Wendi McLendon-Covey Is No Longer a Brunch Person

If Wendi McLendon-Covey had her druthers, she and her husband, Greg Covey, would see every band that rolled into Los Angeles.

“We usually go to a concert a month,” the actress said. “You’ll see us dancing in the first 10 rows of whatever shows we can get into.”

This year, McLendon-Covey, 55, known for her comedic roles in “The Goldbergs,” “Reno 911!” and “Bridesmaids,” has rocked out considerably less because of a packed work schedule. She spent six months filming the new NBC workplace mockumentary “St. Denis Medical,” in which she plays a plucky hospital executive who puts a positive spin on budget crises and bed shortages. The sitcom, the latest from Justin Spitzer (“The Office,” “Superstore”), mines the chaos for levity and normalcy and is set to premiere on Nov. 12.

“In every hospital everywhere, there are people that are trying to have a baby shower in the break room while other things are going on,” McLendon-Covey said. “There’s always someone that doesn’t pay in for the ice cream cake, and you’re holding a grudge against that person, but someone has a gunshot wound and you have to attend to that.”

On a video call from her home in Long Beach, Calif., she talked about the “ridiculous and hilarious” book that reminds her of doomscrolling, her seven cats and the one band she’s glad she didn’t miss this year. These are edited excerpts.

Steely Dan

We saw them earlier this year at the Forum. “Peg” is my theme song. Because I love them so much, on “Reno 911!” they wrote in something about my character going on to be a groupie for Steely Dan after we all got fired from the department. In 2007, my husband and I got to see them at Tower Theater in Pennsylvania and go backstage. Walter Becker gave us a shout-out during “Hey Nineteen.” It was like all my Christmases came at once.