Jenny McCarthy’s not-so-amazing journey: From Oprah to NBC to VH1

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Frequent Oprah Winfrey guest and protege Jenny McCarthy made headlines last year when she abruptly abandoned Winfrey’s fledgling basic cable channel. McCarthy had been developing a series for OWN, but reportedly became frustrated with the network’s creative team and decided to leave, taking her project with her.

Reports then said McCarthy -- who broke through in the 1990s by combining a bouncy personality, sex appeal and a crude, over-the-top comedic style -- was taking her show to NBC.

But less than a year later, McCarthy is winding up back at basic cable. VH1 has announced it is developing ‘The Jenny McCarthy Show, which a news release says will ‘celebrate as well as skewer everyone and everything in pop culture, news, fashion TV, movies and the Web.’ The show, still in the early stages of development, is scheduled to premiere in the summer or fall of this year.

There was no indication why McCarthy, who used to be romantically linked with Jim Carrey, didn’t land at NBC. But that network already has a full stable of attractive brash comediennes, including Whitney Cummings and Chelsea Handler as well as Sarah Silverman, who is developing a comedy for NBC.

Also, although McCarthy and her wacky, sexy persona has been featured in recurring guest shots on ‘Two and a Half Men’ as one of Charlie Sheen’s lovers and on ‘Just Shoot Me,’ she has never broken through in a lead role despite several attempts. She had a short-lived sitcom on NBC in the late 1990s. ‘Dirty Love,’ the 2005 film which she co-wrote and starred in, scored several Razzie awards, including ‘Worst Picture’ and ‘Worst Actress’ for McCarthy.

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-- Greg Braxton