Chelsea Handler NBC show title sobers up

Pasadena --

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. Initially, NBC considered just calling the show "Chelsea" but settled instead on "Are You There, Chelsea?" and it premieres on the network Wednesday.

"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.

This article appeared on page E - 4 of the SanFranciscoChronicle