Sheryl Underwood And Jerry O'Connell On The New Season Of 'The Talk': 'It's Been Amazing, Such A Family Atmosphere'

(CBS) - The Talk is back with all-new episodes and new hosts this season! All the fun kicks off today, Monday, September 13th, as Sheryl Underwood, Amanda Kloots, Akbar Gbaja-Biamila and Jerry O'Connell welcome viewers to their "Rock The Block" party on CBS.

CBS' Matt Weiss spoke to Underwood and O'Connell about what's in store for this new season.

MW: Hello, good to see you both! The Talk's "Rock The Block Premier Party" starts today on CBS. How excited are both of you for this new season to kick off?

JO: It's going to be a fun season. We have a new panel up there. We're kicking it off with this "Rock The Block Party." We've got the musical sounds of Daughtry, we'll be giving away a lot of money and prizes. We've got Lil Rel coming.

SU: Carla Hall with the cooking show is going to be amazing. I don't want anyone to miss a minute because we got surprises from top to bottom. And we got a surprise for you Jerry O'Connell. It will involve water and possibly a softball hitting something metal. Where you'll be falling...in the water.

JO: I'm not going in a dunk tank. There was talk about me going into a dunk tank.

SU: Oh yes, you are.

JO: I can't go in a dunk tank.

SU: Yes, you can.

JO: No, I can't.

SU: Yes.

JO: Do you know how much make up I wear? None of it is waterproof.

SU: Sorry.

JO: My hair; it's a whole thing. No, I can't do it. I will not go... Ok I'll go in the dunk tank.

SU: Me, Amanda, and Akbar are going to make sure that you fall in some water and it's going to be a great experience. We're so excited to have a live audience back, that energy is amazing.

The entire week a lot of fun. Cedrick the Entertainer from The Neighborhood is going to be with us, he's hosting the Prime Time Emmys. I hosted the Daytime Emmys. It's going to be a little Emmy reunion thing.

We got Lil Rel with the comedy game. We've got Angela Basset coming and our favorite Gloria Estefan is coming. So this whole week, we're starting season 12 with a bang. Something for the fellas, Jerry and Akbar. Something for the ladies me and Amanda. It's going to be off the chain. And great fashion!

MW: Something for everybody. Also, there will be a lot of front line and essential workers in the audience as well, which is incredible. There will be exclusive giveaways and prizes for them. How much does it mean to give back to those folks who have given us so much?

SU: It's an honor to support them and to salute them. Because they're the reason our economy is coming along. We want to salute them. When people are watching, everybody that's watching The Talk all over the world, we want you to know that we love essential workers. We support them.

It's our time to salute them. But it's great to have them personally in the audience so that they can send us love and we can send that love right back to them.

JO: We're just really grateful. The fun thing about being on The Talk is that we're given a platform to not only thank them but thank them in a very public manner. And we get CBS to give them a lot of cash and prizes. It's a win win for everybody.

MW: This new group you have, with you two and Amanda Kloots and Akbar Gbaja-Biamila. How's the chemistry with all of you?

SU: It's been amazing because we all have so much in common with each other. We have a family atmosphere, but I also love that Akbar and Jerry teach me about fantasy football and it's really fun.

You know what it's like? It's like having some brothers come hang out with you. I mean I know the brothers, but I mean like your brothers, so you can have fun. It's between the breaks that we laugh the hardest.

Jerry and I, sometimes they have to separate us because we're having so much fun. Amanda is just delightful. Her spirit is just so amazing, and we support her in everything she's doing. To bring Akbar in, it's just a match made in heaven. It's going to be so much fun.

But Jerry O'Connell is a rascal. He's a rascal. He'll make you laugh so hard; you forget am I supposed be reading this? You're trying to hold yourself together.

MW: Jerry would you like to defend yourself against these claims of rascalness? [laughs]

JO: No. It's absolutely true. [Laughs] I am a little bit new to this. It was so funny, when I was still just guest hosting, when I was in here a couple times, Sheryl, you remember I wasn't looking at the right camera or I wasn't technically doing something right and these shows are live.

I was publicly apologizing a lot for my lack of experience. I'm really looking forward to talking about the daily topics, what everybody else is talking about with this crew. We're going to have a great season.

SU: You know what was fun about that? We all have looked at the wrong camera or done something crazy. It's almost like a join the family thing. We all laugh because we've all done it.

What I love about Jerry, Jerry is so quick on his feet. Remember that interview we were doing and you were looking beyond and someone was making a bed or doing something and you just picked it up. Jerry, what about when John Corbett announced that he and Bo Derek were married?

JO: Yeah. Yeah. That was special. It really is fun because a lot of these interviews are done over zoom. I have feeling that a lot of our guests will be coming in, we will have an audience, it's going to be a fun season.

MW: Well unfortunately, that's all the time I have for you both but thank you so much, awesome to talk you as always and all the best with the show!

JO: Thanks Matt!

SU: I love you Matt, take care!

Tune into CBS for new episodes of The Talk, also available to stream with Paramount+. Check your local listings for more information.