Clearance issues affect Applegate comedy Samantha Who?

[Brian Damage]

Clearance issues with the estate of Dr. Seuss has caused ABC to change the name of its new Christina Applegate laffer.
In May, Alphabet introduced the show to advertisers and the press as "Sam I Am." Title played on the fact that Applegate's character, Samantha Newly, has amnesia and can't remember anything about her life.

As good as the title may have been, it also drew on the first lines of the classic Dr. Seuss work "Green Eggs and Ham." Neither ABC nor producer ABC Studios would comment Monday, but it's believed the Seuss estate didn't take kindly to the Alphabet's literary allusion (or at the very least wanted too much coin to authorize its use).

So now, ABC has opted to call the show "Samantha Be Good."

New title may not have the same ring as "Sam I Am," but it still reflects one of the show's themes. Turns out that, before she lost her memory, Applegate's character was a not very nice person. Now that she's got a chance to start over, she'll be trying to be good.