Watching Studio60

Are we fed up with the ‘Will they or Wont They” saga. At this point all we can do is wait and see - see how The Black Donnelly’s perform, See if the petition gets to 10,000 (it is currently at 8,000 - so we are close), See if NBC realizes it’s mistake, lots of Just Wait and see, as my mother used to tell me. In the meantime, there are many bloggers out there speculating as to the fate of Studio 60, and my favourite quote comes from Bob Sassone on TV Squad:
“But one of the reasons I’m also sorry to see it go is that there’s nothing else like it on television right now. Love it, hate it, shrug it off, this is a grown up, classy, old-fashioned piece of entertainment, with a great cast and (I think) a great setting. It’s the type of show you want to see get better and succeed. A show that wasn’t a reality show, a CSI/Law and Order spinoff, or a show where people solve crimes with the help of the dead. And if you’re the type of viewer who bizarrely “wants” to see this show fail instead of becoming better, well, there’s no hope for you.:
That just about says it all. However, there are some other wonderful quotes to be read on the petition site, so again I encourage you to go and sign and take the time to read what others have to say about the show.
And finally we read that Amanda Peet had her baby - the excerpt from People magazine web site:
Actress Amanda Peet and her husband, screenwriter David Benioff, have welcomed a baby girl, the star’s rep has confirmed to PEOPLE.
Frances Pen was born on Tuesday and weighed in at 6 lbs., 10 oz. This is the couple’s first child.
“Amanda and her daughter are resting comfortably,” Peet’s rep said in a statement to PEOPLE.
The news was first reported by the New York Post’s Page Six.
The couple wed in September 2006 at Peet’s alma mater, Friends Seminary, a Quaker school in New York founded in 1786. Mark Ruffalo and Elizabeth Berkley were among the wedding guests.
Peet first announced her pregnancy on The Late Show with David Letterman on Sept. 27.
“Amanda was a mother the day she was born,” her friend, actress Sarah Paulson, tells PEOPLE. “She has a very special relationship with her own mother and I think she’s going to be a spectacular mother.”
Peet, 35, most recently starred on the series TV Studio 60, and has appeared in films, including Syriana, The Whole Ten Yards and Something’s Gotta Give. Benioff, 36, wrote the screenplays for Troy and 25th Hour”
Congratulations, Amanda and David!

The latest information (heard on Kristen’s Blog) is that NBC is wating to see how well “the replacment show” does in the 10.00pm Monday evening time slot - but if it performs even as well as Studio 60 then they will cancel Studio 60 and keep the replacement. So it doesn’t even have to perform better to survive, just maintain the viewing numbers. The reasoning is that The Black Donnelly’s is cheaper to produce then Studio 60, so of course it’s all about numbers and money and not quality! Also, it seems that Studio 60 would have been cancelled a long time ago, except Aaron has a clause in his contract that makes it as expensive to cancel as to keep on the air - so Kudos to the savvy Aaron Sorkin.
Have you signed the petition yet? We are currently at 7319 signatures and the target is 10,000 - so please go sign and lets tell NBC that we appreciate quality TV over the mind numbing/ violent/disfunctional family/mafia/gun slinging show currently airing. (I didn’t watch it by the way!)

It looks like I will not have a show to write about for the foreseeable future, so I wil have to fill this space with others thoughts and events.
Did you watch them last night? I am sorry to say that I sat through the entire 4 hour plus something hours and in the humble opinion of this writer, it was the most boring Oscar show I have watched. Ellen has a very dry whit, which wasn’t that lively nor entertaining last night, and it didn’t help that the funny moments, i.e The Three Comedians, weren’t that funny.
I was very disappointed that The Departed won best movie - I had the misfortune of seeing the film and thought it was uneccessarily violent and the dialogue was garbage. I don’t object to swearing when it is crucial to the character or plot, but every second word began with an “F” or a “C” and it didn’t add to character, plot or enjoyment of the movie. I will say that the acting was suberb, and I am glad that Scorsese won for Best Director, but that movie was not really worthy of his talent ot the talent of the cast.
And what’s with Nicholson wearing sun glasses and doing a Brittany. Is that another cry for help or just a call for attention. I wish Jack would just get over himself.
THe dresses were the best part of the show and it seems pastels won the night, but for me the outstanding dress was Nicole Kidman’s stunning red creation. Slightly biased as red is my favourite colour, but it was stunning and amidst all the pale dresses, really caught the eye.
That was the last of the awards for this year - and I will try really hard to see all the movies I have missed up to now - but from what I hear, I caught the best with The Queen, which should have won for Best Movie and I am so glad the Helen Mirren walked off with the Best Actress Oscar. God Save the Queen!

The general opinion seems to be that Studio 60 is heaing for cancellation. As one author put it - shelving it is studio speak for cancelling it. However, there is a petition started in an effort to try and save the show. I encourage you to go to the site and sign the petition. The target is to get 100,000 signatures and it is currently at 4270. Yours truly is signature number 4253, and the number is increasing almost as you watch. Lets hope that this petition succeeds in letting NBC know that there are fans out there who do not want to lose the best show to hit the airwaves all season. Maybe they can find another time slot, when it is not competing with CSI-Miami, which continues to be the number 1 watched show on TV, in itself a mind boggling testiment to the major lack of discernment of TV viewers. Instead of pummeling us with Reality TV shows - another word for garbage - such as “You’re the one that I want”, “Deal or No Deal” - and so on - find a way to market the quality shows so that they draw the numbers required to keep them on the air.

By the way already up to 4278 in the time it took me to write this entry.

A few weeks ago I referenced the Kevin Bacon game - Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, and actually established the Bacon numbers of the major players on Studio 60. Well, Kevin has just created a new web site called: SixDegrees.org where you can make donations to charities that are sponsored by celebrities. It is a pretty good site - go check it out.
The only charity that relates to Studio 60 is the one sponsored by Bradley Whitford and his wife Jane Kaczmarek called Clothes Off Our Back, where celebrities donate items of clothing that get auctioned and the proceeds go to various charities. However, there are a lot of other charities and celebrities on the Six Degrees web site - and you can make donations right there on the site! It warms the cockles of the heart to realize that some celebrities are actually giving back to the community, without using thier altruism to furhter their own fame.

Well, I somehow managed to empower February with an extra week, and was convinced when watching last Monday’s episode that we would have another week to enjoy the show and hopefully get some answers. But, sadly, that isn’t the case, and next week, instead of catching up with Matt, Harriet et al, we will be “entertained” by The Black Donnelly’s, should you choose to watch it.
So, that leaves us scratching our heads, and hoping for our own 4.00am miracle, which would be the speedy return of Studio 60 to our screens, at least for the last 6 eopsiodes that were ordered, if not for another season.
My hope is that the replacement show will attract even less viewers and force NBC to bring back my show. However, given the genre of the replacement show, I really have little faith in that happening. It seems America prefers crappy reality TV and gun slinging adrenaline rushes to clever, intellectual shows. I read that Sunday night on NBC is about to become 3 hours of reality TV. That will surely guarantee that I will be watching the other channels from now in on, and hoping that whoever does the scheduling at NBC gets a clue really soon.
Happy watching

I speculated this morning as to what this epsiode’s title referred to, and as it turned out I was so wrong. Lets recap

It seems that a previous employee named Karen Salisberg (no anangrams this week), is suing NBS for sexual harrassment. The lawyer assigned to the Studio is Mary Tate (Kari Matchett, “Invasion) and Jordan has given her permission to sit in the writer’s room to observe. This is particularly bad timing as Matt is suffering from writer’s block and it is Wednesday night and no sketches have yet been written. Matt calls for the 4.00am miracle and explains that things happen when sleep deprivation erodes your sensors and this is what he is hoping will happen. Through the converstaions between Matt and Mary, we learn that Karen is suing because she claims she had to work in a hostile environment, generated because the male writers used to talk about the many ways and places they wanted to have sex with Harriett Hayes. When Matt discovers this, he agrees to be a witness for Mary, because he is so angry and wants to get revenge on the perpetrators.
Meanwhile, Harriet is on the set of the Rolling Stone movie, having difficulty shooting a particular scene because it is making Anita look guilty of the manslaughter that she was actually acquitted of in real life. Harriet seems to have an issue with the scene not reflecting the facts. During the course of multiple takes, which are making her late for her return to the Studio 60 set, she tells Luke about the fight that she and Matt had, and that she is feeling guilty, having said awful things to Matt that he didn’t deserve. Luke says he doesn’t care but ends up breaking up with her, calling Matt an arrogant egomaniacal prick. Harriet retaliates by saying he would never go three hours over the alloted time just to screw with someone who was an old friend.
Back at the Studio 60 set, Simon is worried because he admits to Tom that he did sleep with Karen. They tell Danny, who then takes them to Mary, where Simon recalls the relationship and his concern about the suit. He describes Karen as a tall redhead, but No - it turns out she was a short blond - and he actually had sex with Connie - Much relief all round.
Danny is showing major concern for Matt - especailly as he overhears Matt turn down a date with Mary (remember the lawyer). Matt confesses that he really misses Harriet as she never somes upstairs any more. Danny tells him to stay off the vodka, and reminds him of the promise he made in the beginning that Harriet would not be a problem if they came back to the studio!
There is a wonderful story line about Jordan and Danny. Jordan has purchased a Real Care Baby which is a computerized doll, complete with computer chip, that is supposed to let you practise being a mother, before you actually have to be a mother! She bets Danny that he cannot keep the baby alive through the night, and of course he accepts the bet. Because he cannot stop the baby from crying and is worried it will wake Jordan he takes it to the writers room and asks Tom and Simon to look after it. Cal brings in an 18 century guillotine, one of the props they are looking to use in the show, and uses the baby to test it - cutting of the head in the process. When Danny discovers this - he gets Cal to take the baby to the Special effects people to fix it. The baby gets returned, all better - but when Jordan cuddles the baby - his neck explodes - Danny confesses to the truth but it leads to a wonderful moment where he tells Jordan that she doesn’t need to practise as she will be a wonderful Mother and won’t be alone. A truly touching moment.
We cut to Matt on his balcony, still suffering from writer’s block. In walks Harriet- and promises to unblock him, and ..wait for ti - she kisses him. That turns out to be the 4.00am miracle - and I was so wrong in my pontifications this morning.
I know there is only one more episode left before the show goes on another hiatus so many story lines will remain hanging - Tom and Lucy - whio have been ginored for 2 weeks now, Jack and the FCC, in fact Jack wasn’t even in tonight’s epsidoe - but hopefully, we will have some resolution next week, and the show will come back when the Black Donnelly’s fails!!!

It has a title of “4 a.m. Miracle” and a write up that suggests that Matt has writer’s block and Danny and Jordan try to outdo each other with gifts. So where does the miracle come into play? We can but speculate. Maybe Matt writes a really funny sketch - No, that seems too tame. Matt and Harriet rekindle the flame - Boring. The board backs Jack in his determination to fight the FCC - possible in light of the Macoa deal, but again - Boring! The FCC backs down - unlikely. In my experience Government bodies rarely let go once they have the bit between their teeth. We have had little insight into Tom and Lucy lately, but I dont see them needing a mircle, so going full circle - I think we are left with Matt and his writing.
Watch it to find out and I will return to recap this evening.

I was reading the defamer.com web site yesterday evening, where the news that the replacement of Studio 60 by the Black Donnelly’s has been moved up a week to February 26th is being met with some sadness, and I realized that I have been incredibly slow on the uptake over Monday night’s show. This upsets me as I am not normally slow and actually pride myself on the ability to solve problems and mind twisters, but I confess - I completely missed this..
During the show Matt recalled his first days at NBS, 7 years prior, and we met a character called Tim Batale, who was fired for popping pills, and thus was the reason Matt got his first real office space at the studio. In the present day, no one remembers Tim, despite Matt’s frequent attempts to jog their memories. We learn at the end of the show that Tim is a figment of Matt’s drug riddled brain, almost an extension of himself, or maybe just a mixed memory, again induced by the pills that he is now popping. What I missed, to my shame, is the fact that Tim Batale is an anagram of Matt Albie. Had this dawned on me earlier, I might have figured out the whole show a lot quicker then I did. My apologies - I am humbled, but in my defense, I really did not expect such an M Night Shyalaman sort of twist from Aaron Sorkin. Does anyone ever recall anything similar in any of his other shows?
So back to the news that next week will be the last show until… well we dont know when as NBC hasn’t told us. I guess it will depend on how well the Black DOnnelly’s fares in the ratings and what deals Aaron Sorking can make with the NBC executives. So I will be watching on Monday night and keeping my fingers crossed for a swift return of my show.

Well it’s Thursday morning and as usual I am surfing the web to find anything new or interesting about Studio 60. I found this web site: Buddy TV which seems to quite like the show and also publishes lists a la Lederman. Studio 60 or actors on the show, feature in quite a few of these lists - well 3 anyway.
Top 10 most desirable female characters on TV - #6 Jordan McDeere
Top 10 Best TV Moments of 2006 - #9 Wes Mendell Rants on Live Television
Top 10 TV Characters You Love to Hate: #10 - Jack Rudolph
The actual post is from January 23rd, but it peaked my interest somewhat.
Catch you tomorrow.

Today is Valentine’s day and it occurred to me that no reference was made to it on Monday’s episode of Studio 60. They referenced Thanksgiving and Christmas but not this one and given the direction that the show has been heading in its effort to gain viewers and ratings, I find this a little surprising. Maybe Danny could have given Jordan some chocolates - we all know that she loves to eat! Maybe Tom could have given Lucy a dinner date seeing as how their last one got completely screwed up by Jack - Oh I forgot - they have a date for Sunday night and we didn’t get past Friday night’s show on Monday, so maybe next week will see the Tom/Lucy date. Maybe Matt and/or Luke could have given Harriet some flowers, after all Matt did give her the fern plant when he first met her - so that might have been a way of rekindling some of the lost romance.
All in all - as I said yesterday, Monday’s episode was disappointing, specifically on the Matt and Harriet front and I am beginning to agree with a lot of opinions out there that are So Done with that story line and reckon it’s about they both moved on. But the good news is that the previews for next week show a new lady in Matt’s life, so let us hope that we get a chance to follow that story line for longer then 2 weeks.

Well - I have to confess I was somewhat disappointed with the episode last night. I was hoping for more insight to the Harriet/Matt realtionship, but it just appears that Luke and Matt have been rivals for Harriet right from day one and Matt is taking drugs. And I thought that the one with the drugf problem was Danny. But I get ahead of myself. The episode unfolded in a series of flash backs interspersed with present day.
We start with the dress rehearsal and the singer of the night - Diane Valdez - singing a song with very sad lyrics. She is a stand in for White Stripes who have cancelled for the second time, and the lyrics for her songs are inspired by her life - which is apparantly, incredibly sad. In one scene, she gives Danny drugs - and also a little speech about hallucinations and mixed memories when high.
In the flash back scenes, we meet Harriet for the first time, and the rivalry between Matt and Luke starts with them both trying to impress her by writing a sketch for her. In the end it is Luke’s sketch - Singing Teacher - that gets on the show and Matt’s sketch is rejected. Matt recalls an old friend Tim, who was fired for taking pills, and thus letting Matt move into his office which he shares with Luke. Throughout the flashback episodes we see Tim in various conversations with Matt, but no one in the present day can remember him - and finally, big light bulb, we (and Matt) realize that he never existed - Matt has mixed up his memories - just reinforcing that he is indeed taking drugs - I wonder where we are heading with that.
There were some good scenes with Danny and Jordan - moving their relationship forward. A good scene with Halley and Jordan, where we see the true nature of Halley - and it isn’t pretty, but it seems that Jordan has her number.
There really wasn’t very much more to this episode - as I started by saying, I was disappointed - but again - we seem to be getting set up for the drug taking Matt story line, the Danny/Jordan romance and, sad to say, nothing for Tom and English girl or Jack and the FCC. It must be hard when there are so many loose ends out there to decide which ones get attention every week. Maybe we will get back to them next week and leave Matt and Harriet alone - becauses God knows they are really not going anywhere and we need to move on.
So - I believe we have two more episode before the time slot turns violent - it will be interesting to see how much can be resolved and how much will be left up in the air, potentially never to be brought to conclusion.

So - it is confirmed that on March 5th, The Black Donnelly’s will replace Studio 60 in the 10.00pm time slot, and as of yesterday there was no firm date for the return of MY show. I have said it before, but I think it bears repeating - as long as the networks are being held hostage by advertisers and the need to sell their advertising slots, and as long as they continue to program to the lowest common denominator, great shows that are obviously too far above the heads of the average viewer, will get cancelled and be replaced by shows that appeal to the adrenaline junkies, mindless violance, tired story lines and so blatantly “Been there - done that” BUT I know it will grab the numbers to appease the advertisers. I am so sick of shows with gratutitous violence, guns blaring, people bleeding everywhere, bodies piling up. It was really refreshing to have a show with no violence, no guns and no dead bodies, unless you count the snake, and we haven’t actually seen that yet - but it cannot draw the numbers large enough to attract the advertisers, so it has to be pulled.
There is something to be said for the 2 British channels that do not rely on revenue from advertisers so have the freedom to program what they want, when they want. Why can’t we do that in the States? In England, when you buy a TV you have to buy an annual license and that revenue allows the BBC to program without interruptions. No insidious advertisements every two seconds, when they say a show is an hour long - it really is an hour long - not a scant 45 minutes if you are lucky.
Ah well - I shall enjoy tonight’s episode all the more because it may be one of the last!

NBC announced that The Black Donnelly’s will be debuting on March 5th at 10.00pm. Now we know that that is a Monday night and therefore the time slot of Studio 60 - and there was no announcement as to the slated return of Studio. So we do read between the lines, and accept that maybe the show is doomed and being replaced by yet another violent, disfunctional family drama. Well, I have been saying it all along, that Studio 60 obviously appeals to a more discerning audience, who don’t need adrenaline pumping TV, but would rather be intellectually stimulated, and as there aren’t enough of those viewers out there to pay for the advertisers, NBC has taken the low road and replaced Studio 60 with a “more appealing” show - they hope. I, for one, will probably chose to watch the other channels and hope that NBC fails in it’s endeavours. Oh and my apologies for being a little late with this post. I am in the throes of moving house and got thoroughly side tracked today.

I was out their surfing the internet again this morning for my daily dose of Studio 60 news and came across an article that referenced Cynopsis. Having never heard of Cynopsis I went to check it out and it really is the insider scoop on all things television. I wasn’t too happy that it is predicting that my show, Studio 60, is going to be taken off the air until a later date - is that a euphemism for “cancelled”?, and suggests that the only way to see the entire first, and presumably, only, season, will be to buy the DVD when it comes out, but I did find the information on the site interesting and informative. There are job openings in the industry, a Daily Trivia question pertaining to TV and other fun stuff.
So - go check it out, unless of course you are way ahead of me and are a regular visitor.