My chat w/Conchata Farrell...

Conchata Farrell probably gets more laughs, per syllable, than any other actress working in television comedy.

As sarcastic housekeeper Berta on CBS' "Two and a Half Men," the veteran actress has a way with a zinger that serves as a reality check for the title characters she cleans up after played by Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones.

"Berta is the voice of the audience, she's the one who goes, 'Can you believe these silly rich people?'" Conchata told me last week. "I take that seriously as a responsibility."

It's a character that wasn't even supposed to be a part of the show originally.

"When I landed this gig, it was only supposed to be a two-part episode," Conchata said. "I went in to do two and I made eight and they made me a regular the next year. It just felt like home."

The actress, a two-time Emmy nominee for "Men," does wish she had a bit more screen time: "I absolutely love this role but if I had anything to wish for, it would be maybe that I had a little more to do," she said. "But I always get really good stuff and the show is 'Two and a Half Men,' it's not 'Berta.'"

"Men" is now in its fifth season and shows no signs of fading. Conchata thinks she knows exactly why: "I think we're raunchy as hell and I also think we're very funny. It's not brain surgery but we are like witty funny, it's not only the buffoonish stuff. It's smart funny. I think people go home and if they've had a bad day, there's nothing better that you can do than make them laugh."

Conchata has played many comedic and dramatic roles over the years - most notably the pizza restaurant owner in "Mystic Pizza" and her Emmy-nominated recurring role in "L.A. Law."

But "Men" has brought Conchata the television stardom predicted for her more than 30 years ago when she starred in Norman Lear's short-lived sitcom "Hot L Baltimore" about residents of a seedy hotel which was considered quite racy for its time. Conchata also performed in the Broadway play on which the series was based.

Her character of April had a distinctively robust laugh that has been long remembered despite the show running less than one season: "Norman loved that laugh and he wrote it in every show."

For years, people would ask Conchata to do the laugh.

"But I don't do that anymore," she said. "I put April away."

Thank goodness the same can't be said of Berta!