WITH AN EYE ON . . . : Anne Ramsay makes desperation appealing on ‘Mad About You’

Seven years ago, Anne Ramsay and four UCLA drama student friends got together to form the Continuum. The play they wrote and starred in at the Carpet Company Stage, called “Waiting,” got the attention of critics and Hollywood agents alike. “Witing,” said a Times reviewer, was “undoubtedly a show with a future.” In fact, it ran five months at the Carpet Company Stage (now Playwrights’ Arena).

It turns out that Ramsay didn’t have to wait long to have the future tap her on the shoulder. These days, she’s catching attention as Helen Hunt’s down-on-her-luck sister Lisa in NBC’s hit sitcom “Mad About You.”

But in 1987, “Waiting” brought her and Jane Sibbett (now in “Herman’s Head), among others, more-than-passing glances.

“I got my agent from that play,” Ramsay recalls. “A lot of industry people came to see us in that. People still remember me from that.”

Filmgoers also remember her from the hit 1992 “A League of Their Own,” which starred Geena Davis, Tom Hanks and Madonna in the story of the all-woman’s baseball league formed during World War II to keep the home folks coming to the ballparks.

But mostly it’s Lisa she’s recognized on the street for now, as the sitcom moves up in the ratings. “Lisa is one of those people who, if you tell her not to do something, she will do it just to spite you,” Ramsay says of her unruly character. “She’s sort of a mixture of a lot of people I know, but would never admit to. She has this careless disregard that I’ve seen sneak into my own life.”

Does that mean that Lisa is more like Ramsay than she would care to admit? “Yes,” she answers without missing a beat. “There’s no bones about it. I think I hate to admit it. I kind of speak my mind.”

Among other things she’s happy to speak out about is not wanting to see Lisa settle down. “I hope she doesn’t find anyone,” she says. “It’s fun to have her always dating and looking.” While Ramsey herself is single, she’s certainly “not at the desperation level that Lisa’s at.”

With the security the series has given her, she’s bought a home in West L.A. and is involved in fixing it up. “There’s a lot to be done here,” she says, “but I haven’t had one regret about buying it.”

She loves jogging in the neighborhood and doesn’t worry about how she looks when she goes out. “If anyone recognizes me, they’re usually very surprised,” she says, laughing. “I’m a total slob. I don’t put on makeup or brush my hair. And the only time I dress up is if I’m going to dinner or a party.”

Don’t be surprised, though, if she puts on a little lipstick and brushes her hair to attend the Continuum’s latest effort, “Borderlines,” opening April 8 at the 2nd Stage in Hollywood. She’ll be in the audience, though, and not on stage, since two episodes have been added onto “Mad About You’s” schedule this season.

Waiting, it seems, is something she won’t be doing too much of anymore.

“Mad About You” airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on NBC.