Watching Studio60

Now this is what I called anticipation. There is a British web site dedicated to Studio 60 and, wait for it - the show hasn’t even started airing on British TV yet. Now that is what I call being prepared. The latest rumour is that the show will air on Channel 4 and More 4 in JUNE 2007, but someone has already put up this web site, with links to The Competition, as they name it, areas for comments, episodes, cast etc. Most of the areas are blank because they seem determined not to spoil the show by giving away plot lines or story twists, and they make sure that you realize that the links to the American sites will contain spoilers, but I am so impressed that the media hype over the show has crossed the Pond. I can only hope that the reaction to the show once it starts will be better then it was in this country but I suspect that a lot of the shows messages and references may well get lost in translation. We shall see….

Let me start by saying I was disappointed with last night’s episode. I found some of the plot lines way too predicatable and nothing was brought to a conclusion. Yes, I know it was only part 2 of 3 but to leave everything to next week - well, What do I know, I am just a viewer.
So here goes for the recap:
First we see Jack pitching his plan to Tom, in a manner in which Tom was left no room for denial, of course, and Tom has to break his date with Lucy so he can take Kim to the Thursday night dinner. Instead of being honest with Lucy, he follows Matt’s advice and lies to her. He says he is going to be a celebrity waiter at an NBS dinner. She buys it and there is a very sweet moment when they have their first kiss and we actually believe this realtionship might have a chance.
Then we have the snakes - Danny asks Cal to set up a location for a shoot that involves snakes but Cal convinces him that the studio can save money by setting it up inside. Reluctantly Danny agrees, and of course a snake gets loose. The best part of this sub plot was the snake man. What a character - he reminded me of someone else - I finally realised who - Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh!! and I loved him. At the end of the show we had a coyote being placed down a drain to follow the ferret that had been placed down the drain to find the snake that we were told had slithered down the drain. That was very reminiscent of a song I used to sing when I was little by Burl Ives, - “The Old Lady who swallowed a fly” And of course the cost of the snake retrieval puts the indoor shoot over the original budget for the location shoot, but no one has told Danny that he has a snake loose in his studio.
Meanwhile, Danny himself realises that he has been a jerk and wants to apologise to Jordan. He finally chooses the Thursday evening when she and Harriett are on their way to Harriett’s dinner. To cut a long story short, they end up getting locked on the roof with no way out, no cell phone coverage, and hoping that someone will miss them and rescue them. This leads to lots of conversation, meaningful stuff but not really any conclusion. The previews of next week are leading us done the path of a BIG MOMENT, but who trusts previews.
And then we have Matt and Harriett - I will get to Tom and Lucy and Kim in a moment. Matt ends up in a tie for the final bid to take Harriett to the dinner with, he assumes, Luke, but we find out that LukeS5858 is not THE Luke but a famous professional snow boarder - whom I am ashamed to say I have never heard of, and his bidding handle was named for Luke Skywalker of Star Wars fame. So they end up taking Harriett to the dinner together, but lets go back to an earlier scene, when Harriet was in rehearsal for her part as Anita Pallenberg in the Rolling Stones movie, and there is another touching moment when Luke makes her realize that she and Matt haven’t really broken up, they have just moved into another phase of their realtionship and that she deserves better. Back to the dinner, where Harriett questions Matt as to what he thought was going to happen that evening and she finally tells him - “We are going to be Over tonight! Done be scared” Good - lets hope they both move on fast.
Before I get to Tom and Lucy we have to mention Hiro. The guest announcer for the show in rehearsal is the Hiro character from Heores. He only has a two second appearance but it is funny - during the set up he is working with Harriett who is dressed as the Cheerleader and has the now famous line from the show: Save the Cheerleader save the World, but in the final take, she substitutes the Dolphin voice, which gets posted on the internet, much to Matt’s dismay, as he hasn’t developed the Dolphin girl sketch for the show!
And finally - Tom takes Kim to the dinner, but she is dressed for the kill - wearing a very revealing dress - and this to a dinner being thrown by the Catholic Women!! Anyway - Kim proceeds to get very drunk and it is obvious that she has designs on Tom, who is clearly out of his depth. But, predictably, Lucy shows up and sees Tom and has the best line of the evening - “Aren’t you supposed to wait until we have slept together before you start behaving like a jerk?”. Obviously she is upset and Tom is miserable. Jack has to step into the breach and save Tom from a rampant Kim…and again no resolution here - we wait until next week.
We didn’t see much of Halley but the Jordan/Halley realtionship is mimicing the standard female antoagonists of most good soap operas. Where we would be without our Sammy Jo Carrington, or our Amanda Woodward to add spice to the female characters. But Jack was very cagey when confronted by Jordan as to the real reason he hired Hallie. Maybe we are being set up here too!
And finally - the Simon/Darius situation was explored a little more. We had some interaction but nothing that led us, well me at least, to an understanding of where this is all leading or what the real purpose of it all is. Lets hope we get there next week.
And we are left with the following questions to be answered next week (I hope!):
What’s the real story of the Hallie situation?
Will Danny and Harriett ever get off the roof?
What is going on with Simon and Darius?
But the best question of all was posed by Cal - what goes in after the coyote?

I have just sat through the Screen Actors Guild Awards and unfortuneately Matthew Perry did not take the Actor for his work in the Ron Clark story - but being nominated is accolade enough.
It was another night for the Brits - Yeah! Hellen Mirren won 2 - yes 2 Actors, for Elizabeth 1 and The Queen, Hugh Lawrie for House, Jeremy Irons, and of course, Julie Andrews was given the Lifetime Achievment Award for her 6 decades in the business. I have to applaud Annette Benning for wearing that awesome pant suit - she is not only much talented but courageous and super confident - all kudos to her.
And don’t you love that Chandra Wilson won as well as the ensemble cast of Grey’s Anatomy. Maybe next year Studio 60 will get a nod.
Matthew Perry also had a spot in the limelight as one of the presenters with Kyra Sedgewick.
I aslo watched some of the preceeding red carpet event televised on E! My only comment: Ryan Seacrest - stick to American Idol! Some of the gowns were just breathtaking - but my favourite - Kate Blanchett. Oh my God! It was stunning. But what’s going on with shoes this year. Some of theose worn tonight had to be seen to be believed. I really hope they are a glimpse of things to come. They actually reminded me of shoes I wore when I was in my early 20’s - and Yes that was way to long ago!!
Here are some pictures of the Red Carpet:

“Wealthy audience might help ‘Studio 60’ survive poor ratings” - this was a headline in the Columbus dispatch from Columbus Ohio, this morning. The article reiterates a lot of old information, such as: Studio 60 is the most time shifted show, again, meaning it is TiVo’d and watched later by more people then any other show, but what caught my attention is the concept that it is watched by households with incomes over $75,000, thus making it a show watched by the wealthy. Assuming we agree with the concept that just because a household has an income of that amount classifies it as wealthy, I began to ask myself - How do you write a show for wealthy people? What do you have to put in the show to attract a “wealthy” audience? This leads me to think maybe the assumption is that wealthy people are also intellectually superior, so maybe the writing has to be wittier, cleverer, more subtle to appeal to the wealthy. If this is the case, then Aaron Sorkin has certainly achieved that. His dialogue is clever and his characters are witty and the plot hooks are subtle. But I am still not convinced that you can equate wealth with intellect. Many fortunes have been made by sweat and hard work, not just by being smart and well educated.
It would seem that the show is introducing more romanctic intrique into the plot. I believe this is an atttempt to raise the viewing numbers. We know that romantic twists always grab the viewers with the success of such shows as Moonlighting, JAG, and even Law and Order SVC, so by making the show more about the Matt/Harriett, Danny/Jordan and Tom/Lucy realtionships, maybe Aaron is hoping that the tried and tested formulae will work once again.
I dont know the answers and I would love to hear your ideas.

Yet another blog on Studio 60, this time from TV Squad and essentially saying the same things. We love it, we hate it. But whatever the reaction, you have to admit that when a show generates so much emotion it has to be doing something right.
Much of Monday night’s show was devoted to Matt and his “find” of the book “The 48 Laws of Power“. I believe the purpose of the book was not only to give Matt food for some sketches, but also to show us that the new girl on the block, Hailey, the VP of Alternative Programming, is power mad - she quoted Law 17 “Keep Others in Suspended Terror: Cultivate an Air of Unpredictability” verbatim to Jordan, and when Jordan heard it from Matt she reailsed that she had been played and probably has some serious competetion ahead of her. So Aaron very nicely set us up for that power struggle but left it to us to get there on our own. A great compliment to our intelligence, Dont you think?
The book The 48 Laws of Power has apparently caught the attention of hop hop artists, and Hip-hop producer DJ Premier has a line from the book tattooed on his right forearm. The author has a web site where he expands on many of the Laws. For more information go to Wikipedia.

Having had a little more time to reflect on Monday night’s return of Studio 60, and the ability to watch it again, I realize that it really was all about setting up various scenarios, to be played out over the next two episodes. The interaction between Simon and Darius has so many places it could go, most of them controversial and explosive. Tom and Lucy adds yet another potential romance to the mix, but with Jack’s plotting behind the scenes, bringing Kim into the mix, Well - How will that play out? The big question of course is the whole FCC thing. Will Zhong play along, will the board be manipulated into following Jack and Wilson, will they have to pay the fine - so many questions? And of course the two big romances - Harriett and Matt - we are being led to believe that that is all about to blow up and get really messy, and Danny and Jordan - she is running away from it but he is being soooo persistent. So to summarize, for those viewers who like soap operas with hooks to keep you watching, this was defineately the episode to get you hooked. For those viewers who love Aaron Sorkin’s writing, this was another prime example of just how clever the man is, and for those viewers who want to be entertained, Well there was just about everything in this episode guaranteed to keep you watching.
And on another note - the Oscar nominations came out yesterday. For a full list go to the official web site. Not much interest for Studio 60 lovers, but that is to be expected I think. We are television, the Oscars is movies.

Studio 60 came back on our screens last night with the best episode ever, in my humble opinion.
It started with a series of phone calls from Danny to Jordan that carried us through the two week hiatus and Christmas. Jordan flew to spend Christmas with her family and then to the Caribbean for a break, and Danny was left in LA. The phone calls were amusing but the best line was when we broke into current day - Danny’s line “At least I’m back on TV” was the best.
Every one returns from the hiatus and Christmas to start production on the show again. Jack and Wilson are attending a board meeting, where it appears that the board wants to pay the fine to the FCC or at least comply with the FCC demand to time delay the news, but Jack is adament that they will do neither and Wilson supports him. Then Jack comes up with a plan, if they get the Macao deal made conditional on not paying the fine, the board will support the decision. So he flies to LA because he learns that Kim is playing a concert there and Zhang will be there to watch her. He walks into a family fight beacuse Kim wants to give up the viola and go into comedy and, of course, Daddy is against this. Jack comes up with a solution whereby Kim will be taken to dinner by Tom Jeter, during which he hopes Tom will talk her out of it, and in return Zhang will support his plan.
Meanwhile, Tom has asked Lucy to dinner on the same night, Thursday, that Jack is planning for him to take Kim. That was left unresolved - more next week I am guessing.
Danny continues to persue Jordan by getting all his friends to send her faxs extolling his virtues. She is less then amused and asks him to stop. He refuses. Again - more on that later.
Harriett is being given an award by a catholic group at the now famous Thursday dinner, and asks Matt if he wants to go. He says No Thanks, but is actually bidding on-line to be her companion, mainly because he saw that Luke was also bidding. He was upset that Luke took Harriett to a New Year’s Eve party and most of Matt’s friends were there. At the close of the show the bidding was up to $4001.
Matt found a book that gives tips on how to be powerful and thinks it will make some great sketches. He persues this thought through most of the show. Simon has an idea for a sketch about an African American Fruit of the Loom fruit. Lucy gets assigned to work on it with him even though he asked for Darius. There is a serious moment between Darius and Simon, when Simon tells Darius that he was rescused from oblivion when Simon asked Matt to take him on as a writer, and Darius reacts by acting and talking like a slave. Not sure where that is going, but it was dramatic.
There is a new Vice President working for Jordan. She is in charge of the Reality shows, but rubs Jordon up the wrong way. She tells Jordan that she manages her staff by being unpredictable which creates an atmosphere of anticipation and fear. It turns out that this comes directly from the book that Matt is using for his sketches. Again -this is really a set up for next week as it wasn’t really resolved this week.
All in all, a lot happened but nothing was resolved, so as this was the first of a three parter, it makes sense that a lot was left hanging for the next two shows to deal with.
I enjoyed the dialogue but I did begin to get a little annoyed with some of the jerky delivery. It seems everyone was speaking really really fast and in abbreviated sentences, whic began to get a little annoying after a while.
Stay tuned for Part 2…. the previews promise up some fireworks between Matt and Harriett!

Well - as we appraoch the return of Studio 60, I have been watching the trailers for tonight’s new episode and they are not giving much away. Obviously the focus is on the two romances that have been introduced to the main characters, and if the interview given by Aaron Sorkin is to be understood, it appears that this is designed to bring more viewers to the show.
An interview posted on the TV Barn gives a great response to why the show is not a comedy. In Aaron’s own words:
“I think if you saw a random 10 seconds of ‘Wayne’s World’ or a random 10 seconds of ‘The Coneheads,’ or some other sketch … you wouldn’t think it was funny. You wouldn’t get it. So … you’re not supposed to be finding this funny. You’re supposed to be finding this a rehearsal.” Making the point I have been trying to make all along, that Studio 60 is not a comedy show - it is a drama about people who work back stage on a TV show.
I am so glad that tonight I will actually have an episode of the show to summarize, review and write about. Catch you then.

I just came across a web site dedicated to Bradley Whitford giving a list of the movies and TV shows that will be airing January 14 through February 10 . So for those of you who need a fix of Bradley and cannot wait until next Monday when Studio 60 returns, check it out.
The list of movies he has appeared in, and this just the ones airing sometime in the next few weeks, is really quite impressive. It includes - Billy Madison, Red Corner, Scent of a Woman, The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (cute movie), and My Life. Plenty of opportunity to see our man in action, not to mention the reruns of The West Wing.

Tis the season - not To be Merry or for eating and family, but for Awards. We have had the People’s Choice and the Golden Globes, next to be announced is the big one - The Oscars. Next to be awarded are the SAG awards on January 28th, followed by the Director’s Guild of America, which were announced on January 11th and will be awarded on February 3rd. And in this round we have:

Outstanding Director in the television category Dramatric Series - Nights

THOMAS SCHLAMME
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip “Pilot” - NBC

Unit Production Manager: Suzanne Geiger
First Assistant Director: William Connor
Second Assistant Director: Kristen Ploucha
Second Second Assistant Director: Paul Schmitz
Additional Second Second Director: John Nolan

This is Mr. Schlamme’s eighth DGA Award nomination. He won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series Night in 2000 for The West Wing (“Noel”), and the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series in 1999 for Sports Night (“Small Town”) and in 1998 for Sports Night (Pilot). He was nominated for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series Night in 2001 for The West Wing (“Two Cathedrals”) and in 1999 for The West Wing (Pilot). He was nominated for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Musical Variety in 1997 for Tracey Takes On (“Tracey Takes On … 1976”) and in 1996 for Tracey Takes On (“Tracey Takes On … Romance”).

Yes!! Studio 60 gets another nod - having received, and lost, in both The People’s Choice and the Golden Globes. But maybe third time is lucky, or maybe they are saving themselves for the SAG awards, or even the Oscars, which will be announced next Tuesday. We shall see, but at least Studio 60 is getting recognition from somewhere!

The next new episode of Studio 60 is airing next Monday January 22nd, on what looks like being the best night of the week. We have Fox giving us Prison Break and 24 against NBC’s Heroes and Studio 60. The only decision is whether to watch 24 or Heroes live and record the other.
As we wait for the next episode, I continue to trawl the internet for interesting news or, dare I say it, gossip, and it is remarkably sparce. But I did come across and excellent article in the Chicago Tribune web log, that - shocking as it is, actually had nothing but great things to say about my show. So often the blogs and web sites take great pleasure in slamming this show that it is really refreshing to read an article that gets it. The headline itself is attention getting:
‘Studio 60′: How Matthew Perry makes fall’s best new network show even better
but even better are lines like:
“As Matt Albie, one of the two “Studio 60” golden boys who were fired from the show only to be brought back when the show’s producer had his meltdown, Perry has found a character who taps into his breathtaking ability to convey pathos and self-deprecating pain — in the same line.”
OR
“Albie is is a funny, fiercely intelligent creative genius who’s just one bender away from total self-destruction; he recognizes his weaknesses but his intellect is powerless to tame his appetites”..
I dont want to spoil the article - Please follow the link above and read it for yourselves and then sit back and enjoy the show.

I had a really hard time last night - who pitched The 64th Golden Globes against 24? I kept switching between the two and probably missed the best of both but nonetheless - I did catch some of the glamourous gowns and the not so glamourous gowns. But first - the winners: for a complete list I found the BBC web site the best. Not that I’m biased. But didn’t the Brits do well? Hugh Lawrie, Helen Mirren, Sacha Baron Cohen, Peter Morgan for The Queen, Bill Nighy, Jeremy Irons. And of course in the two categories that Studio 60 was nominated they both got beaten by Gideon’s Daughter. Emily Blunt beat Sarah Paulson and Bill Nighy beat Matthew Perry.
Check out Helen Mirren and Bill Nighy:

There was the usual hype about the fashions, and I have to say, that as wonderful an actress as she is, and congratulations for winning, I thought Meryl Streep’s dress was awful. But that is just my opinion although I thought her speech was the best:

There was great hype given to the fact that Amanda Peet announced her pregnancy and how was it going to be dealt with by Studio 60 writers. As we all know - it has been written into the show, so we can expect to see the progression of the pregnancy on air.

Another actress who is pregnant, but it was not written into the show is Marcia Cross from Desperate Housewives. We hear that she is pregnant with twins and has been ordered on bed rest till the birth. So - the producers have apparantly recreated Bree’s TV house in Marcia’s real house, so that they can film her last two episodes, before she goes on maternity leave. When Mariska Hargety was pregnant, they hid it for her show, Law and Order - SVU and she took a haitus from the show - she was supposedly on an undercover assignment. But by far the most drastic action was Judging Amy. Amy Brenneman was pregnant during the last season of her show and - They Cancelled the show!! Now I know it wasn’t because she was pregnant - but all the same, drastic measures.
It certainly adds a little human interest to these shows when the leading ladies decide to have a family. In business, we just carry on working until close to due date - then take up to four months off after the birth, and then either decide to come back and arrange child care or become a “Stay at Home Mom” (I hate that expression!). But when your job puts you in front of millions of viewers each week, who take an active interest in all aspects of your life, it becomes a challenge, not only for the prospective parents but for the people involved in producing the show. Options are obviously to write the pregnancy into the show, to conceal it as best as possible, or to replace the actress, either temporarily or permenantly. I, for one, am glad that Studio 60 chose the first option and that Amanda Peet will be staying around to delight and entertain us.

Yes - yet more nominations are announced. And again we have Matthew Perry receiving a nomintion for his role in The Ron Clark Story. As I have already covered this in a previous blog, I will not repeat myself or bore you all to tears, but suffice it to say - fingers crossed. He has now been nominated for both the Golden Globes and the SAG awards.
For the full list of moninations go to the SAG official web site but I will mention a few here. Not many surprises in the TV categories - the usual suspects are nominated in Best Drama - 24, Boston Legal, Sopranos - and best comedy - Desperate Housewives (I question this show being classified as a comedy!), Entourage, The Office, but the biggest surprise for me came in the Best Leading Actor in a Movie category - Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson. My surprise is because I have never even heard of this movie and I pride myself on keeping my eyes and ears open for new movies and go to the theatres at least twice a month. How did I miss this movie - where is it showing?
What makes the SAG awards different is that it is actors doing the voting - so we would hope that they know and understand their craft and that all nominees are really worthy of the attention. I look forward to the award show - airing on January 28th.

Masi Oka, the time travelling Hero, is to appear on Studio 60. He will follow Lauren Graham and Howie Mandell as the host of the show within the show. I am guessing that NBC are hoping that Heroes viewers will stay with NBC and watch Studio 60, thus increasing the ratings for the latter show. I really hope it works.
For those of you that don’t follow Heroes, and I cant imagine there are too many, it is the show that preceeds Studio 60 on a Monday night and regularly has more then double the audience of Studio 60. You can catch up on the sister blog site: www. watchingheroes.com