PRODUCTION NOTES

Combining humor and pathos with the seamlessness of a black and white cookie, FAT ACTRESS explores the challenges and triumphs of overcoming whatever makes someone uncomfortable about themselves.

Two-time Emmy® Award-winning actress Kirstie Alley stars in Showtime’s new comedy series that follows the daily struggles of an actress to find love and work in an unforgiving Hollywood.

Alley and Brenda Hampton ("7th Heaven", “Mad About You”) are the creators and executive producers of this unscripted comedy premiering Monday, March 7 2005 at 10 PM ET/PT on SHOWTIME.

The actress describes the show as “essentially a story about women’s introversions: how women torture themselves, what they fret about, what they long for, their hopes, their dreams, their downfalls and their losses--all viewed through the prism of exaggeration, farce and fancy, sarcasm and irony while going for biting humor and belly laughs.”

According to Brenda Hampton, FAT ACTRESS™ is a new kind of television. “It’s not reality, but you could call it ‘fictional reality,’ says Hampton. “To be clear, this is not a weight loss documentary; it’s a celebration of Kirstie’s self-acceptance and love for life. The concept was solely Kirstie Alley’s idea. I think she is brilliant and funny and has a great sense of humor about herself and is perfectly comfortable with who she is.”

Alley says the show is definitely fiction. “Parts of the show are an exaggerated me. They are probably more about what goes on in my mind and how I think I look when I’m reacting to something. The show is more about how we treat being uncomfortable with yourself, about being uncomfortable with your weight, your sexuality, the way you eat. Everything you’re uncomfortable with because it’s not ever quite right. It’s funny and frightening at the same time.”

Alley explains, “In Hollywood, you’re also in a fish bowl and under a microscope. You’re always being watched, so being uncomfortable is part of the nature of being a celebrity. So, the show is about Kirstie trying desperately to become comfortable about something.”

Joining Alley on her hilarious journey of self discovery is a “Who’s Who” of the film, television and movie industries. Everyone from John Travolta to NBC Chief Jeff Zucker, wanted to get on the creative roller coaster ride of an improvisational and unscripted comedy. In addition to those two heavy-hitters, other guest stars include Kid Rock, Carmen Electra, Merv Griffin, Melissa Gilbert, Leah Remini, Mark Curry and Mayim Bialick. As Alley explains, “This is guerilla filmmaking at its finest -- I think the people who have done the show have loved it because it is an opportunity to really be creative and do something that you never get to do anyplace else.”

The cast also features series regulars Rachael Harris (“The Daily Show”) who plays Kevyn, Alley’s hair and makeup artist, and Bryan Callen (“Mad TV”), who sees the job of being Kirstie’s assistant as a time filler while waiting for his big movie break as an actor. Together they scheme, advise and plot to get all of Alley’s wants and needs met, no matter how big.

Kelly Preston appears in several episodes as Kirstie’s diet advisor Quinn Taylor Scott, a source of endless advice on how to be a great bulimic, ranging from ingesting cigarettes (but not too many because they could kill you), to traveling to a third world country and getting a parasite.

FAT ACTRESS™ was created when executive producers Brenda Hampton and Kirstie Alley were brought together by their mutual agent, Sam Haskell at the William Morris Agency. After several meetings, Sam called Brenda and told her that Kirstie had come up with a concept and that she should call Kirstie at home. Brenda called her and Kirstie said, “How’s a show about me called FAT ACTRESS™?”

“When we originally pitched the idea to Showtime, we didn’t hear back from them right away. So we bought 24 dozen Krispy Kreme donuts and had them sent to Showtime President Bob Greenblatt’s office,” explains Hampton. “Attached was a note that said ‘Maybe you’re not fat enough to get it. Have a donut.’”

The first episode centers around Kirstie following the advice of Eddie and Kevyn who think she should take her mind off her weight problems and find love in the arms of a large African American man who likes “big booty” and would make her feel “teeny tiny.”

After a mild flirtation with Kid Rock in the second episode, Kirstie becomes obsessed with him, making it her goal to sleep with him and have him tell her that she’s got the best body of any woman he’s ever been with. Forget Pamela Anderson.

Some of Kirstie’s weight loss plans in the first seven episodes include: gulping laxatives, which take effect during a meeting for the next “Charlie’s Angels” movie; “The Koi Effect,” which leads her to surround herself with small things including a posse of Little People, and the temptation to try crack, the weight loss method used by her brother.

Alley says, “ ‘The Koi Effect’ theory is that, if you put those Japanese carp called “koi” in a big pond, they will expand and become huge. If you put them in a little pond, they will stay small. So my doctor comes and tells me that I live in too big a house with too big plates and friends that are too big. I need to cut way down if I expect to lose any weight!”

Alley bravely and willingly lampoons her image that has been mercilessly ridiculed over the past few years, and gives us a glimpse of the humor and irony in her battle to lose weight and get her career back on television in an unforgiving business. She says of Hollywood, “As unforgiving a business as Hollywood can be, I’m not sticking it to them or making any statements. I love Hollywood, and I love the film and TV business. It’s a very kooky and eccentric business, and, because it is what it is, you have to learn to fly with it and with what’s going on.”

Hampton concludes, “Kirstie Alley is a brilliant comedienne, a beautiful and lovable clown, who seems to have no idea that the stories she’s created are ridiculously funny.”

Alley hopes people can relate to her story and that they appreciate the humor with which it is told. She says, ”This is what I think’s funny. If somebody else doesn’t think it’s funny, at least I did, you know. Brenda and I did. The crew did. It was good. It’s been a good time.”