Why isn't Chelsea Handler playing a character based on herself on NBC's upcoming "Are You There, Chelsea?"
Taking questions from reporters at the Television Critics Association winter press tour Friday, she brushed off an inquiry into whether NBC wanted someone younger to play the twentysomething Chelsea of the show. (Handler is 36.)
Also read: Chelsea Handler Re-Signs With E! Through 2014
"I have a job, every single day," said the host of E!'s "Chelsea Lately" and author of multiple memoirs. "And then I have another job. And then I have another job. I don't have time to star on my own TV show. If I did, I would."
Handler will play her own sister on the show, a character named Sloane. Handler has a sister in real life with a different name.
Asked if whether she considered leaving her talk show, she responded, "I like my E! show. I like being under the radar," earning laughs from the room full of reporters. "I really do love my show. I love my job. And it's ridiculous. … This is a great thing to have as a bonus and I can come in and come out and it creates jobs for other and that's kind of what I'm all about."
Handler will appear in seven episodes of the first season of the series, which premieres Wednesday at 8:30/7:30c.
She recently renewed her contract with E! through 2014.