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TCA press tour: Jenna Elfman recalls ‘challenging’ period away from limelight

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Proving that celebrities have their unemployment problems too, Jenna Elfman says she went through a dark time before landing her latest gig.

Elfman, who stars in this fall’s CBS sitcom ‘Accidentally on Purpose,’ told reporters at the TV press tour in Pasadena today that she fell into a funk after CBS axed her comedy ‘Courting Alex’ a few seasons back.

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‘It was quite a challenging four or five years in my life,’ said Elfman, who in the late 1990s costarred in the hit ‘Dharma & Greg’ for five seasons on ABC.

Several recent development deals failed for one reason or another to result in a new network show, she added. ‘My lawyer and agent were like, ‘Oh, God, another one,’’ she said of the various proposed projects. At one point, she said, she mused to her agent about chucking the business and moving to Montana. But ‘I was bound and determined to find another show.’

In ‘Accidentally on Purpose,’ based on a book by Mary Pols, Elfman plays a journalist who becomes pregnant after a one-night stand and ends up deciding to keep the baby and the man. At press tour, CBS promoted the show to TV reporters -- counter to the show’s premise -- by offering bowls filled with condoms.

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The new gig has relieved Elfman from the doldrums -- at least for now. ‘I count my blessings every day,’ she said. ‘I love comedy so much.’

-- Scott Collins

--Photo: Jenna Elfman/Credit: CBS

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