Tori Spelling has always been ahead of her time. She had breast implants before Tara Reid was a twinkle in Carson Daly’s eye. She was capitalizing on her father’s fame before Paris Hilton learned how to pose.

Back in the early 1990s, Ms. Spelling played Donna Martin on the hit series “Beverly Hills: 90210,” produced by Aaron Spelling. She had all the trappings of celebrity, but it was not enough to spawn a successful acting career. With her new sitcom,”So NoTORIous,” Ms. Spelling is trying to change all that.

Ms. Spelling has always been dogged by (understandable) rumors that what existed of her acting career was due solely to dad’s charity and taunts about her surgical enhancements. Try as she might to prove her worth, Ms. Spelling’s career has languished in television-for-women hell.

But now that most young starlets are weaned on plastic surgery and overtanning, Ms. Spelling is looking to claim her place in the bleached and buoyant world of celebutantes. “So NoTORIous,” which debuts Sunday night at 10 p.m., is loosely based on Ms. Spelling’s current life in Los Angeles, a la “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

Ms. Spelling lets herself be mercilessly skewered here – from discussion of her “bug eyes” to her dog fetishism. The series is VH1’s first attempt at a scripted show, and while the barbs are often quite funny, the show is uneven and mildly unsettling. VH1 doesn’t seem to have the format down yet: When scenes switch from sound stages to outdoor shots, the transitions are often abrupt, and the filming at times retains the awkwardness of a reality program – without the spontaneity.

Much like its star, “So NoTORIous” is hard to love, but oddly fascinating. Ms. Spelling’s squeaky delivery is curious, but her supporting cast flashes some skill – especially Zachary Quin to, who plays her gay Iranian friend Sasan. Certain barbs are notably adept, such as when Ms. Spelling’s friend Janey (Brennan Hesser) complains that her roommate has been dating hookers. Ms. Spelling quips back, “This is L.A.We all look like whores.” And we are quickly reminded that the star of this show is an 85-pound bleach blonde with double Ds.

It is brave for Ms. Spelling to take such a close look at the stereotypes about her (justified and not), but what is truly intriguing is how she turns that lens on other people. It is not always kind. Last week, the New York Post reported that Ms. Spelling’s mother was upset about the show and threatening to sue her daughter.

Drastic? Maybe. But the content of the show makes it difficult to blame her. “So NoTORIous” amusingly portrays Ms. Spelling’s father like his famous character, Charlie, from “Charlie’s Angels.” He exists only through an intercom in his mansion – his disembodied voice calls out “Hello, Angel!” whenever Ms. Spelling enters. In contrast, the show portrays his wife as a loveless, egomaniacal shopping fiend played by that most enhanced of creatures – Loni Anderson.

This cruel portrayal offers humor, as does the Auntie Mame-like nanny who is obsessed with Ms. Spelling’s rack. But skewering others – against their will – is a bit less magnanimous than self-mockery. And the depiction of her mother as a tyrant whose love Ms. Spelling still desperately yearns for adds to the problems of “So NoTORIous.”

Throughout the show, Ms. Spelling seems to want to prove that she can be a down-to-earth, normal person. But at the end of the day, she cannot escape the reach of her parents. She simultaneously yearns to be a Hollywood success and shake the trappings of her outsized life. But trying to portray her life as “normal” (read: mundane) is counterintuitive. If she succeeds, why should audiences bother tuning in?

mkeane@nysun.com