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Keep the cast away from Vanity Fair cover shoots
In the cyclical world of television, what goes up often comes back down — just don't tell that to the producers. ''We haven't mentioned the word backlash here yet,'' says Pennette. ''We feel we're still growing and we haven't repeated ourselves. Also, America is so embraced. It's hard to turn on someone like her. She's our Betty White. You can't turn on Betty White!'' But what if the castmates start turning on each other? As we know from alleged Desperate Housewives catfights (yes, yes, all denied), there's nothing like the pressure of a hit show to bring out the claws. Betty's companion show on Thursday night, Grey's Anatomy, has certainly suffered its share of internal clashes this year, from Isaiah Washington's homophobic slur to the most recent reports that Katherine Heigl walked away from her contract negotiations.

On this particular February afternoon on Betty's Hollywood set, there are no signs of doom or gloom in the forecast. Between takes, Ferrera bonds with Romijn's newly retired mother, who's visiting from the Bay Area, while Urie drives Williams' daughter Sasha around the backlot on a golf cart. Newton and Ortiz hang out after work. Even during EW's photo shoot, the love extends to the significant others as Jerry O'Connell (Romijn's) and Ryan Piers Williams (Ferrera's) discuss upcoming projects between complimenting their significant others' dresses.

''There's none of that 'Who's got the bigger trailer?' around here right now,'' says Ferrera, in a Betty-esque moment of picking stray tortilla-soup cheese out of her hair at a restaurant near the soundstage. ''I think everyone sees the value of what we're doing and really loves the project. Will it change? I don't know. I know we're really lucky with this group of people.'' Urie chalks it up to the fact that despite the size of the cast, no one is vying for lines. ''It's not like we're 11 hot, young doctors,'' he says. ''We're completely different kinds of people and we'll never be in competition with each other.'' Newton has another, more cynical take. ''There are so many cast members on the show now that we never work with the same person week after week,'' she laughs. ''Maybe if we all had to work with the same exact people in every scene every day, we'd all hate each other. But for now, it feels like recess in high heels.''

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