‘Situation Tragedy’ Found in TV Comedy

“I’ve never written anything for the money--’Charles in Charge’ was a labor of love!” gushes successful TV sitcom writer and producer Maxine Lapiduss with signature sarcasm in her musical comedy revue “Situation Tragedy--Observations on 10 Years in Hollywood . . . With Bongos,” at the Globe Playhouse.

Coauthored with sister Sally Lapiduss (also a TV producer), this amiable sendup steers a surprisingly generic course through familiar Hollywood foibles--that network execs can be fickle and shallow, for example, or that talented people are forced to prostitute their art. A few deft satiric potshots have specific targets--her imitation of Joan Rivers starring as JonBenet Ramsey’s mother in a TV movie, or of Liza Minnelli performing after throat and hip replacement surgeries in a kind of “Post-Op Tour”--but for the most part opportunities for serious dishing are diplomatically skirted. Clearly, the Lapidusses want to eat lunch in this town again.

On a self-imposed hiatus from TV life, Maxine ventures into a great deal of singing and dancing, not too successfully. A talented supporting ensemble compensates; standouts are dancer Marvin Safford and triple threat Lynsey Bartilson, who radiates star magnetism as an idealized incarnation of Maxine’s younger self. Superb musical direction by Allison Cornell keeps the backbeat burning. An independent director would be a big help in overall tightening and trimming deadwood, like a pointless diatribe against El Nin~o.

Maxine’s strong suit remains narrative comedy, delivered in an engagingly droll, jaded style. Especially effective are her wry observations about “power lesbians” and their latest status symbol--having babies. The show’s high point is a poignant anecdote about visiting her parents in Florida and witnessing a human connection far removed from TV artifice. Appreciating that kind of transcendence yet being unable to attain it defines Lapiduss’ personal “situation tragedy.”

* “Situation Tragedy,” Globe Playhouse, 1107 Kings Road, West Hollywood. Thursdays, Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 8 and 10:15 p.m. Ends Nov. 1. $20. (888) 566-8499. Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.