TVSquad

TV Guide reports that Christina Applegate's new ABC series is now titled Samantha Who? As Bob reported about a week ago, the network failed to get permission from the estate of Dr. Seuss to use the title Sam I Am, which was the original title of the series but also refers to the Seuss book Green Eggs & Ham.

Before settling for Samantha Who?, the network and the people behind the show briefly retitled this series Samantha Be Good.

The new ABC comedy Sam I Am, about a bad amnesiac woman (Christina Applegate) who has to start her life over as a good person, has to change its name before it starts this fall. And it's all Dr. Seuss' fault.

The estate of the Green Eggs & Ham author has refused to give the network permission to use the phrase as the title of the show. They did not like that ABC/used the phrase/illegally. They did not like it here, there, or anywhere.

But it all works out in the end. The new title, Samantha Be Good, fits the above premise of the show too. I was sort of surprised they were going to use the title Sam I Am anyway. Not for the Dr. Seuss connection, but because of that Sean Penn flick I Am Sam.

ABC released its 2007-08 prime-time schedule this morning during a press conference conducted by Steve McPherson, president of ABC Entertainment, which I attended by phone. The changes in brief:

Returning: Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Betty, October Road, Notes from the Underbelly, Men In Trees, Brothers & Sisters, Wife Swap, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives, The Bachelor, Dancing with the Stars, Lost, Supernanny, America's Funniest Home Videos, Boston Legal, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, 20/20, Primetime (specials and special series)

Out: The Nine, Six Degrees, The Great American Dream Vote, Show Me The Money, Day Break, In Case of Emergency, The Knights of Prosperity, What About Brian, George Lopez, According to Jim (maybe... finally!)

New: Big Shots, Carpoolers, Cashmere Mafia, Eli Stone, Dirty Sexy Money, Cavemen, Miss/Guided, Private Practice, Pushing Daisies, Sam I Am, Women's Murder Club, Oprah's Big Give

Moving: Men In Trees moves from Thursdays at 10 to Fridays at 8. Notes from the Underbelly and October Road (along with Cashmere Mafia) will premiere when Dancing with the Stars and The Bachelor end their seasons. Lost will begin airing in February and show no repeats, in a Wednesday time slot that's still to be determined.

Detailed descriptions of the new shows (and some notes on the schedule) after the jump.

You would think that the early, painful demise of The Nine, Kidnapped, Smith, Six Degrees, and other new dramas this season that there would be more comedy pilots picked up for the 2007 season. But according to The Hollywood Reporter, that's not the case.

Except for some solid buzz from a handful of comedies, including ABC's Sam I Am, ABC's Cavemen and Miss/Guided, and several shows at CBS, it looks like more dramas will make the schedule, including NBC's Bionic Woman and Journeyman, ABC's Dirty Sexy Money and Pushing Daisies, CBS' Babylon Fields, The Man, and Viva Laughlin. The new Jimmy Smits drama might replace Close To Home on Fridays, while FOX has the much-hyped Sarah Connor Chronicles, K-Ville, and Them.

Jaime Ray Newman has been cast as the lead in the new CW drama pilot I Am Paige Armstrong. Newman plays a congressional aide who decides to run against her crooked boss.

The comedic drama Babylon Fields, about a town where the dead have come back to life, recently added Kathy Baker to the cast. Baker will play a housewife who must contend with her zombie husband, whom she killed with an ax.

Kevin Dunn has been added to the ABC comedy pilot Sam I Am, about a woman (Christina Applegate) suffering from amnesia who must piece her life back together.

Here's yet another rundown of who's been cast in network pilots for the upcoming season:

Christina Applegate and Jean Smart will both star in the ABC comedy pilot Sam I Am, which is not, one assumes, a televised sequel to the Sean Penn film I Am Sam, though turning that movie into a comedy would be really funny. Well, to me anyway. Actually, Applegate plays a woman who has to piece her life back together after suffering from amnesia.

Christina Applegate is the "it" girl right now in television. When casting directors look for sitcom stars, she's always at the top of their list.

Well, Christina finally found something she likes. She has signed on to star in an ABC comedy pilot called Sam I Am, where she'll play an amnesia victim who has to rediscover her life. It's the first starring television role for Applegate since the late '90s. Of course, she was the legendary Kelly Bundy on Married, With Children, from 1987-1997. Since then she starred in 1998's short-lived Jesse, and won an Emmy for a guest-starring role on Friends. Otherwise, she's stuck to movies for the last ten years.

Jean Smart, formerly of Designing Women and 24, has also taken a role in the comedy, and Jennifer Esposito will co-star as Applegate's best friend.