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Rita Rocks is a Lifetime original sitcom that ran from October 20, 2008 to December 7, 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 | Matter Music |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 40 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | James Berg Stan Zimmerman |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies | Zimmerman-Berg Lifetime Television Media Rights Capital |
| Original release | |
| Network | Lifetime |
| Release | October 20, 2008 – December 7, 2009 |
On 11 January 2010, Lifetime cancelled the series after two seasons due to low ratings.[1]
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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]
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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.
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Series overview
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 Game" | Andrew D. Weyman | Sylvia Green | November 18, 2008 |
| 9 | 9 | "Under Pressure" | Katy Garretson | Diane Burroughs & Joey Gutierrez | November 25, 2008 |
| 10 | 10 | "Got No Time" | Shelley Jensen | Denise Moss | December 2, 2008 |
| 11 | 11 | "Love on the Rocks" | Shelley Jensen | Sylvia Green | December 9, 2008 |
| 12 | 12 | "I Write The Songs" | Shelley Jensen | Diane Burroughs & Joey Gutierrez | December 16, 2008 |
| 13 | 13 | "The Girl Is Mine" | Shelley Jensen | Bob Nickman | 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 of My Cloud" | Shelley Jensen | Teleplay by : Mark Driscoll Story by : Adam Waring | 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 | "Nothing's 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" | Andy Cadiff | Bob Nickman | October 9, 2009 |
| 26 | 6 | "The Shape of Things To Come" | Lynn McCracken | Bob Nickman | October 13, 2009 |
| 27 | 7 | "Mr. Bassman" | Andy Cadiff | Seth Kurland | October 20, 2009 |
| 28 | 8 | "Mommy's Alright, Daddy's Alright" | Mark Cendrowski | Jennifer Glickman | October 26, 2009 |
| 29 | 9 | "Vogue" | Lynn McCracken | Diane Burroughs & Joey Gutierrez | October 26, 2009 |
| 30 | 10 | "Bad Company" | Shelley Jensen | Sylvia Green | 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" | Shelley Jensen | Jennifer Glickman | 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" | Leonard R. Garner Jr. | Bob Nickman | 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" | Shelley Jensen | Sylvia Green | 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 |
Rita Rocks: The Complete 1st Season was released on a 3-disc combo pack on April 27, 2010.[3]
- 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.
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