Selleca Is Off ABC’s New Comedy Series

Connie Selleca, who was supposed to begin production Monday as the star of “Baby Talk,” ABC’s new comedy based on the smash movie “Look Who’s Talking,” is off the show.

Sources at Columbia Pictures Television, which produces the series, said the producers of the program are hurriedly attempting to recast the leading role by the end of the week. They hope to resume production with the new actress, using the same script they planned to use this week, by Monday, and the studio expects no delays in getting the program on air.

Co-starring George Clooney and featuring Tony Danza as the voice of the baby, the series is scheduled for the 8:30 p.m. slot in ABC’s powerhouse Tuesday night lineup beginning next month. A spokesman for ABC said today that the network still planned on using “Baby Talk,” with the new “network-approved” actress, in its starting fall lineup. The fall season officially begins Sept. 17, although ABC has yet to announce exact premiere dates for the majority of its series.

Columbia offered only a terse statement today to explain Selleca’s abrupt departure: “Due to contractual differences, Connie is no longer involved with the show.”

Through her publicist, Selleca, who previously has starred in four television series, including ABC’s “Hotel,” and numerous TV movies and miniseries, refused to comment on the matter.

Her sayonara is just another in a long line of growing pains that have beset “Baby Talk” from the beginning. The pilot, which was shot last May, was one of only two new ABC shows that were never screened for TV critics and was subsequently “retooled.”