I vaguely remember hearing that there was some kind of Chelsea Handler sitcom coming, but I didn’t realize that it was based on her life, not her show, and that it would be rolling out soon. Chelsea is inexplicably popular despite what a bitter nasty person she is (ok, takes one to know one, etc.) and she does have two books on the NY Times non-fiction bestseller list. So I guess it’s inevitable that someone would try to turn her story into a sitcom. Laura Prepon stars as the Chelsea character and Chelsea plays her Christian conservative sister with her own characteristic deadpan humor.

Chelsea Handler’s got a starring role in the brand new NBC show based on her memoir. Weird, then, that she’s playing her own worst enemy.

NBC, which announced last week the series pickup of the memoir-based “Are You There Vodka? It’s Me Chelsea,” unveiled a long teaser trailer for the show, which actually stars “That 70’s Show” alum Laura Preppon in the thinner-than-paper “fictional” role of Chelsea Hanson. With the series based on her younger, wilder days, Handler herself plays Sloane, her (well, Preppon as her) older, pregnant, born again Christian sister.

The trailer contains plenty of canned laughter for what are largely easy jokes about DUI, alcoholism and STD’s. So, for now, what seems to be a network-scrubbed version of Handler’s talk show on E!, “Chelsea Lately.” The show doesn’t have a slot in the initial NBC lineup, but considering the shuffling the network has produced each season, it should hit airwaves sooner than later.

[From Huffington Post]

The good news is that NBC has announced its Fall schedule and this is not included. It’s like a backup show from what HuffPo is reporting.

After watching the trailer I have to admit I did laugh once – when the roommate had scratch marks from the cat and said “he’s angry ’cause he can’t talk.” Other than that it looks like a stock sitcom with typical jokes and cardboard characters. I’m annoyed that this will be on NBC, which has my favorite sitcom, Community, and my favorite drama, Parenthood. If they mess up the time slots or screw with either of those shows to give Chelsea Handler a platform so help me. NBC has no idea how to handle their decent shows, but at least they finally announced that Parenthood has been renewed. They’re waiting for a ratings dip somewhere to wedge this show in.

I like Laura Prepon, she was really good on That 70s Show, but it’s not like I’m going to watch this because she’s in it. I changed my opinion of Prepon slightly when I found out she was a Scientologist, probably because she used to date Christopher Masterson from Malcolm in the Middle. He and his brother Danny were raised in the cult.