'Early Show' Bird Martha Quinn

First a peppy MTV VJ, then a peppy Neutrogena pitchwoman, now Martha Quinn is pepping up CBS’ The Early Show. The 40-year-old Los Angeles resident contributes ”Yikes, I’m a Grown-up!” segments on (you guessed it) adulthood. ”I’ve just become a mom,” says Quinn, whose husband, Jordan Tarlow, composes music for TV commercials. ”I’m not as worried about standing on line for four hours getting Bruce Springsteen tickets as I am about standing on line to get my kid registered for preschool.” Yikes, indeed.

Q: Congrats on the new gig. Does it totally blow, having to wake up at 4 a.m.?
A: Forget it! I wake up at 2:30 a.m., because I have to leave here at 3:30 and have my hair washed. My kid goes to bed at 7:30, so I go to sleep when she does.

Q: Are you bummed that Jennifer Love Hewitt stole your Neutrogena gig?
A: I knew it was coming when I was on the set of my last shoot. I was running off in between takes to breast-feed my child and I thought, Okay, I’m sort of out of the acne demographic.

Q: Martha Quinn. Martha Stewart. Steel-cage match. Discuss.
A: I’m sure she could beat me up. I’m a total wimp. I’ve never even punched anybody.

Q: After interviewing Paul McCartney on MTV, you finished off his tea and then kept his cup and spoon. Have you got any other celebrity stash?
A: I also have a dress that Tina Turner gave me—the one she wore in the ”Private Dancer” video. I actually wore it to the Video Music Awards that year. I’ll give that dress to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame when I can find it. It’s in storage with the cup and spoon.

Q: You played the wife of a disabled Bobby Brady in a short-lived 1990 CBS drama revival of The Brady Bunch. What up with that?
A: We referred to it as Bradysomething. If they had done with our series what they did with the movie, which was really funny, it would have been a smash. I think it’s pretty cool. I was an original MTV VJ and a member of the Bradys—two big slices of American pop culture.

Q: When are they going to make a Behind the Music on you?
A: I don’t think I could be on Behind the Music, because it seems like you have to have been a drug addict. I did go through a period where I was on unemployment. That was my low point: Martha Quinn on line at unemployment, hoping nobody will recognize her. You know what? That’s actually pretty good. I think I could do Behind the Music.