'Rita Rocks,' premiering Monday on Lifetime

Star Tribune (Minneapolis) (MCT) - Longtime fans of "Mad TV" have waited patiently for more than a decade to watch Nicole Sullivan, the show's first breakout performer, get a great break.

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The vigil continues. Sullivan headlines the new Lifetime series "Rita Rocks," an all-too-ordinary sitcom despite the star's strenuous efforts to transform it into the comedic platform she so richly deserves.

Sullivan, part of the original "Mad" cast for 10 years, specialized in selfish, clueless characters, most notably the Vancome Lady, an equal-opportunity discriminator who made Archie Bunker look like Desmond Tutu. Since then, she's been under-used in bombs ("Hot Properties") and hits ("The King of Queens"), neither of which properly tapped into her inner imp.

"Rita" once again misses the boat, casting her as Rita Clemens, a bored mother and wife whose obligations are mapped out on multicolored Post-It notes stuck to every free inch of the kitchen wall. She has two sitcom-standard daughters (a rebellious teenager contemplating a tattoo and a precocious younger one who chirps the oh-so-sweet lines at the dinner table), a thankless job and a loving husband who's so generic that he could be played by a pot roast.

Cue midlife crisis. In this case, it's faced by getting back to her rock 'n' roll roots (she once played in a Bangles cover band) with a couple of makeshift friends who are in equal need of a boost. Patty (Tisha Campbell-Martin), the diva of all postal workers, is still recovering from a messy divorce. Owen (Ian Gomez) is unemployed and underappreciated by his family. Kip (Raviv Ullman), a disengaged teenager dating Rita's daughter, is not wanted at home and is barely tolerated at the Clemens household.

Together, the foursome makes sweet music (Campbell-Martin and Sullivan show off respectable voices) and the banter between the three sitcom veterans hits several sound notes.

But it's not enough, and Sullivan seems to know it. She sweats shtick at every turn _ an extra eyeroll here, a goofy accent there _ doing her mightiest to elevate a mediocre sitcom into something special. In the pilot episode's sole attempt at physical comedy, Sullivan slips off a stepladder and hangs from the garage rafters, screaming for help with Lucy Ricardo vibrato. The bit might have worked _ if she weren't only 6 inches off the ground.

Sullivan needs and deserves more perilous duties. I'd love to see her go toe to toe with Julia-Louis Dreyfus, the modern-day master of flailing female comedy, on "The New Adventures of Old Christine," or slip into the weird, wonderful world of "The Office."

Until then, she's stuck in a series that doesn't allow her to truly rock. She's only rolling. She deserves better, and so do we.

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RITA ROCKS

8:30 p.m. EDT Monday

Lifetime

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© 2008, Star Tribune (Minneapolis)