Rock Me Baby (TV series)

Rock Me Baby is an American sitcom that aired on UPN from September 16, 2003, until May 25, 2004. Set in Denver, Colorado, the show stars Dan Cortese as Jimmy Cox, co-host of a popular Denver radio show with his best friend, Carl, played by Carl Anthony Payne II. Bianca Kajlich plays Beth Cox, Jimmy's wife, and the two have a baby named Otis. Tammy Townsend plays Beth's best friend, Pamela, who is obsessed with the glamorous life.

Rock Me Baby
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Tim Kelleher
Starring	Dan Cortese Bianca Kajlich Carl Anthony Payne Tammy Townsend
Composer	Matter Music
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	22
Production
Executive producers	Tony Krantz Bob Myer
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	30 minutes
Production companies	Flame Television Warner Bros. Television
Original release
Network	UPN
Release	September 16, 2003 (2003-09-16) – May 25, 2004 (2004-05-25)

Plot

Rock Me Baby is about a former exotic dancer, Beth, and a radio personality, Jimmy, who produce a child together, with most of the storylines of each episode revolving around the baby, Otis. Throughout the beginning of the series, Carl has a crush on Pamela and is rejected on every attempt to gain closure with her. Jimmy and Beth overcome a series of obstacles about being new parents and the phases of life.

Cast and characters

• Dan Cortese as Jimmy Cox, the co-host of Denver Radio show, Khor and father of Otis Cox
• Bianca Kajlich as Beth Cox, a former exotic dancer, wife of Jimmy Cox and stay at home mother of Otis Cox
• Carl Anthony Payne as Carl, a co-host of the Denver Radio show Khor, and best friend of Jimmy Cox
• Tammy Townsend as Pamela, a friend of Beth Cox and girlfriend of Carl

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	Viewers (millions)
1	"Pilot"	Barnet Kellman	Tim Kelleher	September 16, 2003 (2003-09-16)	2.81[1]
2	"Coupling"	Arlene Sanford	Bob Myer	September 23, 2003 (2003-09-23)	2.51[2]
3	"Would I Lie to You?"	Arlene Sanford	Allison M. Gibson	September 30, 2003 (2003-09-30)	3.08[3]
4	"Shift Shaft"	Brian K. Roberts	Steve Leff & Jim Patterson	October 7, 2003 (2003-10-07)	2.17[4]
5	"Ring of Fire"	Arlene Sanford	Tim Kelleher	October 14, 2003 (2003-10-14)	2.06[5]
6	"Pretty in Pink Eye"	John Fortenberry	Unknown	October 21, 2003 (2003-10-21)	2.86[6]
7	"A Pain in the Aspen"	John Blanchard	Tim Kelleher	November 4, 2003 (2003-11-04)	3.03[7]
8	"Girl Power"	Lee Shallat Chemel	Steve Leff & Jim Patterson	November 11, 2003 (2003-11-11)	3.09[8]
9	"The Difference Between Men and Women"	Lee Shallat-Chemel	Allison M. Gibson	November 18, 2003 (2003-11-18)	3.80[9]
10	"Prior Engagement"	Leonard R. Garner, Jr.	Unknown	November 25, 2003 (2003-11-25)	3.02[10]
11	"Trading Spaces"	John Fortenberry	Unknown	December 9, 2003 (2003-12-09)	2.37[11]
12	"Look Who's Talking"	Lee Shallat-Chemel	Unknown	March 30, 2004 (2004-03-30)	2.59[12]
13	"Pretty Baby"	Leonard R. Garner, Jr.	Unknown	March 30, 2004 (2004-03-30)	2.33[12]
14	"Not So Grand Parents"	Unknown	Unknown	April 6, 2004 (2004-04-06)	1.68[13]
15	"Ca-Pam!"	Unknown	Unknown	April 13, 2004 (2004-04-13)	2.57[14]
16	"Who's Your Da-Da?"	Unknown	Unknown	April 20, 2004 (2004-04-20)	1.87[15]
17	"I Love You, You Don't Love Me"	Unknown	Unknown	April 27, 2004 (2004-04-27)	2.09[16]
18	"Love at First Flight"	Unknown	Unknown	May 4, 2004 (2004-05-04)	2.18[17]
19	"Kiss and Don't Tell"	Unknown	Unknown	May 18, 2004 (2004-05-18)	1.74[18]
20	"Two's Company, Four's a Crowd"	Unknown	Unknown	May 18, 2004 (2004-05-18)	1.66[18]
21	"Go Otis! It's Your Birthday!"	Unknown	Unknown	May 25, 2004 (2004-05-25)	1.70[19]
22	"Singing for Your Supper"	Unknown	Unknown	May 25, 2004 (2004-05-25)	1.53[19]

Production

Rock Me Baby was aired by UPN. The series was a production of Warner Bros. Television.

Casting

The casting was Deedee Bradley, Megan Branman, Reyna Karp and Susan Vash. The primary focus was the baby who would play as "Otis Cox". Scenes with 'Otis' made it challenging for the rest of the cast as opposed to doing them with an older child, teenager or adult. And filming in a scene, many factors occur such as adapting to any possible noises and crying and having added responsibility. Keeping the baby occupied whilst doing the scene to prevent any outbursts is also a primary concern which can be very challenging. Nicole Richie was a guest star.

Filming

Main scenes are primarily the open-space apartment of Jimmy and Beth Cox's kitchen, dining and living area and the sound room inside the radio station of where Jimmy and Carl host their radio show, Khor. Usually after each show, the ending scene will be in Jimmy and Beth's bedroom while they lay in bed and speak to each other about the day. Other scenes also include restaurants, Pamela's bedroom, Otis' bedroom, a rooftop of a building, a school administration office, a school performance art stage and a live music stage within the radio station building which are all featured in Denver, Colorado, but filmed in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Opening theme

The opening theme is "Rock Me Baby" by Matter which is an up-beat rock song.

The closing theme is the instrumental version used for the closing theme. Samples of the instrumental song is used to open and close from adverts.

Broadcast

In the USA the pilot episode of Rock Me Baby debuted on the UPN network on Monday September 15, 2003. The second episode 'Coupling' aired on September 23, 2003 and the following episodes followed exactly one week later. The last episode for the first series was 'Singing for your Supper' which aired on May 25, 2004. After the first season, UPN decided to cancel production of Rock Me Baby.

In Australia Rock Me Baby debuted on Australia's Nine Network in 2006 and aired on Friday mornings at 2:30 AM.

Reception

TV Guide wrote of the series, "Dismal, even by UPN standards".^[20]