CBS' The King of Queens — which presents its series finale tonight at 9 pm/ET — ruled as long as Seinfeld and Everybody Loves Raymond. Abdicating after nine seasons, Kevin James will match Jerry's and Ray's marks for longevity, even if King never achieved the same critical or ratings success. "We were TV's bitch," says cocreator David Litt. Still, flying under the radar had its benefits. "It helped us because the network let us do our own thing," James says. "We were the little show that could." That underdog work ethic was a key to the sitcom's appeal. "It's a simple show about a blue-collar worker and his wife in Queens — nothing about it screams, ‘Nine years!' " says costar Victor Williams (delivery-driver pal Deacon). "Yet that's exactly what people needed and identified with most."

The finale packs more twists than Lost. It might sound like standard fare: The episode features a wedding (with Jerry Stiller's Arthur as the groom) and baby talk, when Doug (James) and Carrie (Leah Remini) ponder adopting a child. But stay tuned, because it might not play out the way you expect. "We wanted to end on a note that felt like The King of Queens where everything's f---ed up," says cocreator Michael J. Weithorn. "No one's life ever improves."

Grey's Anatomy can't top King for behind-the-scenes drama. "It was a very tense show to do," Weithorn says. "There was a lot of conflict." Start with two emotional stars who aren't afraid to express opinions. "Leah's a strong cup of coffee, and I can be, too," James says. "If I feel something's not goin' my way, I get upset." Add in the septuagenarian Stiller, who early on threatened to quit unless the show was moved from L.A. to New York, where he lives. "He said the commute was killing him," Weithorn recalls. After CBS lent Stiller a plane, he agreed to stay.

Nepotism ran rampant. James' and Remini's spouses guest-starred multiple times, and other cast relatives — including Stiller's son Ben — did cameos. James' brother Gary Valentine landed a regular role as his loser cousin. "It just proves if you sleep with the right people, you get a job," Valentine jokes. "Kevin and I had bunk beds growing up."

Germans love The King. The show might not get too much respect in Queens, but they worship it in Berlin. "I'm on a stamp in Germany!" marvels Stiller. "I never dreamed a nice Jewish kid like me would be so big in Germany. I'm kvelling from all this."

James hated wearing Doug's IPS uniform. "Especially when I gained weight — the shorts were tight and they'd cut into my hips," he complains. "I'd feel like writing scenes around it, like, ‘Oh, I don't need a uniform.' They'd be like, ‘But you're at work!' And I'd be like, ‘Whatever. I show up without it!'"

Remini was the easiest cast member to crack up. "There were times when I had to cross my legs because I was going to pee from laughing," she confesses. "Kevin would say, ‘If you screw up this take, I'm gonna punch you in the face!' And I'd try, but he acted so stupid! Those were my favorite episodes."

King was a rebel. On the surface, it seems like a nice little show, but it wasn't afraid to take dark turns (check out the episode when Doug takes an obscene photo of himself with a disposable camera at a wedding). "It's such an anti-sitcom," says Patton Oswalt, who costarred as Doug's depressed friend Spence. "There's a lot of weird stuff smuggled in." That includes the main characters, adds Weithorn: "Doug's a lazy liar, Carrie's kind of a bitch, and Arthur is so narcissistic and paranoid, yet you still like him." Hmmm, sounds like the endearing freaks on Seinfeld and Raymond. No wonder King reigned so long.

Party of Five's plucky violinist keeps plugging along. In Lifetime's What If God Were the Sun? (premiering tonight at 9 pm/ET), Lacey Chabert stars opposite no less than Oscar nominee/Emmy winner Gena Rowlands, playing a nurse whose world unravels upon the sudden death of her father. Transferred to a long-term-care facility, she meets Rowlands' character, a real character who teaches her to embrace life anew. Balancing out this emotional fare for Chabert is her sitcom pilot at Fox (whose fate will be decided this week). TVGuide.com asked her about both projects, her latest thoughts on "big brother" Matthew Fox's Lost, and her current "heat" factor.

TVGuide.com: I caught you on the way to work, I understand?Lacey Chabert: Yeah, I've got to go do a voice-over.... It's just for a DVD of Bratz.

TVGuide.com: Hey, Bratz pays for the shoes, right?Chabert: That's right! [Laughs] But I just saw the pilot that I did, and it was really good!

TVGuide.com: Right, it's you, Molly Stanton and Dorian Brown....Chabert: And Sarayu Rao, who is hilarious. The three of us are sorority sisters, and Sarayu's character works at the office. It's post-college, but we're acting like we still live in a sorority. The way it's written, it's very Sex and the City, but with a younger edge.

TVGuide.com: And what's the bullet on your character? Is she the smart one, the sexy one...?Chabert: I am the wide-eyed one who [only thinks] about getting married and having babies. I'm that girl.

TVGuide.com: Well, good luck. Fox could use a good comedy.Chabert: I really think they could, and I love doing single-camera comedy so much. It's really well written, by Liz Meriwether, and I think it's something different. I don't think there are a lot of smart comedies for my demographic, so I really hope that it gets picked up.

TVGuide.com: Turning to the Lifetime movie at hand... Lacey Chabert and Gena Rowlands. Nervous much?Chabert: Oh, my god... I can't even tell you how nervous I was. When I signed on to the film, I didn't know that she would be in it. We were already into filming and it was the last day of our first week when the director came over and said, "I want you to know that Gena Rowlands is going to play this part." I was just speechless. Speechless. If there is anyone I wanted to work with in my lifetime, she was definitely one of those people. I felt so blessed to have had that experience, and then to find out that not only is she remarkably talented, but she's also the most humble and incredibly kind woman I have ever met. So sweet.

TVGuide.com: Is there any older person in your own life who exhibits the same vitality and joie de vivre as Gena's character?Chabert: Yeah, I would say my grandmother. She's a very strong and spirited woman. She has been through breast cancer twice and survived and is doing well. Nothing can get her down, and that's always inspired me.

TVGuide.com: Is this your first Lifetime movie? And if so, what took you so long?Chabert: What took me so long! [Laughs] I did an A&E one, I did an ABC Family one.... When I look at a project, I consider [whether it's] something I want to spend a month of my life doing, and if it's a message I care about. And this one really was.

TVGuide.com: Are you known to curl up on the sofa with a pint of Haagen-Dazs and watch a Lifetime movie?Chabert: What woman hasn't? [Laughs] I think the story of my character going through grief and guilt and acceptance, having lost her father so suddenly.... In these times we live in, where everything is so unpredictable, it's important that you always find hope and inspiration. That's what this film is about.

TVGuide.com: I was glad to see you survived that whole Black Christmas kerfuffle last December....Chabert: [Laughs] I know! I wasn't too in love with the fact that they released it on Christmas Day myself, but... that was a fun experience, my first horror film.

TVGuide.com: How was it reuniting with Party of Five's Jennifer Love Hewitt on Ghost Whisperer last fall?Chabert: It was great , it was great to see her! I hadn't seen her in a long time. It was like old times.

TVGuide.com: Last time we talked, you were already bogged down by the assorted theories regarding Matthew Fox's Lost. What are you thinking these days?Chabert: I'm more confused than ever. I don't understand what's going on with Jack: Is he crossing over? What's his deal? What's his and Juliet's secret?! But that's why I watch the show, because it keeps me guessing.

TVGuide.com: What else is on your TiVo?Chabert: I'm obsessed with Scrubs, The Office and Little People, Big World. Have you ever watched that?! You have to watch it. I rolled my eyes at first, too, but they are the most endearing family. It's funny and interesting....

TVGuide.com: It's as if the Salingers were all under 4 feet tall.Chabert: They're a really, really strong family. Oh, and I love Brothers & Sisters; the acting is great and the stories are great.

TVGuide.com: Also when we talked, we touched on your "plan" to break into the top 20 of Maxim's Hot 100 this year. Did you do it?Chabert: I know I'm on the list, but I don't know where I am.... [The announcement party is this Wednesday evening.] I was on the cover, though. Doesn't that count for something? [Laughs] I was just in a camisole thing, it was very "sweet." That's definitely not my "comfort zone." [Laughs] I have some issues!

A couple of days before Brooke Shields learned her new sexy series, Lipstick Jungle, would be picked up by NBC, we caught up with the actress — and her lively red-haired baby daughter Grier — at a party where she was introduced as the spokeswoman for a new online campaign, Chain of Confidence, started by the international kitchenware giant Tupperware and aimed at fostering female friendships, which led us to ask her about her new all-about-girl-bonding show as well as her own experiences with girlfriends.TVGuide.com: So it's pretty cool that while you're promoting female friendships in real life, you're doing a TV show about girlfriends, from Candace Bushnell, the creator of Sex and the City, the acme of sisterhood shows, right?Brooke Shields: [Giggles] It couldn't be better. We were joking that this whole thing is so unbelieving timed. Lipstick Jungle is about three women who turn to each other. [The ubiquitous Kim Raver (24, The Nine) and Lindsay Price (Pepper Dennis) also star.] They're high-powered, very flawed, very strong, great women. They really need each other and they're not afraid to admit it. I love that about these women. It's not about being a bitch. It's not about getting that guy. It's just about being all that a woman really be, which I think is so much more than we ever really know. I want them to do it right. It's going to be a lot of great, hard, fabulous work.

TVGuide.com: I guess you don't play a Tupperware saleswoman?Shields: No. Wendy runs a studio. But once I saw all the new Tupperware stuff, I said, "I need that!" I use all that stuff with my kids.

TVGuide.com: You can bring them on the Lipstick Jungle set.Shields: Absolutely. The new travel coffee mugs are huge in my households. With 4 am calls, you need a lot of coffee.

TVGuide.com: Are you filming in New York?Shields: Yes. It's so great being back home again!

TVGuide.com: Is your husband [producer Chris Henchy] coming with you or staying in L.A.?Shields: He'll commute. He's going to come Thursdays to Mondays. I've been wanting to get back home for so many years. It's really good for me to just to be here. And my kids (Grier and older daughter Rowan) just love it. I take the kids every day to a different museum and the park and just experience the diversity of the city.

TVGuide.com: Things sound good for you now.Shields: It always has the potential to go either way at any given time, but there are certain things I can count on: the love of my children and for my children, my friends.

TVGuide.com: It sounds like your female friends are really important to you.Shields: When Tupperware approached me, I realized I've been relying on the women around me my whole life, starting with my mom, who taught me to be proud of who I am and not let people knock me down. I'm in an industry that likes to take everything away from you starting with your confidence and self-esteem. We have to rely on our friends. So this is a connection that makes sense.

TVGuide.com: Did these friends help you with your widely reported post-partum depression?Shields: Absolutely! My poor husband was taking care of the baby, and my girlfriends would come over and stay with me. It was a network of females who knew something was really wrong. That was really huge for me.