After 'Seinfeld': Now Elaine's Turn

By Stephen M. Silverman

Friday October 19, 2001 11:00 AM EDT

NBC on Thursday announced that it has ordered 12 episodes of a new comedy series starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who is best known for playing Jerry's self-absorbed cohort Elaine Benes for nine years on "Seinfeld." This will mark the third attempt in which an alum of that classic show has tried to go solo. So far, the record is not impressive. Last year, Michael Richards starred as a bumbling private eye on the quickly axed "The Michael Richards Show." This season, Jason Alexander is starring as a motivational speaker on the struggling "Bob Patterson." Louis-Dreyfus's new series, created and written by her husband, Brad Hall, is tentatively titled "22 Minutes With Eleanor Riggs." It will likely air early next year as a mid-season replacement, a network spokesman said. In it, Louis-Dreyfus plays Ellie Riggs, a single woman living in Los Angeles and toiling as a nightclub singer surrounded by a cast of quirky characters, reports Reuters. In other TV news, CBS said on Thursday that it has ordered another nine episodes of its new legal series "The Guardian," which has emerged as the most-watched new drama of the fall season.