HAIR SHOW

[ 1/2] (One and one-half stars)

Hair today, gone tomorrow. Running time: 100 minutes. Rated PG- 13 (sexual content, including dialogue). At the E- Walk and the Magic Johnson.

‘HAIR Show,” a sitcommy trifle set in a Los Angeles hair salon, has a big heart, but it stretches the fatigued “let’s put on a show” premise to the breaking point.

Retitled to avoid a clash with Queen Latifah’s “Beauty Shop” – a “Barbershop” spin-off slated for release next year – “Hair Show” seems conceived as a starring vehicle for sitcom star Mo’Nique, of TV’s “The Parkers.”

While Mo’Nique certainly makes an impression as a screechy, larger-than-life hair stylist named Peaches, the film may be best remembered for featuring the big-screen debut of tennis star Serena Williams, a little stiff in a cameo role as an IRS agent who moonlights as a stripper named Bubbles.

There are a number of other cameos – from Vivica A. Fox, model Rashumba and comedian Bruce Bruce – but these, like Williams’ stint, appear designed to add to the already substantial amount of filler.

The irresponsible Peaches jets in from Baltimore to surprise her estranged sister, Angela (Kellita Smith, of “The Bernie Mac Show”), on the anniversary of her swanky L.A. salon’s opening.

Angela is less than pleased when she finds out Peaches is on the run from the IRS, which is chasing her for $50,000.

But that amount just happens to be the prize money up for grabs at the annual “Hair Battle Royale,” so the sisters bury the hatchet in the pursuit of cash and glory.

There’s some diversion provided by a wan love interest for Peaches and by Angela’s ongoing rivalry with her tress-taming competitor, Marcella (Gina Torres), but the story is so slight, a low-wattage hair dryer could blow it away.