FINGERS CROSSED!

FINGERS CROSSED!

Release Date:

January 24, 2005 with an update
on February 7, 2005

Press Release:

Tribune Media Services and
Love Spell Entertainment (UnOfficial)

by Daniel Fienberg

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" co-star Alyson Hannigan's latest stab at becoming a network television sitcom star has lasted less than two weeks. ABC confirms that the actress has departed the comedy "In the Game" over creative differences.

Earlier this month, Hannigan signed on for the Jennifer Love Hewitt series playing the best friend of Hewitt's character, a sports television producer who becomes an on-air star. Originally developed for last fall, "In the Game" has been undergoing a number of changes and as the second pilot was being conceived, Hannigan's character went in a direction that didn't interest the 30-year-old actress.

"Alyson Hannigan came on into a role as the process was going through the week," ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPherson says. "The role kind of diminished just based on the storytelling that was going on. She was unhappy and wanted off the show, so we allowed her to leave."

Sara Gilbert has reportedly been added to the "Game" cast, but the part has been downgraded from a co-starring role to a recurring character. Gilbert's tenure with the show may also be brief, given that the former "Roseanne" co-star is doing a comedy project with The WB.

Meanwhile, after the network pulled a planned "In the Game" panel for the Television Critics Association, McPherson was left to explain that show's ongoing status.

"I always found it odd when networks put up shows that they hadn't really seen yet or that they were reworking entirely and said, 'Hey guys, it's going to be fantastic,'" McPherson explains. "We don't know that yet because we haven't seen it. We shot a pilot. We thought there was tremendous potential, specifically in Ed O'Neill and Jennifer. So we reshot last week. I'll see a rough cut of it probably Thursday or Friday."