Sitcoms Online Photo Galleries - So No TORIous: Cast Photo

So No TORIous aired from April until June 2006 on VH1.

Tori Spelling who had an unfortunate reputation in Hollywood as the spoiled , untalented daughter of megaproducer Aaron Spelling, played a wild and funny parody of herself in this sitcom, archly spelled So NoTORIus. Tori was a rich, pretty, but self-absorbed diva who desperately wanted some respect but had to settle for ridiculous roles in low-budget movies. Sasan ( Zachary Quinto) was her gay Iranian friend, Pete ( James Carpinello) her womanizing roommate ( who used Tori's celebrity to bag dates), Janey ( Brennan Hesser) her nosy friend, a real estate agent, and Ruthie ( Jeanetta Arnette) her loyal manager. Kiki ( Loni Anderson), Tori's elegant mom, mostly ignored her, having left her upbringing to a black nanny named Margaret ( Cleo King). Tori's powerful dad, Aaron Spelling, was heard occasionally on the phone ( voiced by Mark Capri), but was not seen.

Stories included pratfalls , Tori and her pals running around Hollywood, Tori doting on her well dressed dog Mimi La Rue, and trying to get better roles. After being turned down by one producer she complained," Why won't he let me read for this part?" Replied Ruthie ,matter of factly " Because he thinks you're a talentless product of nepotism and bad television."

A Review from The New York Times

On 'So Notorious,' Tori Spelling Mocks Herself Before You Can

By KATE AURTHUR
Published: March 30, 2006

How do you solve a problem like Tori Spelling? An irritating symbol of 1990's nepotism, a farcically rich Hollywood airhead, a tabloid target: Ms. Spelling knows what people say about her, and in her new scripted comedy series "So Notorious" on VH1, she is saying it with them.

The opening of the premiere episode (Sunday at 10 p.m.) is like a highlight reel of humiliation. We see Tori on a series of dates: one suitor is only interested in going bowling at the famously ornate alley in the Spelling mansion; another wants her to dress up as Donna Martin, the virginal "Beverly Hills, 90210" character she played for 10 years; and the third is using her to get to her father, Aaron Spelling, the flashy and very successful producer.

"I've heard it all," Ms. Spelling said in a telephone interview during a vacation in Colorado. "I'd rather be making the joke than other people making it. So why not?"

Welcome to Ms. Spelling's reality, rendered here in a fictional format over 10 episodes. On the show, she hangs out with her snarky friends, lives in a condo with a roommate, wages a passive-aggressive war with her mother and fears running into her former "90210" co-star Shannen Doherty. Everywhere she goes, she is mocked for being spoiled and untalented.

"So Notorious" is filmed in the same single-camera, no laugh-track comedic vein as HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and Showtime's "Fat Actress," in which Larry David and Kirstie Alley play exaggerated versions of themselves. A year ago, NBC made the "So Notorious" pilot a contender for its fall season, but didn't pick it up for the schedule. "When a pilot doesn't get picked up, we all know it's dead in the water," Ms. Spelling said, recalling how disappointed she was when she got the news. "But with this, we were all like: 'No, wait! This isn't just a pilot. This is my life!' " She paused, and then added, "In a nutshell." She paused again, and said with a laugh, "Loosely."

Before Ms. Spelling, who serves as an executive producer on "So Notorious" with Chris Alberghini and Mike Chessler, could begin exploring other homes for the show, VH1 called. Maggie Malina, a VH1 executive in charge of the channel's nascent forays into scripted programming, had been tracking the project since its inception. (This reporter went to high school with Ms. Malina.) Michael Hirschorn, the executive vice president for original programming, said that while VH1 was mostly looking to develop its material from scratch, Ms. Malina wanted to buy "So Notorious" as the channel's first scripted series, when NBC passed on it. Mr. Hirschorn said, "When we saw the tape it seemed like it was meant to be made for us."

In recent years, VH1 has successfully peddled nostalgia shows like "I Love the 90's," as well as what it calls "celebreality" programs like "The Surreal Life," in which D-list stars share close quarters. Because of Ms. Spelling's "90210" pedigree and her own surreal life, "So Notorious" fits both niches. "I think the central premise of it — a celebrity clearly willing, almost to a masochistic degree, to make fun of herself — is a perfect fit for VH1," Mr. Hirschorn said. "And while it's not reality, much of the plot and character is driven by actual events. Which I think creates an added level for '90210' fans and the many Tori obsessives out there."

Though the show has not yet been broadcast, Mr. Hirschorn is already interested in a second season. "I think we'd love to see it build a loyal audience, and then grow from there," he said. "Even if it gets a moderate rating, I think we'd be pretty happy."

Since the end of "90210" in 2000, Ms. Spelling has wanted to act in a comedy series. But she heard repeatedly that because of her outsize persona, she was virtually uncastable, except, strangely, in the cable-movie melodramas that pepper her résumé. "On network pilots, they can't picture me being hard up and being a waitress," she said sarcastically, "but Lifetime viewers are totally O.K. with me being an Olympian skier."

The only solution, she decided, was to get in on the joke. To help her create the show, she thought of Mr. Chessler and Mr. Alberghini, a writing team whose credits included work on "Whoopi" and "Reba," and who have the same talent agency that she does. "They're gay and fabulous," she said. "Who better to write for Tori Spelling?"

Mr. Chessler said that they were told they had to meet with Ms. Spelling in the privacy of the agency offices because "sensitive material" was involved. When they saw her, she was wearing a T-shirt that had on it, Mr. Alberghini said, a list of things about her: "Like, 'No, I don't live at the mansion.' 'Yes, I do dress my dog.' "

She also showed them a scrapbook of her most embarrassing public moments, as captured by the tabloids, and seemed happy to go into detail about each incident. (No, she does not have cellulite, she told the writers, but yes, she does pick her nose.) Mr. Chessler said they were charmed. "It was very engaging and winning to hear somebody that self-aware," he said.

Armed with the scrapbook, Ms. Spelling went to the networks with the idea for the series, and NBC bought it. When the writing process began, the two writers and Ms. Spelling discussed the show's parameters: was anything off limits? Ms. Spelling said, "I was, like, 'Literally, anything you've ever read about me, true or false: go for it.' "

At first, Mr. Chessler and Mr. Alberghini said they couldn't believe she meant it. "Mike or I would pitch something," Mr. Alberghini said, "and Tori would go, 'Yeah, but, I think it would just be funnier if we said I have buggy eyes.' And we'd be, like: 'Wow! O.K.!' "

Mr. Chessler said: "She really did answer questions very honestly. To the best of her ability. Things she's not in denial about."

One potentially sensitive area was Ms. Spelling's relationship with her parents. Her father is a beneficent presence on the show, but one represented only by a speakerphone. And Loni Anderson plays Tori's mother, called Kiki on the show, in a portrayal that is 90 percent high camp, 10 percent open wound. The putative score-settling has already interested gossip gatherers: last week, The New York Post reported that "So Notorious," as well as Ms. Spelling's short-lived marriage and new engagement, had caused a rift between her and her real-life mother, Candy Spelling.

In response to the Post item, Ms. Spelling issued a statement. It read, in part: " 'So Notorious' is a fictionalized account of my life after '90210' with fictional characters. It goes without saying, we take poetic license with everyone and every story line on the show." Aaron and Candy Spelling were not available to comment on the show.

Mr. Alberghini said, "I know very little about Tori's real mother, other than the folklore stuff." But he had a lot to say about Kiki. "I actually very much like that character, and feel bad for her," he said. "When I see her in these shows, I just see a woman who has such a hard time communicating and showing affection."

Ms. Spelling said that when they were working on the show with NBC, one of the creative disagreements was over the Tori-Kiki relationship. "Networks want them to have this contentious relationship, and then at the end, tie it up in a neat bow," she said, sounding circumspect. "But that's not reality. Reality is that a lot of mother-daughters have a relationship where they love each other, of course, but they just can't get there. That's the relationship we wanted to show, and we're able to show that on cable."

That wasn't the only difference between the network approach and the cable one. Mr. Alberghini said: "They always wanted to say things like, 'She's just like you and me!' And we're thinking in our heads, She's really not. She's totally relatable, and you empathize with her, and you like her and want to be friends with her."

He laughed, then said: "But is she just like you? No."

An Article from The Hollywood Reporter

"So Notorious" a real stretch for Tori Spelling

By Barry Garron
Fri Mar 31, 8:44 AM ET

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Word on the street is that Tori
Spelling is a pampered rich girl who lavishes more money on her pet dog
than most viewers earn at their jobs.

Wagging tongues suggest that, were it not for her wealthy dad,
superproducer Aaron Spelling, she might be the one taking your order at
IHOP. Even she acknowledges that tests show viewers won't accept her
playing a poor, working stiff.

Rather than fight against type, Spelling is surrendering to it. In a
single-camera comedy that is the first scripted series ever made by VH1,
she plays a somewhat fictionalized version of herself.

She's still the young lady who dresses to the nines, lives in a posh
condominium and puts her dog (Mimi LaRue) in outfits that would be the
envy of Little Lord Fauntleroy. But she's also the poor little rich girl,
used by ambitious actors to gain an audition with her dad, ignored by her
eccentric mother ( Loni Anderson) and able to communicate with her
father only by speakerphone. She struggles for good parts and meekly
accepts it when studio guards tell her she's not listed for a drive-on
pass.

But thank heaven for friends. No, really, I mean it. Some of the best
moments in this series are in scenes with girlfriend Janey (standout
Brennan Hesser), an opportunistic real estate agent, and the requisite
gay boyfriend, Sasan (Zachary Quinto). Less clear is the need for a
roommate, played by James Carpinello. Except for a shopworn gag about
getting Charlie Sheen's surplus hookers, the part seems entirely
superfluous.

NBC developed the sitcom and then rejected it after the pilot was made,
which is understandable. Then VH1 went after it, which also is
understandable. The over-the-top humor and pop culture references are
more suited to the boomers courted by VH1 than to other demos.

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. Her
onscreen character is vulnerable but not without a self-deprecating
humor. In other words, she has enough good qualities to make it credible
that she would have friends with no ulterior motives.

A second episode supplied by VH1 is full of comedic swipes at a cult
group that bears a passing resemblance to the Church of Scientology. The
satire isn't as surgically sharp as "South Park," but it's considerably
more ambitious than a lot of other sitcoms.

It is simply breathtaking to watch the glee and abandon with which
the liberal media and the Angry Left have been attempting to turn
our military victory in Iraq into a second Vietnam quagmire. Too bad
for them, it's failing.

An Article from People Magazine

April 10, 2006 Vol. 65 No. 14 Tori! Tori! Tori!By Ulrica Wihlborg

In Her New Semi-Reality Sitcom, So NoTORIous, Tori Spelling Steps into the Role She Was Born to PlayIn the new VH1 sitcom So NoTORIous, Tori Spelling plays a fictional version of (wait for it ...) Tori Spelling. Tori-watchers will recognize this character as the Beverly Hills, 90210 star who grew up in a mansion complete with at least one gift-wrapping room. There are some differences: The faux Tori is single, while the real Tori is engaged to actor Dean McDermott, her boyfriend of seven months. To separate more fact from fiction, Spelling, 32, sat down with PEOPLE's Ulrica Wihlborg.

In the show, you tackle all the jokes about yourself. How does it feel to be the one to make the joke?

It's been really freeing. I've been a target my entire life. At this point, there's nothing anyone can say that will faze me. Bring it on! It's more material for the show.

So you're beyond being offended?

VH1 and Out magazine are [throwing] a party for the show, and they're hiring Tori drag queens! They were like, "Does that offend you?" Of course it doesn't offend me! There's this famous drag queen called Suppositori Spelling. I'm like, "You have to find her!"

In the show you have a close relationship with the woman who was your nanny growing up. Is that based on real life?

Yes. I had a nanny who was like a second mother to me [she has since passed away]. She was the biggest influence on me growing up. When I think about how I want to raise a child, it's always things she taught me. I got my manners from her, for example. I wanted to pay homage to her; she would be so excited.

When the Tori character dates, it seems the guy always has an ulterior motive—either money or an acting job.

I've had that experience—I'd go on a couple of dates and think everything was great, and then I'd get a call and he'd say, "Hey, can you ask your dad [TV producer Aaron Spelling] if I can audition for his show?"

You're a producer of pSo NoTORIous—have you always wanted to emulate your dad in that respect?

I always wanted to learn about that world. On summer vacations since I was 5 years old, I would go to the office with him every day if I could and pretend I was his assistant. When my brother wanted to play with toys, I wanted to go to the [Dynasty] set and hang out with Joan Collins!

Your mother on the show is a pretty unlikeable character—is it true your real mom isn't speaking to you because of it?

It's not true. My family knows the mother is not based on my mother. I like the mother-daughter dynamic on the show, because I think it's a difficult relationship, and that's something my mother and I have always shared. But that should never be taken as "we don't love each other."

So you're a daddy's girl?

Oh, yeah, I've always been a daddy's girl. I had these huge brown eyes when I was little, and I would always look at him and bat my eyelashes, and he'd always say, "Okay."

What are some of the extravagant things your dad did for you when you were little?

When I graduated from elementary school we had a big party at my house, and the USC marching band came! One year for my birthday, a plane flew by and dropped a Madame Alexander doll on a big X in our backyard.

And is the gift-wrapping room real?

My mom has two gift-wrapping rooms: one upstairs and one downstairs.

These days, are you all on your own financially?

I've worked since I was 16, so I pay for everything with my own money. Well, sometimes my dad will take me aside and give me a $20 bill. He'll be like, "Buy yourself something, honey." It's so adorable!

Is your divorce from Charlie Shanian finalized?

No. Dean's divorce is final, but mine is not yet. All is fine, and it'll be finalized this year.

How are your wedding plans going?

I haven't even found a dress. I swore I would not be as maniacal as I was with my first wedding. This time all I care about is marrying Dean and being with him forever.

An Article from Entertainment Weekly

Watch 'So NoTORIous' -- no, really!
Apr 13, 2006,
by Gary Susman

I'd call VH1's So NoTORIous a guilty pleasure, but I'm really not that guilty about liking it. I know, it's a pop trifle next to an epic of celebrity self-absorption like Curb Your Enthusiasm, but La Spelling knows you expect pop trifles from her, and she works furiously not to disappoint.

Granted, it's not novel for a star to build a show around her selfless willingness to let her writers make any joke at her expense, no matter how merciless. (I laughed at Kirstie Alley's similarly self-flagellating Fat Actress too -- make of that what you will). But what is unique is the execution. Unlike other celeb-reality sitcoms that belong to the Larry David/Ricky Gervais school, where embarrassing moments are followed by squirmy, lingering silences (a technique taken to such extremes in The Comeback that it wasn't really a comedy at all), So NoTORIous has a pace that doesn't let up. It's just one humiliation after another, bing-bang-boom, no let-up, but after each one, our perky, optimistic heroine pops back up, unfazed, like a Weeble. Watch this week's episode for yourself (it's streaming at VH1.com; there's a sequence in a sex-toy shop that's a little too PG-13 to watch at work), in which Spelling lampoons her own lack of serious thespian skills, the nepotism that launched her career, and her apparently lingering fear of Shannen Doherty.

For the Official Tori Spelling Website go to http://www.tori-spelling.com/

For more on So NoTORIous go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/So_NoTORIous

For a Review of So NoTORIous go to http://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/So-NoTORIous.html