Tori is funny — really

PASADENA, Calif. — I know it's April Fool's Day, but this is no joke — Tori Spelling's new show is funny. Really.

Hey, nobody could be more surprised than I am. I didn't even want to watch "So NoTORIous" (Sunday, 10 and 10:30 p.m., VH-1). And I never dreamed I'd end up writing positive things about it.

But it's funny. Really.

The former "Beverly Hills, 90210" star plays a fictionalized version of herself — she's Tori Spelling, the daughter of TV uber-producer Aaron Spelling (who's portrayed voice only, like in his hit show "Charlie's Angels") and Kiki (who's portrayed as a controlling monster by Loni Anderson).

The show goofs on Tori's image from beginning to end — spoiled rich girl who could only get an acting job because of her daddy and so on. Every negative you've ever heard about her is thrown out there, while the fictional Tori is just sort of a regular girl trying to live through it.

In the second episode, Tori is dragged to one of those phony Hollywood self-help groups. The leader asks various people "What's keeping you from being relevant?"

"I'm a crystal meth addict," says one guy.

"I'm a sexual compulsive," says a woman.

"I'm, uh, Tori Spelling," Tori says hesitantly, eliciting huge sympathy from everyone.

It's not like she's suddenly learned to act or anything — Spelling is still pretty wooden — but it works in "So NoTORIous." And she's got spunk for taking on such a self-parody.

It's something she arrived at after a string of post-"90210" failed pilots that never got picked up as series.

"I had done pilot after pilot, year after year and for some reason always playing a girl down on her luck with no money. . . . And people, after testing the pilot, just said, 'We really just don't buy Tori Spelling playing a girl with no money,' " Spelling said. "Finally, after years and years of kind of trying to get past my family and my life and trying to be taken seriously, I said, 'You know what? If people want to see this side of me, I'm just going to put it out there."

As to what's real and what's not, "Well, viewers will have to decide that for themselves, but it's a blend," Spelling said.

A funny blend. Really.

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com