Rita Rocks

Rita Rocks Information

Rita Rocks is a Lifetime original sitcom that ran from October 20, 2008 to December 7, 2009. It is 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.

On January 11, 2010, Lifetime cancelled the series after two seasons due to low ratings.

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". This was a necessity because Tisha Campbell-Martin came with a lot of gained weight into season 2. So the show changed drastically, making Rita pregnant and having birth at the end of Season 2. They went through many seasons in one season, knowing that this show won't last and wouldn't be able to be continued like it was.

Characters

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. Clearly, he's trying to suppress his Homosexuality with his sham marriage to Rita, though perhaps they had made some agreement previously to hide his true sexuality in exchange for him fathering Rita some kids. The show was cancelled so early on, there was never a chance to properly explore this rather complex and ground breaking character.
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. Well... she's not that rebellious, she never fucked a midget on the coffee table whilst her parents tried to host a dinner party or anything radical like that.
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)

Minor characters

Audrey (Lauren Bowles): Owen's wife and mother of his two children. She loves 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 his 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.

Rusty (Paul Vato): the owner of the bowling alley where Rita's band performs publicly for the first time.

Guest appearances

Guest Star	Season	Character
Mindy Sterling	1	Mrs. Portman, customer at Rita's workplace, Bed Bath & Max
Tony Danza	1	Jay's boss
Andrew J. West	1	Craiger
Harry Shum Jr.	1	Zach
Craig Gellis	1	Grungy Counter Guy
Brooklyn McLinn	1	Roger
Bayne Gibby	1	Genna, customer at Bed & Bath Max
Deborah Gibson	1	Cindy Schatz (Rita's old band friend)
Melissa Peterman	1, 2	Jennifer
Jessie Pavelka	1	Jessie (himself); Patty's trainer and Kip's temporary replacement
Mimi Kennedy	1	Aunt Mavis (Jay's aunt who has a grudge towards Rita)
Paul Vato	2	Rusty is the bowling alley owner who gives Rita her first big break
G. Hannelius	2	Brianna Boone

Episodes

Series overview

Season		Episodes	Originally aired
Season		Episodes	Season premiere	Season finale
	1	20	October 20, 2008	February 23, 2009
	2	20	October 5, 2009	December 7, 2009

Season 1: 2008–2009

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No in Series	No in Season	Title	Original air date

Season 2: 2009

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#	Title	Original air date

DVD release

Rita Rocks: The Complete 1st Season was released on a 3-disc combo pack on April 27, 2010.

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.

This webpage uses material from the Wikipedia article "Rita_Rocks" and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. Reality TV World is not responsible for any errors or omissions the Wikipedia article may contain.

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