Chelsea Handler's New Show Pushes Boundaries, Premieres Wednesday

By Emma Koonse, Christian Post Reporter Tuesday, January 10, 2012

The new television series "Are You There, Chelsea?" based on Chelsea Handler's life has been scheduled to premiere Wednesday on NBC.

The comedian and host of E!'s "Chelsea Lately" will play her own born-again Christian sister in the sitcom. Meanwhile, "That 70's Show" actress Laura Prepon will play a younger version of Handler.

The role assignments are admittedly unusual, with Prepon speaking to the press at the Television Critics Association in Pasadena last week.

"Everyone was a bit confused at first," Prepon said of her starring role playing Handler. "But we're doing promos and I think we're going a good job of getting the word out."

The characters are not the only complicated element of NBC's "Are You There, Chelsea?" The series will present "edgy, alcohol-fueled" humor to primetime television.

Discussing the show's "racy subject material," Prepon appeared on "The Today Show" Tuesday morning.

The 31-year-old actress explained that the humor in "Are You There, Chelsea?" is similar to the content in several television shows today.

"If you look at the shows that are successful now, 'Two and a Half Men,' and 'Modern Family,' even shows in HBO are pushing boundaries," said Prepon a day before the show's premiere. "We're right in there… I think people will be able to handle it."

The partnership between the notoriously brash Handler and NBC on a sitcom for basic cable was surprising for many viewers.

The show was originally going to be titled after Handler's 2008 memoir, "Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea." The decision to drop "vodka" was not an attempt to clean up the show's image, though.

NBC's chief Robert Greenblatt revealed during the Television Critics Association tour that the title of the book was too long.

"There was no mandate from anyone saying don't put vodka in the title of the show," Greenblatt said speaking to the press.

Handler also spoke up about the show's title during Friday's press conference, added that "not everyone is into alcohol as much as I am." The comedian's statement lends that the network may have omitted "vodka" in order to broaden the show's appeal to non-drinkers.

"This is not cable, this is a network," Handler added of NBC.

Handler will appear in seven of the 13 episodes of "Are You There, Chelsea?" ordered by NBC so far. The series premieres Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. EST.