So Notorious
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''So Notorious'', sometimes stylized ''So NoTORIous'', is an American
sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
starring — and loosely based on the life of — actress
Tori Spelling Victoria Davey Spelling (born May 16, 1973) is an American actress and author. Her first major role was Donna Martin on ''Beverly Hills, 90210'', beginning in 1990. She has appeared in made for television films, including '' A Friend to Die F ...
. The series debuted on VH1 on April 2, 2006, and despite lasting only ten episodes, received substantial acclaim from critics.


Premise

The series follows the actress as she tries to downplay the fact that she is the daughter of
Aaron Spelling Aaron Spelling (April 22, 1923 June 23, 2006) was an American film and television producer and occasional actor. His productions included the TV series ''Family'' (1976–1980), '' Charlie's Angels'' (1976–1981), ''The Love Boat'' (1977–1986 ...
(his name is rarely mentioned in series; he is referred to by Tori as "Daddy" and taking a cue from ''
Charlie's Angels ''Charlie's Angels'' is an American crime drama television series that aired on ABC from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, producing five seasons and 115 episodes. The series was created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts and was produced by Aa ...
'' is only heard off-camera). Despite the fact that her father is very wealthy, Tori tries to prove that she just wants people to like her for herself and take her seriously. Along with Tori the show features her close friends Pete (
James Carpinello James Anthony Carpinello (born August 13, 1975) is an American actor who came to national attention with his appearances in Tori Spelling's VH1 sitcom ''So Notorious''. He also portrayed Stacee Jaxx in the Broadway production of the musical ''R ...
), a roommate who shares Tori's condo and has a habit of bringing women to the place every night by bragging about Tori being his roommate; Janey ( Brennan Hesser), a real estate agent with a habit for being nosy and ambitious; and Sasan (
Zachary Quinto Zachary John Quinto (; born June 2, 1977) is an American actor and film producer. He is known for his roles as Sylar, the primary antagonist from the science fiction drama series ''Heroes (American TV series), Heroes'' (2006–2010); Spock in th ...
), an openly bisexual (except to his parents) Iranian-American who tends to be critical at times, hoping it will knock a little sense into Tori. She is also seen carrying around her overweight
pug The Pug is a breed of dog originally from China, with physically distinctive features of a wrinkly, short-muzzled face and curled tail. The breed has a fine, glossy coat that comes in a variety of colors, most often light brown (Fawn (colour) ...
Mimi LaRue, who is frequently dressed in tacky designer clothes. In addition, Tori also has to deal with her self-absorbed mother Candy "KiKi" Spelling, whose history of how Tori was raised and why she treats her daughter as if she doesn't exist may explain why Tori acts like she does; Margaret (Cleo King), the nanny who raised Tori and is more motherly to her than KiKi; and Ruthie Rose, her frenetic, doting, and not-so-reliable manager.


Cast

*
Tori Spelling Victoria Davey Spelling (born May 16, 1973) is an American actress and author. Her first major role was Donna Martin on ''Beverly Hills, 90210'', beginning in 1990. She has appeared in made for television films, including '' A Friend to Die F ...
(Herself) *
Loni Anderson Loni Kaye Anderson (born August 5, 1945) is an American actress who played receptionist Jennifer Marlowe on the CBS sitcom ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' (1978–1982), which earned her three Golden Globe Awards and two Emmy Award nominations. Early ...
(KiKi Spelling) *
James Carpinello James Anthony Carpinello (born August 13, 1975) is an American actor who came to national attention with his appearances in Tori Spelling's VH1 sitcom ''So Notorious''. He also portrayed Stacee Jaxx in the Broadway production of the musical ''R ...
(Pete) * Brennan Hesser (Janey) *
Zachary Quinto Zachary John Quinto (; born June 2, 1977) is an American actor and film producer. He is known for his roles as Sylar, the primary antagonist from the science fiction drama series ''Heroes (American TV series), Heroes'' (2006–2010); Spock in th ...
(Sasan) *
Jeanetta Arnette Jeannetta Arnette is an American actress. She became known for her television role as Miss Meara on the situation comedy ''Head of the Class''. She has also appeared in numerous films, including 1992's ''Ladybugs'' and 1999's '' Boys Don't Cry'' ...
(Ruthie Rose) *
Cleo King Harriet Cleo King is an American actress. She is best known for her roles on television, particularly ''Mike & Molly'' (2010–2016). Early life King was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and was the youngest of seven children. She graduated from ...
(Nanny) * Joanna Sanchez (Vilma) *
Natalija Nogulich Natalia Nogulich is an American film- and television actress and author. Nogulich was born Natalija Nogulich in Chicago, Illinois, of Serbian descent. Her best-known appearances have been on '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and '' Star Tr ...
(Touca) *
Brian George Brian George (born 1 July 1952) is a British actor. He is best known for his roles as Pakistani restaurateur Babu Bhatt in ''Seinfeld'' (1989–1998), the Indian gynecologist father of Raj Koothrappali in ''The Big Bang Theory'' (2007–2019 ...
(Omid) * Ariel Winter (Little Tori)


Episodes


Critical response

The show received quite a substantial number of positive notices from critics. The ''
New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...
'' raved that the show was a "very witty, sometimes brilliantly insightful hybrid sitcom". ''
Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...
'' admired that "the writing is pointed, the direction tight. But what really makes it work is Tori herself, light, bright and vulnerably likable." ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' called the show "considerably more ambitious than a lot of other sitcoms" and said that "It's easy to dismiss this as another attempt by Spelling to prove that her talent goes beyond her last name, but there's more to it than that. She creates an appealing character despite all the preconceptions, many of which are acknowledged and dispensed with in the first few scenes." The ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' conceded that "while this sort of thing has been done before – it has been done here exceedingly well." The ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' began their review with "there are people in the world who'll never watch anything that stars Tori Spelling. Their loss." The review went on to praise the show; admitting that "Spelling’s surprisingly good VH1 series, is a not-at-all-guilty pleasure. It has more than its share of amusing moments, and it also has a surprising amount of heart." The ''
Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primari ...
'' called the show "a sassy, classy winner". The show was nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series at the 2007
GLAAD Media Awards The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their live ...
.


Additional information

Created by
Chris Alberghini Chris Alberghini (born September 27, 1965 in Plymouth, Massachusetts) is an American television director and producer. Alberghini has worked on many shows, including ''The Nanny'', Murphy Brown, Tori Spelling's VH1 sitcom, ''So NoTORIous'', '' ...
, Mike Chessler and Tori Spelling, the series was produced by
NBC Universal Television NBCUniversal Television and Streaming is the television and streaming arm of NBCUniversal, and the direct descendant and successor of the former division NBCUniversal Television Group, which existed from 2003 to 2019. History NBC Broadcasting In ...
. It was originally intended for the
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
network, but when they passed on the completed
pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...
the producers sought another outlet and eventually landed a deal with VH1.
Paramount Home Entertainment Paramount Home Entertainment (formerly Paramount Home Media Distribution, and originally Paramount Home Video) is the home video distribution arm of Paramount Pictures, a division of Paramount Global. The division oversees PPC's home entertainme ...
issued the November 21, 2006
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
release ''So NoTORIous: The Complete Series''. Although the first nine episodes aired on VH1, the "Canadian" episode was broadcast on its sister network
LOGO A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordma ...
on June 1, 2006. This episode is not available for purchase on
iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
or
Amazon Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered as a standalone service or as part of Amazon's Prime subscription. The service pri ...
, but is included as an additional feature on the 2006 DVD release.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:So Notorious 2006 American television series debuts 2006 American television series endings 2000s American sitcoms English-language television shows Television series by CBS Studios VH1 original programming