( CNN ) -- When we last saw actress Amanda Peet during primetime , it was on NBC 's drama , `` Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip . '' Although that show was canceled after one season , Peet has kept busy in films mostly , booking parts in `` 2012 '' and `` Gulliver 's Travels . '' But she 's also done a few one-offs in niche comedy shows like David Wains ' web series `` Wainy Days , '' comedian Demetri Martin 's sketch comedy show , `` Important Things With Demetri Martin , '' and a guest spot on `` How I Met Your Mother . '' This week Peet returns to primetime with `` Bent , '' a half-hour romantic comedy from `` Scrubs '' vet Tad Quill . In it she plays Alex Meyers , a recently divorced lawyer whose wet-blanket approach to life is challenged by her active , surfer carpenter , Pete Riggins ( played by David Walton ) . Rounding out the cast is Jeffrey Tambor ( `` Arrested Development '' ) , JB Smoove ( `` Curb Your Enthusiasm '' ) and Jesse Plemons ( `` Friday Night Lights ) . CNN spoke with Peet from her home in Los Angeles about the `` Studio 60 '' days , finding her footing as a comedic actress and the things that keep her up at night . CNN : `` Bent '' marks a proper return to network TV for you . Has the TV landscape changed , in your opinion ? Amanda Peet : It seems like it 's contracting , fewer and fewer jobs . It 's hard to discern what 's what , since I 'm now a 40-year-old woman . Am I over the hill at the same time there 's a recession ? It 's hard to decide what 's what . There are n't many roles that are interesting if you 're a 40-year-old woman , unless you 're Julia Roberts or Cate Blanchett . CNN : Looking back , what was the issue with `` Studio 60 '' ? Peet : I think it was too expensive and there was too much anticipation . I guess all together we seemed like this arrogant monolith , but individually , none of us felt very arrogant . So it 's kind of curious . Including Aaron [ Sorkin ] . The backlash , the vitriol . If it had been some 30- or 35-year-old new discovery instead of Aaron Sorkin , things might have been different . CNN : In `` Bent '' you play an uptight , divorced lawyer . The crux of the humor rests on her being uptight . Do you think uptight people are funny ? Peet : I do . Someone says comedy is rigidity . In a romantic comedy it 's usually a good idea to have people who ca n't stand the fact that they are attracted to each other . CNN : Are you yourself uptight ? Peet : Yes . Probably . My husband would say yes . I try to be really hippie about things . I 'm uptight in all the ways that are really important , but the things my husband and family can benefit from my uptightness , I 'm completely lacking . I do n't clean , I do n't make the bed . I spend my salary . I worry a lot . I just do n't worry about socks on the floor . Plane flights , my children 's well being , my sanity . There 's this woman who walks on Wilshire Boulevard , in the same outfit . Tiny shorts , knee socks and this visor and a full face of makeup . She waves to invisible people . When I look at her , I slow down the car , I feel for her and I feel like I 'm one little breathe away from that . CNN : Do audiences think of you as a comedic actress ? Peet : I do n't know . I certainly hope so . Hopefully they think that I do n't blow . CNN : Recently , you 've done these one off 's with niche comedy shows like David Wains ' `` Wainy Days , '' `` Important Things With Demetri Martin , '' as well as `` How I Met Your Mother . '' What 's your strongest suit in comedy ? Peet : One needs good writings and there are many comedians that I 'm friends with that are n't apart of the comedy scene ; it 's very hard to break in and be taken serious as a comedic actress . It just takes one good role and some eye traffic and that 's hard to come by . Oftentimes you 're just the setup for the joke . Like in volleyball -- set and spike . That involves some comedic skill , but it 's also frustrating . On `` Bent , '' I really feel like Tad [ Quill , creator ] threw me the ball . If we get a chance to go , it would get funnier and funnier . If you take `` Cheers '' and `` Seinfeld '' and watch the early shows , they 're kind of awkward . It took a while for the writers and everything to gel . `` Bent '' premieres Wednesday at 9 p.m . ET on NBC .
Peet 's last full-time TV gig was the acclaimed , short-lived `` Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip '' Her new show , `` Bent , '' is a comedy . She hopes audiences see her as a comedic actress .