After a fragmented first season filled with money, power, affairs, kids, and corporate shenanigans, Lipstick Jungle returns to the NBC airwaves for a second season on Wednesday night, September 24 at 10pm. Although many shows around the networks have tried to fill the void left behind by Sex and the City, Lipstick Jungle and stars Brooke Shields, Kim Raver, and Lindsay Price have come out winners for NBC. After all, Lipstick Jungle is based on and adapted from the novel of the same name by Sex and the City creator Candace Bushnell.

With the women of Lipstick Jungle about to give fans a full season of love, lust, lament, and lipstick, The Deadbolt took part in a conference call last week with Brooke Shields and series executive producer to find out what's in store for season two and what Shields learned from working with TV great Mary Tyler Moore.

Brooke Shields on whether she has any input into Wendy's character or if she’s based on any executives she knows:

"She's more of a combination. She's sort of a hybrid of a few. That's one part of the question. I mean she is - When I first read the book, not one person came to mind. But spending a great deal of time in Los Angeles and being born and raised in Manhattan, Wendy is a mix of sort of all these women. You know, there's a bit of her that I've seen in many executives. But she's just a very compelling person in herself. And rather than try to fashion her after one person or as a symbol, we very quickly got this into the reality of her life.

"Which regardless of the writing - we all talk about it. I mean before the episodes are written, after [a table reading], we all sort of express our concerns. And the writers are all in Los Angeles and work here, and we work here, and so we have conference calls to discuss - "You know, I don't understand this. I'm not comfortable, or what about this?" There's an open dialogue that's really made the work so much more possible because of the strike not being around."

Oliver Goldstick on who chooses the music:

"We basically have two wonderful men at Universal who help. I choose a lot of it, but there's Casey Elfensnyder and Casey McCarthy are two supervisors we have at Universal Studios. And there's - because Universal has a wonderful music division, they are always on the lookout for up and comers and for music that's fresh.

"And they make a slew of CDs and I listen to them like twice between New York and L.A. and I will check off things and sort of earmark things that I think are wonderful for moments - you know, that are wonderful for a particular moment in an episode. I will say, 'Try this.'

"But it's a process where some music is established and everybody knows, but a lot of it we're trying to find fresh music that you haven't heard. And of course Jeffrey Waldman is our composer who does the original score and he's brilliant. So I don't need to tell you about Jeffrey. If you're talking about songs that already exist, I would say Stacy Allison has been wonderful as far as passing on and bringing to my attention new groups, and that's ultimately the writer/producer's decision."

Goldstick on if the plan all along was for Kirby to be as involved as he was in Nico's life or if it was a reaction of the public based on Robert's appeal:

"Good question. Because like I said, you know we were frozen in time, so we definitely wanted him in more episodes. But then again, we had actually a bizarre advantage because we were able - we had distance because of the writers' strike as well. We had shots in the last winter and they were sort of delivered as a long movie in a weird way.

"And there was truly something evolving - I'll [call it] alchemy. You know, there was a chemistry between he and the actress Kim Raver that was... There were great instincts and there was a great chemistry. And so I was inspired, and the other writers as well, to make him integral into the show. And again, there was great story - once it can become a reality, there are great stories to tell about that kind of a relationship."

Shields on what advice she would give her kids if they wanted to become actors:

"You know, I mean I don't want to deny what they really want and I can't be such a hypocrite that I say, 'Well, both of your parents are in the industry and we don't want you to do it,' you know. I would help in any way I could, but nothing will happen with my help without an education. My children have to have an education no matter what and that's my - that's where I don't compromise.

"So if they can find ways to do both, you know I applaud them. It's a lot harder than people think and it's also a very - it's a painful business. You know I would sort of hope that they wouldn't really want that as their vocation because it deals with a lot of rejection."

Brooke Shields on whether there’s more of Wendy or Brooke in her life:

"That's a really good question. Sometimes when - sometimes I envy Wendy and - you know, because sometimes when you tie something up in a montage, I just think, 'God, why can't life be like that? And where's the music playing and where am I in slow motion in my life?' So I sort of envy her. And I watch the show as a fan as well, so I get kind of caught up into the romance of it.

"But sort of the deeper answer to that question is the more time I spend in this character, the more I feel we are both becoming one another. I mean it's just when I - she's not a caricature at all. So it's not as if I go onto the set and there's this completely different tone in my voice and cadence and attitude. It's very much my personality coming through Wendy. And I think it's also their writing to a sensibility as well. And I think the longer we're going on, the more seamless it's becoming."

Oliver Goldstick on mixing drama and comedic writing:

"Well, it's finding the truth in those. I mean the situation is - you know, that's life. I mean life cannot be one or the other. And the people who - they are all adults. I mean this writing staff now this year, it's more of an east coast - you, know we're based in the west Coast. I met somebody who used to work for the New York Times and was the Deputy Editor of the Style section and her partner is the former translator of New York Magazine and Esquire.

"And I think as far as balancing humor and drama, I think when we're breaking stories we look for both. Any dramatic story worth its weight has to have levity. We know there has to be a balance because you couldn't get that with the most traumatic events without having something absurd happen. And you know the comedy comes from these situations and these people that are behavioral and character-based. I think it's integral to the show and I don't think it has to suffice one or suffice the other."

Shields on whether she learned anything working with Mary Tyler Moore:

"I try to just watch rather than ask or - I defer a lot just out of respect and out of her history. And I just try to sort of watch and appreciate, you know. And then I'll get flashes of Ordinary People, or I'll get flashes of some of the favorite moments of shows. And you just think that "Wow, this is - there's a whole history here." But I also didn't want to - I want to respect but I don't want to fawn too much so that it makes her uncomfortable.

"I mean there's that sort of fine line that you don't want to cross and you just want to make. I mean she has a very difficult task at hand in which she's coming into a show where - I mean we all have this second language already because we're with each other so many hours of every day, and she comes in and she has huge pages of dialogue. And so it's a very professional relationship because I think that it's just - you know, she has to do a lot in a short amount of time and a lot is on her shoulders."