Mike Ausiello of EW reports that TV's favorite mom Florence Henderson ("The Brady Bunch")  will be guesting in the new year on "Samantha Who?" as the matriarch of the Newly clan. Though this showbiz vet has never been nominated for any major kudo, she could well pull off an Emmy nod in the guest actress in a comedy series category. After all, both her on-screen daughter Jean Smart and granddaughter Christina Applegate are past champs in this category — Smart twice for "Frasier" in 2000 and 2001 and Applegate for "Friends" in 2003.

And even more tellingly, the most recent winners of this race have been women of a certain age — sixtysomething Kathryn Joosten ("Desperate Housewives" 2005, 2008), then 80-year-old Cloris Leachman ("Malcolm in the Middle" 2006), and Elaine Stritch, 81,  ("30 Rock" 2007). At a mere 74, Henderson is a relative spring chicken by comparison. Her strongest competition may well be her other on-screen daughter, two-time Tony  winner Christine Ebersole.

As per TV Guide, Ebersole, 55, will be playing the sister Smart has conveniently forgotten to tell the amnesiac Samantha about with Henderson being called in to referee this sibling rivalry. While Ebersole has had some success on the tube, including a Daytime Emmy supporting nod back in 1984 for "One Life to Live" (she lost to Judi Evans Luciano of "The Guiding Light"), her greater triumphs have been on Broadway. Indeed, both her Tony wins as best actress in a musical -- "42nd Street" (2001) and "Grey Gardens" (2007) -- came after Ebersole gave up on Hollywood.

Henderson first made her mark on Broadway, starring in acclaimed revivals of the classic musicals "Oklahoma!" and "South Pacific" as well as the original tuners "Fanny" and "The Girl Who Came to Supper," before being cast as Carol Brady in 1969. In complete contrast to the Bradys were the Bundys,  Applegate's TV family on her first success "Married With Children." After that sitcom went off the air after a decade-long run in 1997, Applegate carved out a nice career in films ("The Sweetest Thing," "Anchorman") before pursuing her first love -- musical theater.

In the true spirt of the "show must go on," Applegate persuaded producers of the 2005 revival of "Sweet Charity" to wait for her broken ankle to heal rather than shutter the show. She was rewarded with rave reviews and a Tony nom for best actress in a musical (losing to Victoria Clark for "The Light in the Piazza"). That real-life story is a twist on the plot of "42nd Street" where Ebersole's diva character breaks her foot but is replaced by the ingenue who "goes out there a kid but comes back a star."

Interestingly, Ebersole was eventually replaced in that show by Shirley Jones, another perennial TV mom, who had edged out Henderson for the lead role of Laurey in the film version of "Oklahoma!" in 1955. And in the original 1980s run of "42nd Street," the great Dolores Gray played that part in her final rialto appearance. Gray's last Broadway role prior to that had been as another temperamental actress, Lorraine Sheldon, in the 1967 tuner "Sherry," the musical version of the 1939 Kaufman-Hart comedy "The Man Who Came to Dinner." And in the 2000 revival of that laffer, Smart had played that part, earning a Tony nod as best actress in a play (losing to Mary-Louise Parker for "Proof").

Photo: ABC