MARTHA QUINN: Back Where She First Belonged

Martha Quinn bubbles over like a carbonated hot spring during an earthquake. Just ask any reporter who has ever interviewed the venerable MTV veejay. In print interviews she has been called perky, pert, piquant, frisky, pixie, bouncy, gamin, sprite and relentlessly effervescent. If you want to know what Quinn is like, just look in the thesaurus under “activity.”

Quinn arrived at MTV in 1981 as a wide-eyed graduate fresh from New York University. She won a fast following on the brash new music channel, drawing more fan mail than any other veejay because of her ability to speak to the camera like it was her best friend.

But in December of 1986, MTV traded in its “used” lineup of veejays for newer models. Quinn packed up and made for Los Angeles, where she studied acting and picked up what work she could. Commercials. Guest spots on TV shows. Even stand-up comedy (she’s hosting A&E;’s “Evening at the Improv” on June 30). Last year, she co-starred in CBSU short-lived revival series, “The Bradys.”

Back in video musicland, however, it seemed that people who want their MTV also want their Martha Quinn. So MTV rehired Quinn to host a classics show. Now, a year later, the 31-year-old Quinn is back by popular demand as MTV’s prime-time, weekday veejay from 8 to 11:30 p.m. What’s more, MTV agreed to let her tape her show in Los Angeles as part of its planned expansion to the West Coast.

At lunch in Universal City with Daniel Cerone, Quinn talked about the ups and downs of her career.

Why did MTV decide to put you back in a prime-time slot?

I’m like Phil Collins in (the rock group) Genesis. When Peter Gabriel left Genesis, Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks auditioned hundreds of singers. And one day somebody turned around and said, “Well, what about Phil? He’s not bad.” Before I went back to MTV last year, they were searching for this prime-time veejay. And I’d come in, do my shift and leave. I guess sometimes the things in your own back yard are the hardest to see. One day somebody finally said, “Well, what about Martha?”

What was your response?

I said, “I can’t move to New York.” I was involved in a series (“The Bradys”), and I had a Sprite commercial that just premiered on the Academy Awards. It’s like I have two legs to my career, and I had been working really hard to strengthen my acting leg. I just couldn’t put it into a cast and move to New York; it would atrophy. Oh! I’m the analogy queen. I kill myself.

Seriously, I thought that would basically be the end of it. But they called me up and said, “Okay.” So the mountain moved to Mohammed. And here she is, you’re having lunch with her, Mohammed Quinn.

You seem committed to stay in Los Angeles. When MTV first let you go, what made you move out here?

I simply had no reason to stay in New York. No reason at all. My grandfather had just died. I had just lost my job. The two things that were keeping me in New York were gone. It felt like it was time. I had been at MTV for six years, and it was the only job I ever had. So I was really at the edge of the diving board anyway. I definitely got pushed, but I was at the edge and would have had to make the jump soon, because people need to grow and change.

You had a hard time at first in Los Angeles.

When I first came out here, there was a lot of resistance. “Oh, no no no. The MTV girl. We want an actress.” And it was really, really frustrating to try and convince people that I didn’t need to be discussing Axl Rose in order to be likable. I had a lot of other qualities in me. People thought, “Yeah, she can be all right. But let somebody else hire her first.” I’m grateful and indebted to the Domino’s Pizza people for hiring me. That was my first commercial after MTV. I got that totally as an actress, totally on my own.

From MTV to “The Bradys.” That’s a wild jump. Were you criticized at all for that?

No. It was an incredible spot for me. I grew up with the Bradys. I mean, being Mrs. Bobby Brady-could you imagine? I don’t care if nobody watched the new show, everybody knows about the Bradys, and everybody knows that I was on “The Bradys,” and that I was working in a different capacity. I was working as an actress on a big-name series. And that has done really well for me out here.... Anyway, I was sort of the Brady of MTV, so it’s really not a stretch at all if you think about it.

Was there a sense of satisfaction being asked back to MTV as prime-time veejay?

MTV has been so completely supportive of me. I know what you’re saying-did it feel gratifying to be asked back? I don’t know. You know, I don’t hold anything against them. You just do what you have to do, and that’s what they felt they had to do at that time. That’s just how things work. I’ve learned now that I can come back. I can survive. That’s important. Because, guess what? I will be fired again. Because this is show business.