Watching Studio60

If you’ve been following along with my Studio 60 Revisited Monday night marathon, tonight’s the night for “The Disaster Show,” the episode in which Danny, Jordan, and Matt all apparently took a vacation day, because they appeared not at all … but Allison Janney did appear, as guest host, and who can complain about that? I’ll be watching that episode tonight and writing about it tomorrow, but first, there’s some unfinished business from last week, namely, five questions that went through my mind while watching 4 A.M. Miracle:

1. So what is NBS’s “policy on sexual behavior between willing and reasonable co-workers”? You’d have to expand it to include “complex and unresolved romantic longing” to truly capture the whole Harriet-Matt dilemma, wouldn’t you? Plus, take in account that, while breaking up with Harriet has caused Matt writer’s block that impacts negatively on the show, being in love with her made both of their careers in the first place and has had enormous benefit for the show. Which is why Danny, as a responsible producer, has to kind of order Harriet to fake it, if she has to, and be nice to the guy.

2. Speaking of sexual behavior, is it appropriate for a sexual harassment lawyer to come to a workplace late at night, wearing a low-cut dress, and drink vodka with a witness? Maybe Matt should sue for sexual harassment.

3. Does that baby have a warranty? It’d be kind of fun to imagine Jordan and Danny returning it to the entrepreneurial Lamaze lady and say, “What do we do when the baby does this!”

4. Why was Simon performing stand-up for Tom? Okay, maybe the “packaging is so dumb” bit was supposed to play as actual conversation. But it sounded more like a little comedy riff just kind of sandwiched in there.

5. Did Luke get what he deserved? I’m going to say “yeah,” if just for that “Thank God you’re pretty” comment. I’m glad to see Harriet take responsibility for her terrible behavior toward Matt at the dinner, even though it involves behaving pretty terribly toward Luke. But unlike Matt, Luke can live without her.

_{Photo by Terri Mauro}

Studio 60, NBC, 4 A.M. Miracle, commentary