Sitcoms Online Photo Galleries - Rock Me Baby: Cat Photo

Rock Me Baby aired from September 2003 until June 2004 on UPN.

Carl and Jimmy ( Carl Anthony Payne, Dan Cortese) were the cohosts of an outrageous " morning zoo" show on radio station KHOR in Denver, Colorado. Carl was a swinging single but Jimmy was married and since his wife, Beth ( Bianca Kajlich), had just given birth to baby Otis, his home life was in turmoil. He tried to be a good father and help with the baby but everything was fair game on the air and Jimmy was not above commenting on what was going on at home, often irratating Beth, who didn't believe their private lives were fodder for public consumption. Beth wanted to be a good mother and joined a number of parenting groups. Even so, she missed the freedom she had had before becoming a mother and commiserated regularly with her best friend, Pam ( Tammy Townsend), who sang at a local nightclub. Seen occasionally were Kevin ( Lex Medlin), an engineer at KHOR , and Richard ( Patrick Breen), the station's stuffy new general manager. In the spring Jimmy and Beth fixed up Carl and Pam but the relationship didn't last-they broke up just before Otis' first birthday party in May.

An Article from The Post Gazette

TV Review: Cortese's 'Rock Me Baby' not for the family
Sunday, September 14, 2003

By Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV Editor

HOLLYWOOD - Standing near the bar at a UPN party in July, Sewickley native Dan Cortese got pulled away from a conversation for a job unique to Tinsel Town: Posing with a UPN executive for a staged "candid" shot for a photographer from one of the Hollywood trade publications.

It's all in a day's work.

So is shooting promos. When it was time to shoot one for Pittsburgh's UPN affiliate, WNPA, Cortese tried to add a shout-out to his hometown, saying, "What's up Pittsburgh? Go Steelers!" But the promo's director said it took too long.

Viewers may not hear it, but Pittsburgh is often on the mind of this sitcom star, whose new series, "Rock Me Baby," premieres Tuesday. His parents, Vince and Mary Lou, still live in Sewickley, and Cortese and wife Dee Dee returned to town this summer with their son, 2-year-old Roman.

Cortese graduated from Quaker Valley High School in 1986. His father was principal there at the time.

"I had a 3.5 GPA and never had detention," he said. "I knew what I had to do and as long as there were no problems at school, there were no problems at home. Luckily, I got along great with my dad. All the students loved my dad, so it wasn't a difficult situation."

Cortese first gained fame as an MTV sports jock, a job he landed after graduating from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where he played football before studying acting. It's also where he met his wife.

"It'll be 10 years in May '04, which by Hollywood standards I should be up for some kind of award," Cortese said of his marriage. "It's funny, when I tell people out here, they go, 'Seriously?'"

After college, Cortese moved West to pursue his acting dreams.

"I told my parents I was moving to L.A. to be a movie star and they thought it was money well spent at college. So far it has seemed to work out like I planned. Talk to me five years from now."

Best known for his role on NBC's "Veronica's Closet" opposite Kirstie Alley, Cortese has gone through one substantial change since that series. Instead of pronouncing his last name "Cortez," it's now "Cor-te-say."

"It hasn't changed, I'm finally just saying it right," he said, explaining his father immigrated with his family to America from Italy at age 4 and the pronunciation got changed in the transition. "With the birth of my son two years ago, I decided to start pronouncing it correctly, basically out of respect to my father and grandfather. Personally, I don't care what you call me as long as the check clears."

Cortese said some people in Hollywood have speculated the new pronunciation is a bid to be taken more seriously as an actor. Not so.

"If I wanted to be taken more legitimately as an actor, I would have changed it to 'Pacino' or 'De Niro' or I would just act better," he said, chuckling.

In "Rock Me Baby," Cortese stars as Jimmy, half of a pair of morning drive radio shock jocks. Jimmy also has a wife and newborn child and complains in the pilot episode that he's not getting to have sex with his wife. Some of the humor is raunchy, but Cortese said what will end up on air is tame by comparison to the original script.

"What you should be concerned about are the lines that didn't make it," he said, giving a concrete example that we won't print here. Cortese defends the show as grounded in reality.

"The things that take place in this pilot actually take place in my life and my friends' lives," he said. "Some of my married friends are younger and can relate to it. They say, 'Finally a show for us.'"

Wild or mild, Cortese said his parents in Sewickley will watch.

"My parents will love it because their son is in it. That is exactly why they're going to love it. They love anything I do and whatever comes out of my mouth pretty much goes right over their heads."

A Review from Entertianyourbrain.com

Rock Me Baby" Review

By Shawn McKenzie 09/30/2003

Tuesday night is a cluttered night. There is so much quality TV on that night that the so-so shows may have to be sacrificed. I�m thinking UPN�s �Rock Me Baby� might be one of those shows, despite making me laugh a few times.

Jimmy (Dan Cortese) is a so-called �shock jock� in Denver (having lived in Denver myself for half of my life, I can tell you, he isn�t very shocking. There are local guys here that aren�t considered �shock jocks� that are more shocking than this character.) He works for rock station 105.3 KHOR, �The Core,� with his friend and radio partner Carl (Carl Anthony Payne) for their program director, Joe Boyle (Joey Slotnick.) They both think Jimmy has lost his edge (he had edge?) ever since he became a daddy. He and his wife Beth (Bianca Kajlich) recently had a baby boy they named Otis, and neither of them are wild anymore. For him that might be a problem, since being wild is his job at the radio station, and if he is no longer wild, the ratings will go down and he will lose his job. He has to figure out the fine line between ticking off his wife by making fun of their life on his morning show, and ticking off Carl and Joe by toning things down.

In the first episode, Jimmy is concerned that he and Beth haven�t had sex in five months. He mentions this on the air, which gets him in trouble with Beth. She argues that she hasn�t had a night out since Otis was born. Jimmy agrees to skip his technician Kevin�s (Lex Medlin) bachelor party to watch Otis while she goes to the bachelorette party of Kevin�s fianc�e, Kate (Jennifer Elise Cox.) While at home with Otis, Carl brings the bachelor party to his place. Jimmy is concerned that Otis will wake up and that Beth will be mad that there is a stripper named Amber (Anastasia Sakelaris) there. Meanwhile, Kate reminds her that Jimmy is a great dad and husband, which gets her horny. She comes home to find the bachelor party, but doesn�t get mad. The party people leave, and Jimmy and Beth finally have sex.

In the second episode, Carl is upset that Jimmy never watches the Bronco games with him anymore. Carl wants to try out a new Hooters-like sports bar called Assies, and he wants Jimmy to go with him. Jimmy suggests that Carl come over to the apartment to watch the game. Beth invites over a guy named Steve (Oded Gross) that she knows from their baby yoga class and what he thinks is his wife Kelly in an attempt to get to know another couple with a baby. Steve and Kelly (Ken Marino) come over, and they quickly realize that they�re gay. They are football fans though, and they watch the Bronco game with Jimmy and Carl. Carl starts noticing that Jimmy is paying more attention to the gay couple and not him, which makes him mad. They talk about it the next day and make up.

Can I tell you how much I can�t stand Cortese? He has annoyed me ever since he hosted �MTV Sports.� Fortunately, for him, some of the dialogue he says is actually funny (though ironically, none of it is his on-air banter.) Kajlich is incredibly hot (she kind of looks like Gina Gershon) and has an infectious smile. Her best-known role to TV fans is as the manipulative Lisa Grier on the first season of �Boston Public.� I can believe that she was a former wild child, but not Cortese.

Even though I thought it was funny, �Rock Me Baby� just won�t take me away from �The Guardian� on CBS, �24� on FOX, and �Frasier� on NBC. Maybe if it survives, I�ll catch it on reruns. I�m hoping that Jimmy learns how to actually be shocking though, because, currently, Howard Stern he ain�t. I�m loyal to anything that takes place in Colorado, but even this one can�t take me away from the lawyer, the CTU agent, and the shrink!

For the Official Site of Bianca Kajlich go to http://www.biancakajlich.com/

For more on Rock Me Baby go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Me_Baby_(TV_series)