PASADENA, Calif. – NBC’s entertainment chief insists that it wasn’t squeamishness over booze that got “vodka” dropped from the television version of Chelsea Handler’s memoir.
Robert Greenblatt said Friday that the 2008 book’s title, “Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea,” was just too long.
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Initially, NBC considered just calling the show “Chelsea” but settled instead on “Are You There, Chelsea?” and it debuts on the network next Wednesday night.
“There was no mandate from anyone saying don’t put vodka in the title of the show,” the entertainment president said.
Talk to the author, though, and that’s not so clear. Handler said in a telephone conference call last month that “although there is plenty of drinking in the show, you can’t have it in the title.”
On Friday, Handler joked that “not everyone is into alcohol as much as I am.” She said that “this is not cable, this is network” and said taking “vodka” out of the title could broaden the appeal of the show to include people who aren’t big drinkers.
Handler has a part-time role in the show. Instead of playing the character Chelsea, she plays her born-again Christian sister. Laura Prepon of “That ’70s Show” portrays Chelsea.
The Chelsea character, described by NBC as a “sexually dynamic advanced drinker,” is jailed for driving under the influence of alcohol early in the show’s history, according to a clip shown to reporters Friday.
“In real life I got a DUI once,” Handler said. “I haven’t gotten one since.”
Handler appears in seven of the 13 episodes ordered by NBC. The comic, with her own late-night show on E! Entertainment, said she was too busy to do much more.
Drew Barrymore engaged to art consultant
NEW YORK – Drew Barrymore is engaged to art consultant Will Kopelman.
Barrymore’s publicist confirmed the engagement Friday. The couple were reportedly engaged over the holidays in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Us Weekly first reported the engagement. A photo of the pair, in which Barrymore sports a diamond ring, was released to People magazine.
It will be the actress’ third marriage. She was briefly married to Jeremy Thomas in 1994 and to comedian Tom Green in 2001.
Kopelman is the son of former Chanel CEO Arie Kopelman.
Auctioning of Apollo 13 item placed on hold
MIAMI – NASA is questioning whether Apollo 13 commander James Lovell has the right to sell a 70-page checklist from the flight that includes his handwritten calculations that were crucial in guiding the damaged spacecraft back to Earth.
The document was sold by Heritage Auctions in November for more than $388,000. The checklist gained great fame as part of a key dramatic scene in the 1995 film “Apollo 13” in which actor Tom Hanks plays Lovell making the calculations.
After the sale, NASA contacted Heritage to ask whether Lovell had title to the checklist. Greg Rohan, president of Dallas-based Heritage, said the sale has been suspended pending the outcome of the inquiry. The checklist is being stored for now in the company’s vault.
Rohan said Lovell provided a signed affidavit that he had clear title to the ring-bound checklist, which is standard procedure. Heritage does robust business in space memorabilia and this is the first time NASA has ever raised questions about ownership of its items, he said.
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