Lifetime's Rita Rocks Ordered for Full Season; 35th Annual People's Choice Awards Nominees

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Lifetime's Rita Rocks Ordered for Full Season; 35th Annual People's Choice Awards Nominees

Rita Rocks, Lifetime Television's first original sitcom in 10 years, has been picked up for a full season. Lifetime ordered seven additional episodes, bringing the first season order total to 20 episodes. The family comedy starring Nicole Sullivan premiered on October 20 and, in a unique programming strategy, stripped original episodes for a full week before moving into its regular timeslot (Tuesdays, 8:30 p.m. ET/PT).
In addition to Sullivan, the traditional sitcom Rita Rocks stars Richard Ruccolo as Rita's husband Jay and Tisha Campbell-Martin as her friend and band mate. Natalie Dreyfuss, Kelly Gould also star as Rita's daughters. Raviv Ullman plays her teenage daughter's ever-present boyfriend.
In Rita Rocks, Sullivan stars as Rita Clements, an overworked wife and mother trying to find time to find herself. Once the lead singer of a Bangles cover band, Rita traded in a life in rock clubs for carpools and the PTA. With the hope of getting a little bit of the old Rita back, she forms a garage band with postal carrier Patty (Tisha Campbell-Martin) and unemployed neighbor Owen (guest-star Ian Gomez).

The nominees were for The 35th Annual People's Choice Awards are now in. We will only mention the TV categories. Winners will be revealed during the live broadcast of The 35th Annual People's Choice Awards which will be hosted by Queen Latifah from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/delayed PT) on CBS. The first awards show of 2009, The 35th Annual People's Choice Awards honors fan favorites in television, movies and music.
PEOPLE Magazine, in celebration of its own 35th birthday, will team up with People's Choice to present the first ever People's Choice Award for Favorite Star Under 35, in recognition of this dual milestone. Beginning today www.pcaVOTE.com and www.people.com will exclusively feature this unique poll, giving fans the opportunity to choose their favorite star, under the age of 35, by narrowing down from a group of Hollywood's biggest celebrities, chosen by PEOPLE's editors. The TV nominees are:

FAVORITE TV DRAMA
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CBS)
Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
House (Fox)

FAVORITE TV COMEDY
Samantha Who? (ABC)
Two and a Half Men (CBS)
Ugly Betty (ABC)

FAVORITE ANIMATED COMEDY
Family Guy (Fox)
The Simpsons (Fox)
South Park (Comedy Central)

FAVORITE SCI-FI / FANTASY SHOW
Heroes (NBC)
Supernatural (The CW)
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Fox)

FAVORITE COMPETITION / REALITY SHOW
American Idol (Fox)
Dancing with the Stars (ABC)
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (ABC)

FAVORITE GAME SHOW
Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (Fox)
Deal Or No Deal (NBC)
JEOPARDY! (Syndicated, CBS Television Distribution)

FAVORITE MALE TV STAR
Patrick Dempsey (Grey's Anatomy, ABC)
Hugh Laurie (House, Fox)
Charlie Sheen (Two and a Half Men, CBS)

FAVORITE FEMALE TV STAR
Christina Applegate (Samantha Who?, ABC)
Sally Field (Brothers & Sisters, ABC)
Mariska Hargitay (Law & Order: SVU, NBC)

FAVORITE TALK SHOW HOST
Ellen DeGeneres (Syndicated, Warner Bros.)
David Letterman (CBS)
Regis Philbin & Kelly Ripa (Syndicated, ABC Studios)

FAVORITE SCENE-STEALING GUEST STAR (NEW CATEGORY)
Luke Perry on Law & Order: SVU, NBC
Britney Spears on How I Met Your Mother, CBS
Robin Williams on Law & Order: SVU, NBC

FAVORITE TV DRAMA DIVA (NEW CATEGORY)
Holly Hunter as Grace Hanadarko on Saving Grace, TNT
Mary-Louise Parker as Nancy Botwin on Weeds, Showtime
Kyra Sedgwick as Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson on The Closer, TNT

FAVORITE NEW TV DRAMA (All new shows, vote on PCAVote.com)
90210, The CW
Crusoe, NBC
Easy Money, The CW
Eleventh Hour, CBS
Fringe, Fox
Knight Rider, NBC
Life on Mars, ABC
The Mentalist, CBS
My Own Worst Enemy, NBC
Privileged, The CW

FAVORITE NEW TV COMEDY (All new shows, vote on PCAVote.com)
Gary Unmarried, CBS
Kath & Kim, NBC
Valentine, The CW
Worst Week, CBS

View the full press release, including nominees for the movies and music categories.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Wednesday, June 11

Tyler Perry's House of Payne - "Buring the Hatchet" (BET, 9:00PM ET/PT)
House of Payne is the hilarious comedy about Retired fire chief Curtis Payne and his lovely wife Ella.

Tyler Perry's Assisted Living - "Writing the Next Chapter" (BET, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Cora and Leah tell Reginald he's still on thin ice with Brandon; Vinny attempts to have the facility join his Ponzi scheme.

The Ms. Pat Show - "A Hard Day's Work" (BET, 10:30PM ET/PT)
Denise lands Pat a starring role in a movie with a big-time director, but the film may be a little too adult even by Pat's standards; Terry has a heart-to-heart with his mom.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of June 9)

Wednesday, June 11

Arnold Schwarzenegger (FUBAR) - Watch Arnold on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Aimee Lou Wood (Sex Education) - Aimee appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Jenny Slate (The Great North/Big Mouth/Married/Bob's Burgers) - Jenny stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Sasheer Zamata (Home Economics/Woke/Robbie), Tien Tran (Mr. Throwback/How I Met Your Father) and Paul F. Tompkins (The Great North/BoJack Horseman/DAG) - Sasheera, Tien and Paul are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Mario Cantone (And Just Like That.../Sex and the City) - Mario talks about And Just Like That... on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Patricia Clarkson (Davis Rules) - Patricia talks about Lilly on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Nick Mohammed (Ted Lasso) - Nick talks about Deep Cover on CBS Mornings Plus in the 9am hour.
Henry Winkler (Barry/Arrested Development/Out of Practice/Monty/Happy Days) - Henry chats with Kelly and Mark about Hazardous History with Henry Winkler on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Leighton Meester (Single Parents/Making History) - Leighton talks about The Buccaneers on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
Andrew Rannells (Girls/The New Normal) - Drew is joined by Andrew Rannells to celebrate all things Thanksgiving on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Jurnee Smollett (Cosby/On Our Own/Full House) - Jurnee is telling Drew about her new movie, The Order based on a true story of bank robberies, white supremacists and domestic terror on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.