Not long after her old Cheers co-star Ted Danson took on new gig on CSI, Emmy winner Kirstie Alley is set to return to the screen in a new lead role. Deadline reports that ABC is preparing to order a pilot episode of The Manzinis, a family sitcom that has already had a few false starts. For the past two years, the series has failed to go to pilot; this time, with Alley attached, it looks like the third time might be the charm.
Alley will star as a wife and mother whose family moves to a stuck-up town occupied by the country club set. The show is being described as a Roseanne for the modern age, and if anyone can pull of the kind of sarcasm that made Roseanne great, it’s Kirstie Alley. Alley is no stranger to sitcoms; she is well known for her runs on both Cheers and Veronica’s Closet. The star has never been afraid to take a chance or poke fun at herself, even starring in a short-lived series called Fat Actress for Showtime -- her struggles with her weight have been very public. In 2010 she started a reality series, Kirstie Alley’s Big Life, centered on her weight-loss attempts.
At 60 years old, Alley is showing no signs of slowing down, recently making it to second place on Dancing With the Stars. While not everything in Alley’s career has exactly been a hit, this role sounds like it’s a perfect fit for Kirstie, and sitcoms have always been her comfort zone.
