She has also starred on the sitcoms Boston Common (1996–1997) and Two Guys and a Girl (1998–2001), while her film credits include Dirty Work (1998), Me, Myself & Irene (2000), and Son of the Mask (2005).

[6] After graduating from Florida State University with a degree in communications, advertising, and English, Howard moved to Los Angeles, California, where she worked for a public relations firm and a greeting card company while performing in local theater productions.

[citation needed] Howard landed her first major television role in 1996 for the NBC sitcom Boston Common, portraying Joy Byrnes, a doctoral student and the love interest of Anthony Clark's Boyd Pritchett, throughout the show's two-season run.

[11] She also featured in Foo Fighters' music video "Breakout", which served as a tie-in to the song's appearance in the film.

That same year, Howard performed in the play How I Fell in Love by playwright Joel Field at the Williamstown Theater Festival in North Adams, Massachusetts.

[15] From 2005 to 2009, Howard starred opposite Tony Shalhoub on the USA Network comedy-drama detective series Monk as the titular character's faithful assistant, Natalie Teeger.

Howard defended Franken, saying, "I get the whole #MeToo thing, and a whole lot of horrible stuff has happened, and it needed to change.