It’s Monday, so let’s watch “Monday”
If you’ve been following along with my Studio 60 Revisited Monday night marathon, tonight’s the night for “Monday,” which originally aired on January 22, 2007.
As I wrote about this episode back when it aired in the U.K., “it’s the one where Danny calls Jordan, continues to call her even after she blocks his number, has his friends fax her with recommendations, and when she asks him to please back off, replies ‘No.’ It’s the one where Matt bids on Harriet, Tom asks out Lucy, Simon and Darius disagree about a Fruit of the Loom sketch, and Jordan wrangles with a new head of Illiterate Alternative Programming who’s read a stupid book about power. And it’s the one where Jack and Wilson wage war over the FCC ruling and make a deal with the father of viola-playing Kim that involves her going out with Tom on the very night of his just-made date.”
I remember, too, when the episode first aired in the U.S., that the reaction to Danny’s pursuit of Jordan was not good. Lots of critics and critical viewers felt Danny wasn’t so much being a persistent suitor as being a stalker, and that when he refused to back off when Jordan said, “No,” he crossed a line. I’m going to be very interested watching it again, knowing how this couple ends up, and having retraced the origins of their romance in this second time through the episodes.
It’s been pretty clear to me that a case was made for their attraction being mutual from the first episode, and up until this point at least, that Jordan likes and courts Danny’s attention but is distrustful of getting it for being pregnant. We’re meant to eventually understand that this is the reason for her rejection of his advances. I’ll be looking to see if that comes through strongly on the second viewing.
Interestingly, I had a whole bunch of YouTube videos linked from that earlier post that have been taken down due to copyright complaints by NBC. You know, they had to go and cancel the show, you’d think they’d still let us keep those silly little clips.
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