{alltv} Kathy Griffin: Why I'm Leaving the D-List

Kathy Griffin is off the D-list.

The comedian is ending the six season – and Emmy Award-winning – run of her hit Bravo show, My Life on the D-List, she tells PEOPLE.

"It was a really tough decision because I think of the D-List as pretty much my baby for the last six seasons and I also think it was really time to stop doing it," Griffin, 50, says by phone from L.A. "Reality is great, but I really didn't set out to be a reality star. So now it's time to spread my wings and show that I'm a little different than Kate Gosselin."

"I'm not saying better," she says, laughing, "but maybe separate myself from the pack a little bit."

Not that Griffin is leaving Bravo.

In fact, the network has enlisted her for four brand-new comedy specials, which will air quarterly in 2011.

"There is no better way to start off 2011 than giving Kathy Griffin an unprecedented four new stand-up comedy specials on Bravo in one year," network executive Andy Cohen said Wednesday in a statement. "Kathy's quick fire humor and ability to tap into pop culture make for must watch television."

And Griffin is happy to hit the road for the network. "I just cannot get enough or do enough stand-up," she says. "And there's so much fun stuff going on – from Oprah's launch of [cable network] OWN … not to mention the new Paula Abdul show [Live to Dance] or who knows what celebrity run-in I've had myself."

And, with the first special possibly taping in Milwaukee in early February, Griffin promises to keep her jokes fresh.

"[I'm] trying to keep the material as up to the minute as possible," she says. "Audiences know when they come to see me live, they're going to see new stuff. [And] as long as there's a show called My Strange Addiction about a woman who only eats toilet paper ... then I have to do stand up."

In addition to the stand-up specials, Griffin hopes to make a return to sitcoms in the future with an improvised series – think Curb Your Enthusiasm – that involves, according to the comedian, "some characters from the D-List that you've come to love, and then maybe I'll have actors play a couple other characters that are from my real life."

And Griffin, who is a People's Choice Award nominee, has her sights on nabbing her first-ever Grammy Award at Feb. 13's ceremony. "First of all, I just want to win," she says of her best comedy album nod. "I have no deep answer for that. I just want to."

"Second of all," she continues, "only two women [comedians] have won in the history of the Grammys: Lily Tomlin and Whoopi Goldberg. So I certainly would like it to go to a woman this year. A woman named Kathy Griffin. Perhaps you've heard of her?"