‘Rita’ Set to Rock Another Season
March 2, 2009 by Chandra
The news came down from on high today. After a successful Season One run of 20 episodes, Lifetime has opted to renew the Nicole Sullivan sitcom Rita Rocks for a second season of 20 episodes.
While Rita Rocks didn’t rake in Army Wives-sized ratings — which would have been quite impressive considering the older drama is Lifetime’s most successful original series ever — it did well enough with audiences for executives. According to them, the show attracted 36.4 million viewers, often retaining and even increasing the audience for Reba, the network’s most popular comedy.
Says Lifetime Executive Vice President of Entertainment JoAnn Alfano in the press announcement released earlier today: “Rita Rocks is the first original comedy that Lifetime has launched in 10 years, so you can imagine how delighted we are to welcome it back for a second season. It’s smart, it’s funny, and it appeals to anyone who has ever tried to carve out a little time for herself.”
Congrats to the cast and crew, although I have to say I couldn’t keep up with this one after Lifetime decided to air a brand-new episode every single day for an entire week when the show first launched. Sorry, but that kind of aggressive scheduling doesn’t work for people who have lots of stuff to do. Here’s hoping the second season will kick off with a more normal schedule. There’s no word yet, however, when that will be, but probably Fall 2009.
‘Rita Rocks’ Out Season One Tonight
If you’ve been following Lifetime’s first ever original comedy Rita Rocks, starring Nicole Sullivan (King of Queens), keep in mind that tonight’s episode “We Can Work It Out” is the end of the first season.
‘How I Met Your Mother’ Goes to ‘The Hills’ Tonight
January 12, 2009 by Chandra
Fans of CBS’ Monday-night comedy lineup can rejoice right now because the two-hour block resumes tonight with all new episodes from all four sitcoms.
The gimmick casting of note is the appearance of The Hills cast members Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt on How I Met Your Mother, along with additional guest stars Kendra Wilkinson, the Playboy Playmate from The Girls Next Door, and Kim Kardashian of Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
CBS is billing all of the guests as reality stars, but considering the female cameos, I thought the casting was going to have something to do with a wet-dream sequence for Barney. Turns out, Marshall comes down with a case of reality-star haunts, which is much less predictable and likely funnier.
The rest of tonight’s new comedy programming follows.
The Big Bang Theory
The Killer Robot Instability
Penny’s observations about Wolowitz’s romantic life (or lack thereof probably) depress him enough to cause him to lose interest in a future fighting robot competition. Fighting robots actually sound fun. [8pm, CBS]
Comedy TV Guide: Tue, Oct 28
The Midseason End Is Here for Greek
Notable Comedy TV scheduled for Tuesday, October 28 follows.
All times are Eastern Standard.
Rita Rocks — Nobody Does it Better
Rita gets grief and no appreciation from her daughters, both of whom show more respect for what little their father does at home.
[8:30pm-9pm | Lifetime]
Greek — Hell Week
As herself, special guest star Lauren Conrad (The Hills) advises Casey in a dream sequence when Casey frets over how to spend her summer. Elsewhere, the eager pledges endure one last massive challenge, Hell Week, to gain entry to their preferred house.
[9pm-10pm | Second-Midseason Finale | ABC Family | Sneak Peeks | Trailer]
Comedy TV Guide: Fri, Oct 24
October 24, 2008 by Chandra
Notable Comedy TV scheduled for Friday, October 24 follows.
All times are Eastern Standard.
Everybody Hates Chris — Everybody Hates the English Teacher
Chris tries to get out of reading Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man by watching the movie with the same name, and Mr. Omar introduces Drew and Tonya to the vice of gambling when he moves in with the Rocks temporarily after Julius and Rochelle raise his rent.
[8pm-8:30pm | The CW]
The Game — Just the Three of Us
Melanie becomes jealous when Derwin goes with Janay to her first pregnancy checkup, and Jason refuses to help Kelly break the news of their separation to their daughter Brittany.
[8:30pm-9pm | The CW]
Comedy TV Guide: Thu, Oct 23
October 23, 2008 by Chandra
Lindsay Lohan Returns on Ugly Betty
Notable Comedy TV scheduled for Thursday, October 23 follows.
All times are Eastern Standard.
My Name Is Earl — Quit Your Snitchin’
Earl must decide whether reporting the theft of Randy’s birthday present to the police is worth listening to Joy go on and on about him being a snitch.
[8pm-8:30pm | NBC]
Ugly Betty — Granny Pants
Kimmie (Lindsay Lohan) asks Betty to help her find a job, Justin auditions for a Broadway musical, and Daniel tries a dating service.
[8pm-9pm | ABC | Sneak Peek]
Comedy TV Guide: Tue, Oct 21
October 21, 2008 by Chandra
Notable Comedy TV scheduled for Tuesday, October 21 follows.
All times are Eastern Standard.
Rita Rocks — Lies, Lies, Lies, Yeah-Ah
Shannon learns her mom lies when Rita does just that after missing her karate class because of band practice.
[8:30pm-9pm | Lifetime]
Greek — Three’s A Crowd
Heads-up, Aliens in America fans: Dan Byrd (Justin Tolchuk) guest stars on this episode as Dale’s high school “Purity Pledge” friend, about whom Rusty will discover a secret that he hesitates to tell Dale. Also, new Zeta Beta Zeta president Ashleigh still can’t escape being in the middle of Casey and Fannie’s continuing rivalry.
[9pm-10pm | ABC Family]
Comedy TV Guide: Mon, Oct 20
October 20, 2008 by Chandra
Lifetime Premieres Rita Rocks
And Nicole Richie guests on Chuck.
Notable Comedy TV scheduled for Monday, October 20 follows.
All times are Eastern Standard.
The Big Bang Theory — The Euclid Alternative
Leonard confronts Sheldon about his fear of driving.
[8pm-8:30pm | CBS]
Chuck — Chuck Versus the Cougars
Nicole Richie guest stars as Sarah’s high school nemesis Heather, whose marriage to a major player in a new investigation, her husband Mark (Ben Savage), causes Sarah much anxiety, especially at their high school reunion.
[8pm-9pm | NBC]
Lifetime Announces New Original Sitcom ‘Rita Rocks’
One of the best pieces of television development news last week came from basic cable’s Lifetime. The network that prides itself on its programming geared towards women announced the pickup of its first original sitcom in ten years, a half-hour comedy called Rita Rocks.
The series is slated to premiere this fall and will star Nicole Sullivan (Kim Possible, The King of Queens) as title character Rita Clements, a married working mother of two daughters who attempts to regain her youth by returning to her earlier happy days as a garage-band guitarist.
Other cast members include Richard Ruccolo (Joey, Two Guys and a Girl) as Rita’s husband Jay; Tisha Campbell-Martin (My Wife and Kids, Martin), a personal favorite of mine from back in the day, as post office worker Patty; and guest star Ian Gomez (Jake in Progress, The Drew Carey Show) as the Clements’ out-of-work neighbor Owen.
Lifetime will pair Rita Rocks with Reba in a new hourlong comedy block this fall.
Comedy Talk: Top Three Reasons to Watch ‘Battlestar Galactica’ Season Four
March 20, 2008 by Chandra
As savvy fans of science-fiction TV already know, ten members from the cast of Sci Fi Channel’s stellar series Battlestar Galactica read the popular Top Ten list on the most recent Late Show with David Letterman.
The fourth and regrettably final season of the Peabody-winning space drama takes off on April 4, preceded on March 28 by two back-to-back half-hour specials. Fittingly, the theme of last night’s very entertaining segment was the Top Ten Reasons to Watch the New Season of Battlestar Galactica.
All of the cast members did a fine job delivering their lines, of course. The absolute best reasons to tune in to BSG’s fourth season were presented by the ladies, however. And, if you watch the show, that the women rock is not surprising in the least.
My personal favorite three picks from the Top Ten are:
- 3. Lucy Lawless (Cylon D’Anna Biers): You’ll find out what’s in the hatch and who gets off the island — Crap, wrong show
[Lost, anyone? — Top Ten #9] - 2. Mary McDonnell (President Laura Roslin): I take on the most challenging task of my political career — doing a lame top ten list on a third-rate talk show
[That isn't really a reason to watch BSG specifically, but it's still funny — Top Ten #2] - 1. Katee Sackhoff (Captain Kara “Starbuck” Thrace): We engage in a life-and-death battle against evil robots … you know, same shit as last year
[Tell me about it; but, at least this shit is captivating — Top Ten #3]
I’ve included a clip of the entire Late Show segment after the jump. And, as a bonus for comedy fans who love Battlestar, too, there’s also the eight-minute What the Frak Is Going On?! recap video that summarizes everything you need to know from the first three seasons of the series in video format. Enjoy!