When TBS was re-branded as the “very funny” network several years ago, they hyped their well loved, syndicated comedies like “Friends,” “Seinfeld” and “Sex and the City.”

Now, for the first time, TBS has produced its very first original comedy series to air on the network.

“My Boys” stars Jordana Spiro (“Must Love Dogs”) as PJ, a sportswriter for a Chicago newspaper. Her tight knit circle of friends is made up almost exclusively of guys, with the sole exception being her best girl friend, Stephanie (Kellee Stewart), who is the definition of a girl’s girl with her love of fashion and all things feminine.

PJ’s group of guy friends includes Kenny (Michael Bunin), a socially awkward sports memorabilia store owner; Mike (Jamie Kaler), a womanizer who is employed by the Cubs; Brendan (Reid Scott), PJ’s college roommate who is emotionally chained to his on-again, off-again girlfriend; Andy (Jim Gaffigan), PJ’s brother who is the only married one in the group; and newcomer Bobby (Kyle Howard), who is interested in PJ but is freaked out by her straightforward approach to dating.

PJ and the guys are regularly seen playing poker at PJ’s apartment or around a table at their favorite local watering hole sharing stories from their life.

Funny and heartfelt, “My Boys” is an unique cross between “Friends” and “Sex and the City” but maintains its own original identity.

“I think what helps us avoid falling into anything that’s been done before is [“My Boys”] executive producer and creator, Betsy Thomas,” said Spiro in a recent interview with The Citizen. “She has a very specific vision for how she wants the show to be. She is very much like PJ. She plays poker with the guys, drinks beer and watches sports. All the characters are based on her guy friends and she is very connected to the characters.”

While the character of PJ is based heavily on Thomas and her life, Spiro also noted that she and her character share some similarities as well, “PJ and I are similar in that we both can throw back a few beers with no problem and we could both use a few cooking classes.”

There was at least one major challenge Spiro faced, however, when selected for the lead in the new sitcom, “The sports stuff was a new thing for me. I wasn’t a sports fan before the show, and the guys can list off all these stats from 1955. I thought, ‘I’m never going to be able to do that.’ But it has been a nice, slow way for me to roll my way into the sports world.”

Spiro noted that she enjoys playing the role of PJ because of the character’s well rounded depiction of a real woman.

“What I like about her, she’s one of the guys but she’s not overly masculine. She’s a woman and she knows how to present herself, and she also knows how to look nice,” Spiro explains. “She’s a tomboy and also a woman. It shortchanges women to say they are one way or the other.”

PJ’s go-getter personality also draws Spiro’s interest, “I’ve always been comfortable around guys, and I was always pretty ambitious with my career. [PJ] is very ambitious about her career, and yet doesn’t take herself too seriously. She’s very comfortable with herself.”

Her ability to hang with the guys is key for Spiro, who is surrounded by a nearly all-male cast. She said her experience working with such a heavily male cast “has been the best.”

“Everything came really naturally,” Spiro explained. “Betsy hand picked each one of us. She had a very good idea about the kind of personalities that would get along. It is kind of saccharin, but we all got along so easily.”

Stewart, who plays PJ’s best friend Stephanie, and Spiro have also developed a friendship much like that of their onscreen counterparts.

“[Kellee] is a really cool girl,” commented Spiro. “There is no tension, and the dynamic of that kind of relationship can sometimes be tricky. Our relationship is similar to that on the show. She’s always giving me advice because she’s so good and centered and has such a good outlook on everything.”

With long days on set while filming, Spiro said that a lot of time was spent hanging out with her costars. “We’d play catch or shuffleboard. We had a big shuffleboard tournament with a trophy and a plaque,” Spiro said, laughing at the recollection. “We’d hang out in one person’s trailer and watch sports on television. A lot of the guys play musical instruments and they let me play the egg in the band.”

Spiro may not be a centerpiece in the onset band, but she is the centerpiece around which all of the other “My Boys” characters revolve.

This is Spiro’s first job as a lead in a television series. Her past credits include guest spots on “CSI,” “Cold Case,” “JAG” and a recurring role on “One World.” She also had a role in the 1996 made for TV movie, “If These Walls Could Talk” and was recently seen on the silver screen in “Must Love Dogs” alongside John Cusack and Diane Lane.

Spiro said her experience acting as a series regular on a show differs greatly from her experience working on films and particularly TV shows in a guest appearance capacity.

“It really is night and day, being a series regular on a show and being a guest. You get the feeling you are a family, especially when you like the people and the atmosphere is relaxed,” Spiro said of working as a series regular on “My Boys.” “It’s really nice feeling like you are part of the creative team, as opposed to clocking in and out.

“I’ve been on shows where they come down on you, and I don’t have a problem with that, but it’s nice to be on the other end of things where the executive producer will come on set and ask you to ad lib a joke,” Spiro expressed. “It’s really fun and sometimes a joke really works, and [Betsy Thomas] will say ‘yeah’ or ‘not so much’.”

Spiro says that she sees “My Boys” reaching a wide range audience, including both male and female viewers in their twenties and thirties.

“I think it has that potential, because I think each character is pretty specific and each character is complicated and they are not your typical one dimensional character. I think that makes it easier [for viewers] to find a character who is like them,” Spiro said.

The first season relies heavily on baseball analogies in the form of a voiceover from PJ (think Carrie Bradshaw’s voiceovers on “Sex and the City”). Spiro is unsure whether the show’s writers will continue with that theme after the first season, but said she feels sure they are open to feeling out what resonates with the audience.

“Season one is always about finding your voice,” Spiro noted. “They are thinking about making each season a different sport.”

“My biggest hope is that people get a good laugh out of seeing something they relate to on TV and that just makes them chuckle,” Spiro concluded.

“My Boys” airs on TBS, Tuesdays at 10 p.m.

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