Zap2it October 12th 2005
By Jay Bobbin

She battles Armageddon in an upcoming miniseries, but Shannen Doherty has already weathered one storm this television season.

After the media frenzies over her exits from "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "Charmed," the actress was let go from UPN's new Thursday sitcom "Love, Inc." after making the pilot episode. Replaced in the show by Busy Philipps, Doherty has moved on to other projects like CBS' "Category 7: The End of the World," which starts Sunday, Nov. 6. A superstorm-fighting scientist in that miniseries, she claims little science is needed to understand her "Love, Inc." dismissal.

"Bottom line, it didn't work out," she states. "I'll be honest and say it was somewhat heartbreaking for me ... really, really difficult. I loved the cast." Doherty singles out "Love, Inc." co-star Holly Robinson Peete as "phenomenal, unbelievable at comedy. I think my biggest regret is not working with her more, because I know I would have learned ! so much from that girl."

So what went wrong for Doherty? "Look, people make decisions. The only thing I can say is that it had nothing to do with me personally. There will always be the press people who want to write, 'Oh, she was difficult,' but I think most of the show's producers and cast went out there and defended me and said, 'That's not what the deal was.' And it wasn't.

"It was a personal decision on the part of Les Moonves (co-president and co-COO of Viacom, which owns UPN and CBS). He felt it wasn't the right fit, and whatever his reasons were, I respect them. Then he turned around and put me in 'Category 7,' so maybe to him, I'm a dramatic actress. It all boils down to faith. I have to have faith in myself and in God, and to know that if things don't work out, there's a reason. All I can do is try my hardest not to make the same mistakes I made in my youth, which I've worked extremely hard not to."

Now glad to be developing series with producing partner ! Gavin Polone ("Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Gilmore Girls"), Doherty also i s grateful to have acted with Randy Quaid in "Category 7," so she's hardly overwhelmed with "Love, Inc."-related remorse. She reflects, "Who am I to sit here and say, 'I can't believe that didn't work out'? I have the most fortunate life anyone could ask for, and I have an amazing family and amazing friends. If one little thing goes wrong, you can't get down about it. You just pick yourself up and move forward.

"You could knock me down 30 more times and I would still get up and persevere," Doherty adds. "That is in my nature, but it also comes with passion. I love my job, and if you have passion for what you do, you're going to get right back up."