Kristen Johnston has nothing but praise for Leanne Morgan.

Johnston marks her return to sitcoms with Chuck Lorre‘s new Netflix series, Leanne, which sees Morgan — who is also a series co-creator and executive producer — and Johnston as sisters Leanne and Carol. When the 3rd Rock from the Sun alum sat down with Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos on Monday’s Live with Kelly and Mark, she lauded Morgan, who she conceded she was not familiar with before this project.

“I’m not a big stand-up person,” she said. “And then Chuck Lorre called me, and he was like, ‘Watch her special on Netflix,’ and within five minutes, I was like oh, oh, she’s magic. She is so brilliant, and she learned how to do it on the sitcom.”

Morgan’s Netflix special, Leanne Morgan: I’m Every Woman, was released in 2023. According to the streamer, the new series follow’s Morgan’s Leanne, who’s “world is turned upside down when her husband of 33 years unexpectedly leaves her for another woman.” Johnston lauded Morgan’s ability of rising to the occasion in Leanne, considering she had fairly little on-screen acting experience.

“She’d done a little thing in a Reese Witherspoon movie,” she shared, referring to the Prime Video rom-com You’re Cordially Invited. “But really short, and she didn’t really know…”

Consuelos chimed in, “Sitcoms are different.”

Johnston agreed, “It’s very different. She’d never done stage, that kind of work. And she was so brilliant and so fast. By the second and third week, she’s as good as anyone I’ve [worked with] like John Lithgow and Allison Janney in terms of a great scene partner.”

Ripa asked, “And did you take her under your wing?”

Johnston said she gave Morgan “a little bit of a sitcom clinic,” highlighting that Morgan was “so open and authentic, and she was so game.”

“She was just so game, which made it so fun for me,” she added.

On the topic of adopting a Southern accent in the series, Johnston explained that she “kind of based” her character’s accent on Morgan’s “fabulous daughter Tess, who does her make-up.”

“She was around a lot, so I did kind of base it on that,” she continued. “But you know, I didn’t want it to be a show about an accent. [Morgan] corners that. I wanted to do enough that you kind of didn’t focus on it too much.”

Johnston also offered some insight into what fans will see once the series begins streaming on July 31.

“I’m a hot mess, and her life kind of explodes in the first episode. So it’s how we navigate that together,” she said. “She’s amazing.”

Live with Kelly and Mark airs on weekdays. Check out their website for your local listings.