Rita Rocks
Rita Rocks is a Lifetime original sitcom that ran from 20 October 2008 to 7 December 2009. It was the network's first original comedy in over a decade. The series debuted alongside re-runs of Reba as part of a new comedy hour for Tuesday nights, which later changed to Monday nights. The show stars Nicole Sullivan as Rita, Tisha Campbell-Martin, Richard Ruccolo, Raviv Ullman, and Kelly Gould.
| Rita Rocks | |
|---|---|
| Created by | James Berg Stan Zimmerman |
| Starring | Nicole Sullivan Richard Ruccolo Tisha Campbell-Martin Ian Gomez Natalie Dreyfuss Kelly Gould Raviv Ullman |
| Composer(s) | Matter Music |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 40 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | James Berg Stan Zimmerman |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Zimmerman-Berg Media Rights Capital |
| Distributor | 20th Century Fox Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | Lifetime |
| Original release | October 20, 2008 – December 7, 2009 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
On 11 January 2010, Lifetime cancelled the series after two seasons due to low ratings.[1]
Plot
A hard-working mom and wife splits her time between a job she doesn’t particularly like, running the kids around and managing the household. She believes that if she can just get a few hours a week to herself, she can figure a few things out. After finding her old guitar in the garage and the prompting of a new friend, they start up a weekly jam session and are joined by a neighbor, the mail-woman and her daughter’s boyfriend for nightly rehearsals. The plot is set in the Metropolitan Detroit area, most likely the Southfield area as Shannon attends Southfield Elementary School, which is shown throughout season 1.
In a February 2009 interview on Anytime with Bob Kushell, Sullivan agreed the main character is going through a midlife crisis, but she does not like using the term "midlife".[2]
Characters
Main
- Rita Clemens (Nicole Sullivan): a working mom with a busy life. She is the leader of a garage band and also the assistant manager of Bed Bath & Max. She was formerly training assistant before her boss learned of her pregnancy.
- Jay Clemens (Richard Ruccolo): Rita’s husband who tries his best to support her band. He sometimes takes care of the household, getting himself into funny situations in the process.
- Patty Mannix (Tisha Campbell-Martin): a postal worker and Rita's best friend who convinces her to take down her guitar and start the band.
- Hallie Clemens (Natalie Dreyfuss): Rita's absent minded and rebellious teenage daughter.
- Shannon Clemens (Kelly Gould): Rita's nine-year-old daughter. She goes to a school for gifted children and is interested in space camp and astronauts.
- Kip (Raviv Ullman): Full name is Skip; Hallie's goofy and likable boyfriend/ex-boyfriend is the drummer in Rita's band. His parents are separated and he spends all of his time at the Clemens' household.
- Max: Rita & Jay's new baby. Rita gave birth to him in the Season 2 finale.
- Owen Delgado Jr. (Ian Gomez): Rita's unemployed neighbor who joins her garage band. He has two kids with wife Audrey. (left in 2009 to join Cougar Town).
Recurring
- Audrey (Lauren Bowles): Owen's wife and mother of his two children who seems to love her job more than her own husband.
- Chuck (Duane Martin): Rita's new neighbor, a former baseball player who is a huge annoyance to Rita and Jay. He and Patty (played by Duane Martin's wife Tisha Campbell-Martin) begin dating in late Season 2.
- Marilyn (Swoosie Kurtz): Rita's mother, who visits and stays for four episodes before leaving at Rita's request to talk to her father.
- Allison (Allie Gonino): Hallie's friend.
- Rusty (Paul Vato): the owner of the bowling alley where Rita's band performs publicly for the first time.
Production Crew
- Production Staff (9 episodes, 2009) Ryan Christopher Mouritsen
- Assistant to Producer (3 episodes, 2008) Ryan Christopher Mouritsen
- The Jealous Kind (2009) ... (production staff) - Sympathy for the Devil (2009) ... (production staff) - Jingle All the Way (2009) ... (production staff) - Shower the People (2009) ... (production staff) - Is She Really Going Out with Him? (2009) ... (production staff) - Mother and Child Reunion (2009) ... (production staff) - Anchors Aweigh (2009) ... (production staff) - Why Can't We Be Friends? (2009) ... (production staff) - Bad Company (2009) ... (production staff) - The Crying Game (2008) ... (assistant to producer) - Take This Job and Shove It (2008) ... (assistant to producer) - Pilot (2008) ... (assistant to producer) http://ryanmouritsen.nowcasting.com/, [3]
Episodes
Series overview
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | ||||
| 1 | 20 | October 20, 2008 | February 23, 2009 | ||
| 2 | 20 | October 5, 2009 | December 7, 2009 | ||
Season 1: 2008–09
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Pilot" | Andrew D. Weyman | James Berg & Stan Zimmerman | October 20, 2008 |
| 2 | 2 | "Lies, Lies, Lies, Yeah-ah" | Shelley Jensen | Diane Burroughs & Joey Gutierrez | October 21, 2008 |
| 3 | 3 | "You Gotta Have Friends" | Shelley Jensen | James Berg & Stan Zimmerman | October 22, 2008 |
| 4 | 4 | "Flirting With Disaster" | Peter Marc Jacobson | Denise Moss | October 23, 2008 |
| 5 | 5 | "Nobody Does It Better" | Katy Garretson | Bob Nickman | October 24, 2008 |
| 6 | 6 | "Mother's Little Helper" | Peter Marc Jacobson | Sylvia Green | October 28, 2008 |
| 7 | 7 | "Take This Job and Shove It" | Emile Levisetti | Nastaran Dibai & Jeffery Hodes | November 11, 2008 |
| 8 | 8 | "The Crying" | TBA | TBA | November 18, 2008 |
| 9 | 9 | "Under Pressure" | TBA | TBA | November 25, 2008 |
| 10 | 10 | "Got No Time" | TBA | TBA | December 2, 2008 |
| 11 | 11 | "Love on the Rocks" | Shelley Jensen | Bob Nickman | December 9, 2008 |
| 12 | 12 | "I Write The Songs" | Shelley Jensen | Diane Burroughs & Joey Gutierrez | December 16, 2008 |
| 13 | 13 | "The Girl Is Mine" | TBA | TBA | January 5, 2009 |
| 14 | 14 | "Old Friends" | Shelley Jensen | Denise Moss | January 12, 2009 |
| 15 | 15 | "It's My Party" | Emile Levisetti | Bob Nickman | January 19, 2009 |
| 16 | 16 | "I Can't Make You Love Me" | Jody Margolin Hahn | Bill Fuller & Jim Pond | January 26, 2009 |
| 17 | 17 | "Get Off My Cloud" | TBA | TBA | February 2, 2009 |
| 18 | 18 | "Killer Queen" | Shelley Jensen | Ellen Byron & Lissa Kapstrom | February 9, 2009 |
| 19 | 19 | "What's Love Got Do To With It?" | Lynn McCracken | Diane Burroughs & Joey Gutierrez | February 16, 2009 |
| 20 | 20 | "We Can Work It Out" | Gerry Cohen | James Berg & Stan Zimmerman | February 23, 2009 |
Season 2: 2009
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | 1 | "A Change is Gonna Come" | Shelley Jensen | Denise Moss | October 5, 2009 |
| 22 | 2 | "Breaking Up is Hard to Do" | Shelley Jensen | Diane Burroughs & Joey Gutierrez | October 6, 2009 |
| 23 | 3 | "Nothings Gonna Change My World" | Shelley Jensen | Sylvia Green | October 7, 2009 |
| 24 | 4 | "Welcome to the Working Week" | Andy Cadiff | Denise Moss | October 8, 2009 |
| 25 | 5 | "Stuck in the Middle with You" | TBA | TBA | October 9, 2009 |
| 26 | 6 | "The Shape of Things To Come" | Lynn McCracken | Bob Nickman | October 13, 2009 |
| 27 | 7 | "Mr. Bassman" | Mark Cendrowski | Jennifer Glickman | October 20, 2009 |
| 28 | 8 | "Mommy's Alright, Daddy's Alright" | Mark Cendrowski | TBA | October 26, 2009 |
| 29 | 9 | "Vogue" | Lynn McCracken | Diane Burroughs & Joey Gutierrez | October 26, 2009 |
| 30 | 10 | "Bad Company" | Mark Cendrowski | TBA | November 2, 2009 |
| 31 | 11 | "Why Can't We Be Friends?" | Shelley Jensen | Seth Kurland | November 2, 2009 |
| 32 | 12 | "Mother and Child Reunion" | Shelley Jensen | Denise Moss | November 9, 2009 |
| 33 | 13 | "Anchors Aweigh" | Leonard R. Garner Jr. | Diane Burroughs & Joey Gutierrez | November 9, 2009 |
| 34 | 14 | "Shower The People" | TBA | TBA | November 16, 2009 |
| 35 | 15 | "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" | Shelley Jensen | Matt Quezada & Frank Wolff | November 16, 2009 |
| 36 | 16 | "Sympathy For The Devil" | TBA | TBA | November 23, 2009 |
| 37 | 17 | "Jingle All The Way" | Shelley Jensen | Teleplay by : Seth Kurland Story by : Maxine Lapiduss & Seth Kurland | November 23, 2009 |
| 38 | 18 | "The Jealous Kind" | TBA | TBA | November 30, 2009 |
| 39 | 19 | "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" | Shelley Jensen | Denise Moss | November 30, 2009 |
| 40 | 20 | "Born In The USA" | Shelley Jensen | Bob Nickman | December 7, 2009 |
Home media
Rita Rocks: The Complete 1st Season was released on a 3-disc combo pack on April 27, 2010.[4]
International broadcasting
- Arena TV in Australia airs the program.
- Citytv in Canada airs the program.
- STAR World in Asia airs the program.
- Fox Life in Poland, Turkey, Greece, Portugal, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia airs the program.
- SKY Uno in Italy is going to air in autumn 2009.
- NET 5 in the Netherlands airs the program
- TNT Serie in Germany airs the program.
- Comédie! in France, Belgium and Switzerland will air the sitcom in 2010.
- Yes Comedy in Israel airs the program.
- TV4 Komedi in Sweden airs the program.
- MTV3 in Finland airs the program.
References
- Lifetime Cancels "Rita Rocks" Archived 2010-01-14 at the Wayback Machine, Entertainment Weekly, 11 January 2010
- "Anytime with Bob Kushell feat. Nicole Sullivan". Anytime with Bob Kushell. Season 1. Episode 12. 2009-02-27.
- http://ryanmouritsen.nowcasting.com/
- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00366BBSA
External links
- Rita Rocks on IMDb
- Rita Rocks at TV.com
- Rita Rocks at Mylifetime.com