Hitz

For other uses, see Hitz (disambiguation).

Hitz is an American sitcom that aired on UPN from August 26 until November 11, 1997.^[1] The series follows two record industry executives (Rick Gomez and Claude Brooks) and their boss (Andrew Dice Clay) at Hitower Records in Los Angeles.

Hitz
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Mark Cullen
Developed by	Richard Vaczy Tracy Gamble
Written by	Jamie Wooten Mark Cullen
Directed by	Gary Brown
Starring	Andrew Dice Clay Rick Gomez Claude Brooks Rosa Blasi Kristin Dattilo Spencer Garrett
Composer	Christopher Neal Nelson
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	17 (7 unaired)
Production
Executive producers	Tracy Gamble Richard Vaczy
Running time	30 minutes
Production companies	Vaczy-Gamble Productions MTV Productions Paramount Network Television
Original release
Network	UPN
Release	August 26 (1997-08-26) – November 11, 1997 (1997-11-11)

Cast

• Andrew Dice Clay as Jimmy Esposito
• Rick Gomez as Robert Moore
• Claude Brooks as Busby Evans
• Rosa Blasi as April Beane
• Kristin Dattilo as Angela
• Spencer Garrett as Tommy Stans

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	"Pilot"	Rob Schiller	Story by : Mark Cullen Teleplay by : Mark Cullen & Richard Vaczy & Tracy Gamble	August 26, 1997 (1997-08-26)
2	"It Ain't Over Till..."	Rob Schiller	Tracy Gamble & Richard Vaczy	September 2, 1997 (1997-09-02)
3	"The Godfather: Not the Movie"	Brian K. Roberts	Bill Boulware	September 9, 1997 (1997-09-09)
4	"My Favorite Geer"	Brian K. Roberts	Vance DeGeneres	September 16, 1997 (1997-09-16)
5	"I Can't Get No Satisfaction"	Terri McCoy	Jamie Wooten	September 23, 1997 (1997-09-23)
6	"Comedy Jam"	Unknown	David Flebotte	September 30, 1997 (1997-09-30)
7	"Guys and Dolls"	Terri McCoy	Marc Abrams & Michael Benson	October 14, 1997 (1997-10-14)
8	"Jive Talkin"	Unknown	Unknown	October 28, 1997 (1997-10-28)
9	"You Probably Think This Song Is About You"	Ted Wass	Bob Daily	November 4, 1997 (1997-11-04)
10	"Give the Drummer Some"	Paul Miller	Bill Boulware	November 11, 1997 (1997-11-11)
11	"Cat's Cradle"	TBD	TBD	UNAIRED
12	"Radio Daze"	TBD	TBD	UNAIRED
13	"You Can Almost Go Home Again"	TBD	TBD	UNAIRED
14	"Sleeping with the Enemy"	TBD	TBD	UNAIRED
15	"Riffapalooza"	TBD	TBD	UNAIRED
16	"Yo' Mama"	TBD	TBD	UNAIRED
17	"What's Your Name, Who's Your Daddy?"	TBD	TBD	UNAIRED

Production

Although UPN had initially ordered 13 episodes, by October the network had ordered nine more episodes for a total of 22.^[2] However, by December the series was canceled before production on the last six episodes was complete.^[3]

Reception

Caryn James of The New York Times called the series "relentlessly unfunny."^[1] Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly rated the series as one of the worst of the year.^[4] Howard Rosenberg of the Los Angeles Times wrote that Hitz is "prime time at its flat-out dumbest and unfunniest."^[5]

Hitz retooling

Variety stated in July of 1997 that UPN's CEO Lucie Salhany said the network was retooling Hitz in an attempt to tone down the down the series after complaints that the program was misogynitic.^[6]

The Hitz producers told an audience at a meeting of the TV Critics Association in Southern California that they will introduce a strong female character that will stand up to Andrew Dice Clay's boss character, Jimmy, that . The chaacter of Jimmy, executives also said, was modeled after Sony music chief Tommy Mottola.^[6]