directed by Judd Apatow, slated for a February theatrical release.
“[Apatow] said, ‘Leanne, I'll help you with this hour. I could go open for you,’" Morgan says. “I go, 'Open for me?' Judd Apatow!"
Morgan says every day she’s amazed that she’s on the radar of such well-knowns.
“Somebody told me that Mariah Carey was watching me on the movie that I did with Reese Witherspoon [‘You're Cordially Invited’] and was laughing,” Morgan says. “The guy that does my hair in New York knows her makeup artist, and she said, ‘Tell Leanne that Mariah is a big fan.’ And I went, ‘What?!’ I have danced to Mariah in a club, doing things I shouldn't have been doing. But I could not even believe it. Can you believe that? Mariah Carey!”
‘I don't want to get old’: Leanne Morgan’s concerns about aging
Season 2 of “Leanne” opens with its leading lady, who separated from her husband Bill Murphy (Ryan Stiles) nearly one year ago following his affair, worrying about turning 60. She schedules a consultation with a plastic surgeon to inquire about a little refresh.
Morgan says she also thinks about aging and ponders about procedures.
“Every day I think, ‘Should I get my eyes done? This is awful creepy looking. What about my neck?’” she says. “And then I think, ‘No.’ And then I think, ‘Should I?’ I go every day thinking something about aging… My baby child was here helping me get on [video chat for the interview], and I think, ‘Oh, I don't want to get old, and I don't know how to work anything.’”
“So much of Leanne is me,” she adds. “I'll be 61 in October, but I feel good. And look at what's happened! I've got a television show!”
Leanne Morgan wants more of Tim Daly on ‘Leanne’
Andrew, Leanne’s hunky FBI boyfriend played by Tim Daly, appears less in Season 2, giving Leanne an opportunity to explore life on her own.
"I love my little Tim Daly, honey. I could eat his lips off,” Morgan says. “We never, in the first season, let her be her and be who she's supposed to be, after taking care of everybody else in her family. So I do think that was a good thing [for Daly's character to appear less in Season 2]. But yes, I want my boyfriend back.”
If Netflix orders a third season, Morgan says they’ll resume filming in January.
“But I won't know for 30 days. I'll wring my hands and walk the floors for 30 days,” she says. “But if it doesn't happen, it's OK, I've had a ball. But if it does happen, I’d be tickled too.”
Tyne Daly and Lainey Wilson appear in ‘Leanne’ Season 2
Daly’s sister, Emmy Award-winning actress Tyne Daly, makes a cameo in the show’s latest installment.
“She came to see a taping in the first season,” Morgan says. “And we all were in awe of her. So I bet they said, ‘Would you ever come back and do this?’ And she agreed to do it.”
Morgan and Lainey Wilson are friends, she says, and former opponents on “Family Feud.” Morgan and her brood beat Wilson’s team in the episode that aired on Sept. 11, 2025.
“And she's never gotten over it,” Morgan jokes. “And then she came out to LA doing some big something,” and was invited to set. “She came by and they asked her − they got her in a room and probably, begged her − and then so she came on and was a natural.”
During the episode, Wilson, Morgan and her onscreen sister Carol (Kristen Johnston) briefly belt out NSYNC’s hit “Bye Bye Bye.”
“We felt like ding-dongs singing up next to her,” Morgan reveals. “We had a ball doing that. Any time there's dancing, singing, I have a good time.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Leanne Morgan 'couldn't sell 12 tickets.' Now Mariah Carey is a fan
