She was only on screen for one scene in last night’s Weeds episode, but Alanis Morissette seemed right at home among the quirky characters in Ren Mar.

That might be because she’s been a fan of the series for years.

“Somehow, they make very fantastical things seem very mundane and commonplace, which I love,” she told USA Today.

Morissette cruised through viewings of previous seasons, watching them on her bus while on tour. She then sought a meeting with Weeds creator Jenji Kohan, who she ultimately convinced to cast her as OB/GYN Audra Kitson.

“Nancy is in a pickle, and Audra helps her outside of what typically would be allowed in a hospital,” Morissette said. From there, it’s just a hop, skip and a jump into all of the family’s drama — and into Andy’s bed.

While her songs won’t appear on the show (licensing costs a lot of CA$H) the Canadian singer-songwriter/actress said she’s likely to follow the muse musically and theatrically.

“I never think in terms of having to pick between two forms of expression,” she said. “I do the one that calls me the most.”

Photo: Cliff Lipson/Showtime

Season 5, episode 5
“Van Nuys”
Air date: July 6, 2009

Tonight marks the Weeds debut of Alanis Morissette, who plays Nancy’s OB/GYN. Here’s what to expect:

• Shane, determined to get his pot back from his teacher, Mr. Sandusky, enlists the help of Ignacio.
• Nancy visits her obstetrician, Dr. Audra Kitson, to discuss the possibility of aborting the baby.
• Silas and Doug visit a pot agent called ‘The Wizard“ to supply their medical marijuana dispensary.
• Nancy discovers that Celia has been secretly living in the garage. She gives Celia 48 hours to leave — and to stay out of her life for good.
• To keep his promise to Margaret, the bank teller, and to enrich himself out of Judah’s old bank account, Andy recreates the first date she and Judah went on in the ’80s, and pretends to be Judah.

Here’s a sneak peek:

Andy Milder, aka Dean the sometimes mild-mannered and often high attorney on Weeds, recently picked the winner of his Twitter trivia contest.

The signed Weeds pilot script now belongs to Heather Fugeman, a Kentuckian whose Twitter handle is @bumblebee023.

ICYMI, here are the trivia questions Andy posted for the contest:

1.) What was the make and model of Dean’s motorcycle?

2.) Is my last name pronounced Mild-er (”more mild”) or Mill-der (rhymes with builder)?

He said the winner would be the 33rd person to answer the questions correctly, and it only took 20 minutes for Weeds buffs to make that happen.

Want the answers? They’re posted after the jump.

Image: Zuma Press

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Weeds Season 5, episode 4

“Super Lucky Happy”

Air date: Monday June 29, 2009 on Showtime

After last week’s awesome episode featuring Jennifer Jason Leigh, the plot moves apace tonight on Weeds. Here’s what to expect:

• Rogue DEA agent Roy Till pays Nancy a visit — and leaves his fate in her hands.
• After being booted from the Mexican rebel camp, Celia finally arrives in Ren Mar and sets up camp in Nancy’s garage.
• Andy discovers an old bank account under Judah’s name and schemes to access it.
• Silas and Doug use their new police connection, Deputy C.P. Jones , to strong-arm a lease for their medical marijuana dispensary.

Photos: Cliff Lipson/Showtime

Need we say more? New episodes of Weeds and Nurse Jackie are on tap tonight!

Weeds‘ Andy Milder, who plays Dean Hodes, embattled and embittered ex-husband of Celia, has a terrific contest going on his Twitter account.

He’s managed to get the stars of the show to sign the script from the pilot episode. He’ll give it away to a fan on Tuesday, June 30 … provided that fan answers his trivia question correctly.

Today Andy wants to know how hard you think the question should be (folks have encouraged him to make it a challenge, not something that we could easily look up on IMdB or Google.) If you don’t already follow him, add @andymilder to your Twitter stream and weigh in on the contest.

Here are the contest deets, per Andy’s tweets:

At a random point on Tuesday, June 30, I will ask a question. The 33rd person with the correct answer will win a signed Weeds script.

No more than 3 entries per person. More will disqualify you (I’ll count. I will!).

I smell a challenge, Showtime Fans. You’ve got two days to brush up on your <em>Weeds</em> trivia, so hit the books … er, or the Interwebs and iTunes … whatever works.

Image: Twitpic via @andymilder

Mexican actress Kate del Castillo, who’ll play tough crime boss Pilar this season on Weeds, recently shared her thoughts on joining the cast with Latina.com.

The former telenovela star dished about why she thinks the Weeds creators do a great job with the plot lines in Mexico, why Pilar is a perfect foil for Mary-Louise Parker’s Nancy Botwin, and what it was like working with ex-boyfriend Demian Bechir (he plays Esteban Reyes, Nancy’s love interest).

Del Castillo appears for the first time in episode 6. Here’s the skinny on her Weeds experience:

• On reuniting with Bechir: “I’ve known Demian for a long, long time. We worked together on this movie called American Visa, which is actually a very good movie we shot in Bolivia four or five years ago. He’s a well-known actor in Mexico, so it was great to work with him again and see him again.”

• On her character, a violent and intense woman who gets to boss Esteban around: “I love these kinds of roles because lately everything is changing about Latina roles in the United States. Before, it was either we were kind of slutty or we played maids … (Pilar) knows exactly what she wants, and she will do whatever it takes to get someone out of her way!”

• On why the series needed another ball-busting woman: “It’s also great for me as a fan ofWeeds, to see another strong woman like Pilar be at the same level as Nancy. Because Nancy’s never been threatened by a woman! It’s always about men around her.”

• On the darkness of the plotlines after the show moved from suburbia to the U.S./Mexico border: “What I love about Weeds is that they do the real thing! They don’t just say “oh let’s do something about Mexico,” and then suddenly, it’s all Ecuadorians and Salvadorians and Puerto Ricans. They like to be real … I love that Demián is actually doing a Mexican role. For me, that’s incredible. And they’re talking about great themes and issues. They keep it real and funny.”

Want more? Bounce on over to Latina.com for the full interview.

Image: Zuma Press

Weeds Season 5, episode 3

“Su-Su-Sucio”

Original air date: June 22, 2009

When last we left the Botwin family, Nancy was on a self-destructive bender involving alcohol, sushi and other no-nos during pregnancy; Silas and Andy had their seedlings confiscated at gunpoint and Andy had hooked up with his sister-in-law’s sister.

Here’s what you can expect tonight on episode 3:

• Esteban assigns Nancy new bodyguard, the foul-smelling Sucio, after Cesar gets frustrated with her antics.

• Nancy gets a surprise visit from her estranged sister Jill, who is angry with Shane for snapping photos of Jill and Andy having sex (this doesn’t stop Jill from bedding Andy a few more times).

• Jill’s reappearance in her life comes just after Nancy’s doctor warns her to reduce her stress, for the sake of her pregnancy.

• When Sucio goes missing, Nancy packs her family in the car and flees for their safety.

• Meanwhile, Celia’s micromanaging of the rebel camp gets her kicked out and sent back to the U.S.

• After their unfortunate experience in the national forest, Silas and Doug bribe a cop to get his approval to open a medical marijuana clinic.

Catch Weeds Monday nights at 10 p.m. Eastern on Showtime.

Photos: Cliff Lipson/Showtime

OK, folks. We’re got more info on what’s ahead for Weeds‘ fifth season, thanks to E!’s interview with Mary-Louise Parker. Here’s what MLP had to say in Part II of her chat with Kristin Dos Santos:

• Celia will survive. She’s like a cockroach that way, Parker says, “you can’t stamp her out.” That doesn’t mean she’ll be back in Nancy’s life, though. Parker said the two women don’t have many scenes together.
• Nancy probably won’t join in Silas and Doug’s plans to open a medical marijuana dispensary. She tends to think bigger, MLP says, even while carrying Esteban’s baby.  ”She’s not going to turn into a housewife. I don’t think she’ll be satisfied staying at home gardening.”
• Jennifer Jason Leigh’s two episode turn as Nancy’s sister could turn into a recurring role in future seasons. ”We’re a tight group and have been together for so long, but she could just step in and it would be like she’d always been here,”  Parker says.

That’s the scoop for now, friends. Tune in Monday night for the next episode of Weeds.

If the Season 5 premiere of Weeds didn’t draw you in, you musta been smokin’ some schwag. Now that we know Nancy’s pregnant for sure, let’s learn a little more about where the outrageous series will go next.

Star Mary-Louise Parker recently dished a ton of details to E!’s Kristin Dos Santos. Here are the highlights:

• It’s a boy! Nancy was right guessing the baby would be another son for her. Good thing, since Esteban might not welcome a chica.
• Esteban and Nancy don’t live happily ever after, but Nancy does care for him more than she has any man since Judah.
• Andy’s love will be unrequited, sorta, until episode 4 and again in episode 9, when we can expect some epic dramedy.
• Esteban isn’t the big boss after all. He answers to a powerful lady, played by Mexican telenovela star Kate del Castillo.

Kristin promises more exclusive info from MLP on Friday. We’ll be back with the scoop then!