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Butler eyes daytime

Feb 24, 2003  •  Post A Comment

Brett Butler, who made her name as a salty comedian in prime time, now wants to front her own syndicated daytime talk and reality show.
Ms. Butler, an Alabama native, hopes to develop a unique hybrid program that would launch in the fall of 2004. She and her representatives have planned a series of meetings with major syndicators in upcoming weeks, confirmed one distribution source.
The proposed strip would be produced by Ms. Butler, Dennis Bogorad and Devid Wiler along with Evolution Entertainment managers Evan Corday and Marc Berg. The project would be packaged by the Endeavor Agency.
Ms. Butler had recently been tapped to star in USA Network’s “McCloud,” in which the former “Grace Under Fire” star would have taken over Dennis Weaver’s role as a fish-out-of-water detective in the Big Apple. Sources at the USA Network now say, however, the “McCloud” series revival is unlikely to go forward.
The actress got her break in 1987 when she appeared as a stand-up comic on Dolly Parton’s variety show and was hired as a writer on the show.
For her work on Grace Under Fire, which aired from 1993 to 1998, she received two Golden Globe nominations (in 1995 and 1997). The actress, who now proudly proclaims that she has been sober for more than four years, is traveling the country performing stand-up comedy in the “Gravel Throated Harpy Tour.”
“She’s a personality every distributor wants,” Mr. Berg said. “She’s smart as hell and has found a project perfect for syndication.”