Grooch | Monday, January 20, 2003 - 11:15 am     Griffin’s celeb jabs find a home on NBC Comedian mocks famous, infamous HOLLYWOOD, Jan. 17 — “Celebrity Mole: Hawaii” participant and self-proclaimed sub-lebrity Kathy Griffin has landed a gig starring in an NBC comedy pilot based on her own life. Griffin will play Kathy Griffin, a reality TV-obsessed comedian and one-time star of “Suddenly Susan” who regales standup audiences with stories of her bizarre run-ins with the famous and infamous. ‘It’s my life as a D-level celebrity. I’m the girl you call when they can’t get anyone else. The hell with you, Paltrow and Aniston, it’s my time.’ — KATHY GRIFFIN GRIFFIN’S BRUTALLY HONEST TALES about the people she meets — such as her fellow “Celebrity Mole” contestants — form the basis of her Thursday night shows at the Laugh Factory. The gigs have drawn the ire of those she mocks, but raves from just about everyone else. An episode of “Seinfeld” was based completely on her depiction of Jerry Seinfeld as the devil. The NBC project would be a cross between HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and Griffin’s short-lived MTV series “Kathy’s So-Called Reality.” “It’s my life as a D-level celebrity,” Griffin said. “I’m the girl you call when they can’t get anyone else. The hell with you, Paltrow and Aniston, it’s my time.” Griffin would have a major say in the project’s stories, but she and executive producer Stuart Krasnow are also looking for a sitcom writer to give the show its story structure. LATEST FEUD “It’s important to be with a writer who thinks I’m the funniest person on the planet,” she said. Griffin’s latest feud is with cheesy “American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest, with whom she shared a podium at the American Music Awards on Monday. The comedian wondered whether NBC would be able to stomach her frequently vicious — but humorous —swipes at celebs. “My goal is to never meet (NBC programming chief) Jeff Zucker,” she said. “My goal is for him not to know who I am and for the show to accidentally get on the air without them knowing. As a matter of fact, I’m going to call it ‘The Debra Messing Project.’ I don’t know what the hell they’re going to do with me.” Besides the MTV show and her four-season stint as Vicki on “Suddenly Susan,” Griffin’s credits include hosting the Billboard Music Awards and supplying the voice of Alice on the UPN animated comedy “Dilbert.” |