TCA: If it's Linney, 'C' is for classy

After viewing Showtime’s newest half-hour comedy “The Big C,” it’s difficult to say if will creatively blossom the same way the cabler’s “Nurse Jackie” has done, but it’s downright impossible not to be wooed by the charm and smarts of star and exec producer Laura Linney.

While she’s certainly made her mark on the bigscreen – actress has been Oscar-nominated three times – she’s also got lots of TV cred. Linney co-starred in HBO’s 2008 miniseries “John Adams” as well as a guest-episode arc in “Frasier.”

“TV has made me a better actress,” she said Thursday at the TCA confab. “That’s why I love working in different mediums. It’s challenging. It’s fast, furious and do things film and theater can’t do.”

The subject matter of “The Big C” is now to deal with a life-threatening disease. For Linney’s character, that means not telling anyone and just enjoying the last year or two – she’s on a bit of spending spree and certainly less bashful than before receiving the ghastly diagnosis.

For the actress, the gist of the show is about taking advantage of the finite amount of years we all have left.

“What hit me the most was the theme of time and what do you do with time -- the choices you make and how you spend time. You have a limited amount and the privilege to grow old. I think we forget that in this world where youth is overly celebrated.”

Exec producer Jenny Bicks, who has battled cancer, said the skein is intended to be both thoughtful and funny, with a delicate balance between the two.

“We want to be truthful about the disease, which is fourth-stage melanoma,” she said. “We don’t want to think about if and when we’re going to kill (Laura’s character), it’s about the exploration when she’s alive.”