Kirstie Alley might be gracing our television screens with her trademark sneer again soon. Dateline is reporting that she’s about to get a pilot sitcom on ABC called “The Manzinis.” The concept is an updated version of Rosanne, with Alley as the wise-cracking matriarch. I’m not buying it, but I guess Alley earned enough fans and newfound fame on Dancing With the Stars to attempt to revive her acting career. She still bugs me, and I’m not likely to watch this. Here’s the news from Deadline:
Following her memorable run on Dancing With the Stars last spring, Kirstie Alley is returning to ABC as the star of a new comedy project. I’ve learned that ABC is finalizing the deals for a pilot order to The Manzanis, a multi-camera family comedy written by sitcom veterans Marco Pennette and Dave Flebotte, with Alley attached to star. ABC Studios and studio-based Brillstein Entertainment are producing. The sitcom is described as a new take on Roseanne, and stars Alley as a very opinionated wife/mother who, along with her family, the Manzanis, moves to repressed country-club town. Pennette and Flebotte are executive producing with Brillstein’s new TV president JoAnn Alfano. Also expected to executive produce are Aaron Kaplan (Good Christian Belles) and Alley’s manager Jason Weinberg.
The Manzanis was originally developed two years ago at Brillstein under then-TV president Peter Traugott. It was a contender again this past season but ultimately didn’t go to pilot. Then about a month ago, UTA, which represents the project, approached ABC topper Paul Lee, who was open to picking up the comedy if Alley would come onboard to star. Pennette did a rewrite on the script to have the main character better reflect Alley’s voice, and the script was given to the actress, also a UTA client, who just recently read it and liked it.
[From Deadline]
Did you see Kirstie on The Late Show last reading off all the jokes that David Letterman had told about her weight? She wasn’t bad, but I was distracted by her helmet hair and bright purple dress. I didn’t watch her whole interview, but CBS had up another clip where she tried to demonstrate to Dave what NY city clubs are like by bumping and grinding against him while he stood there looking bewilidered.
The good news is that this is a pilot so it might not result in a full series pickup. No matter the status of this show, Alley isn’t going away anytime soon. I reluctantly checked her obnoxious Twitter accounta nd she mentioned that she’s also working on a book. “Wait till my book comes out.. It’s all about Mens….ya gotta love Mens…they are priceless…;)”
Alley already has a book out, 2005’s How To Lose Your Ass and Regain Your Life: Reluctant Confessions of a Big-Butted Star. Many reviewers noted that while the book was funny, the title was misleading and it didn’t have much information about her battle with her weight or any diet advice. For that you have to buy her expensive weight loss program, which bears a suspicious resemblance to the vitamins and supplements used in Scientology rituals. On the website for Kirstie’s program, Organic Liaison, (site has automatic video) she’s still claiming to be a size 6.
After I wrote all that, Kaiser pointed me to this new story in The NY Post which heavily suggests that her dance partner, Maksim, fled to Europe to get the hell away from her. They don’t outright state that the two were having an affair, but it’s implied. I just don’t see these two bumping uglies, but I could be wrong. Kirstie would definitely try.
I think she conveniently drops the “1” in front of the “6” whenever she gives her size.:D
I think she’s a good actress and I still like some of her movies. I really tried to support her when Fat Actress first started airing but I got completely turned off. Does she always HAVE to be so freaking vulgar?
Please never use the term “bumping uglies” again. Yuck.
Just. Go. Away. I can’t take it anymore…..
I find her funny. I wish her success in her new TV show. I hope she is able to keep the weight off.
She looks fabulous in the last pic! She really should stick with slacks and full length dresses/skirts. Her cankles are scary!
Also, I showed the bird pic above to a friend and she said she looks like the Cindy from the SNL Gap skits:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YfvBbxE1vU
As a non-native English speaker, I must ask for my American friends to enlighten me: what the hell did she mean by “Mens”?!
It’s a shame … if she admitted the truth about her size, which is most definitely NOT a 6 (agree with azurea: there needs to be a “1” in front of whatever size she’s claiming), she’d be such an inspiration; but by lying about her size and weight loss, she just perpetuates the idea that wearing anything OVER a size 6 makes you an obese cow. One of my daughters looked at these photos and said, “If that’s what a size 6 looks like, then why should we even bother?” Why indeed.
(Granted, it’s not impossible to get into a size 6, if it’s stretchy; I just lost 25 lbs. and was THRILLED to wear a size 6 skirt … I couldn’t wear size 6 pants though, not on THIS planet. But I can safely say that whatever Kirstie’s wearing, it is NOT a size 6.)
To be fair, she’s not a size 16 either.
@ Bruna ~ I believe she meant “men.” Trying to say it in a cutesy way.
I won’t watch her new show. And that they say he “fled,” my guess is that she was obsessed with him and he had to leave to get away from her. My sister’s ex-boyfriend did that; he moved to another state and she still didn’t “get it” for over a year.