Why STUDIO 60…Why?
May 25, 2007 by Kath Skerry
Last night STUDIO 60 returned to NBC with the first of its six remaining new episodes. I was pretty vocal about my appreciation for STUDIO 60 early on in the season. I enjoyed the glimpse behind the curtain of a major network TV show. At times the show was a bit heavy handed and the liberal soapbox Sorkin was writing from often took me out of the episode all together (even when I agreed with him), but when the show was firmly grounded in the happenings or mishaps of putting together a live show, I thought it was some incredible TV.
Of course the critics and audience didn’t agree. In turn Sorkin seemed to reinvent STUDIO 60 and we were left with a an irksome romantic comedy with a TV show as a backdrop. The inner workings of Studio 60 were sent to the backburner as Sorkin shoved couples with zero chemistry like Matt and Harriett down our throats. This is about the time I jumped ship and pulled out my West Wing and Sports Night DVDs to remind myself that Aaron Sorkin is a great writer…sad that I needed the reminder.
But last night the show returned to what I believe to be its original intent…and guess what? It worked. It worked really well. I must say that I was a bit bewildered that neither Bradley Whitford, Matthew Perry or Amanda Peet, the stars of the show, made an appearance, but if I’m being honest, I didn’t miss them. Timothy Busfield did an amazing job as the director who kept his “the show must go on” spirit despite the fact that a strike left them without prop masters or cue cards minutes before the went live on the air. Oh and of course there was that pesky bomb threat he had to contend with. Allison Janney, playing herself, was fantastic as Studio 60’s guest host for what was affectionately known as ‘the disaster show’. Don’t get me wrong, there were some problems. Simon Styles (D.L. Hughley) plot about asking two women to vacation with him in Hawaii was completely unoriginal, and Harriet’s (Sarah Paulson) self absorbed whining about her relationship with Matt had me reaching for the TiVo fast forward button a few times. Enough already!!
I can’t help but wonder if STUDIO 60 would have survived the season if they had more episodes like last night’s. No preaching from the liberal pulpit, no forced romantic pairings, just the inner workings of a weekly live show…there’s enough drama in that alone.
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I totally agree with you about last night’s episode, GMMR. My interest in Studio 60 died down after about the first month or so, I think, but I actually enjoyed last night’s show. I agree that it should have kept its focus on life around the making of Studio 60 rather than all the other storylines they got lost in – especially that whole Matt-Harriett mess and when they started having Danny fall in love with Jordan. It was strange that the three leads weren’t on the show last night but I loved the interaction between Allison Janney and Timothy Busfield – it made me miss those old days of the West Wing and CJ & Danny.
I can’t say I’m going to miss Studio 60 but it is a shame that they started out fairly strong and somehow lost their direction.
I liked Timothy Busfield and how he kept lieing to everyone. But the bomb story didn’t interest me. Also, the implication that the bomber was muslim was just uncalled for. I figured that Aaron Sorkin was better than that. If you don’t know what I mean just look at the episode Isaac and Ishmael from the West Wing
Last nights was so funny and enjoyable. Made me sad this little show never got a real chance. Everyone wrote it off so fast. Not saying that it was the worlds best show, but it was enjoyable.
I missed Bradley Whitford, but that’s mainly because I think he’s purty. 😉
All the bad things I’d complained about Studio 60 in the past were forgiven when they gave me the dream team of Janney and Busfield again.
I’m a pretty big fan of the show, but didn’t get a chance to watch this episode till just now. I thought it was pretty good, and made me realize how much I’ll miss Studio 60 when its gone, but I do have one question. Why weren’t Amanda Peet, Bradley Whitford or Matthew Perry in the episode? I think that an episode without your stars is just suspicious. How many episodes of West Wing did they do without CJ, President Bartlet, Leo or Toby? How many episodes of SportsNight did they do without Dan, Casey or Dana? It just seemed like the episode struggled because they weren’t there, not because the prop guys left. Danny Tripp would have reeled the cast back in and prevent a few of the miscues from happening to begin with.
I’d give it a 7/10.