Watching Studio60

We’re taking a second look at “The Cold Open,” the second episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, originally aired on September 25, 2006. Following up on yesterday’s review, here’s a recap of the episode. Tune in tomorrow for a listing of memorable lines, and Saturday for five questions about the episode.

Title Card: Monday

Press conference, and Jordan’s on the spot. She’s sharing her theory of programming. But it doesn’t take long for the questions to turn to Wes’s speech. But she fields that fairly smoothly, too.

Admiring her technique backstage is Danny, but he can’t get Matt to share the appreciation because Matt’s too busy obsessing about the fact that Danny let him sleep the weekend away. Danny needed him rested more than Matt needed to start writing, but that doesn’t calm Matt much. Danny’s decision-making, of which he says he’ll be doing a lot, included sending Jeannie to Matt’s house, something that may not go down well with Harriet.

And now we’re back out with Jordan, who’s saying all the right things again, as she introduces Matt and Danny in terms so glowing they’re going to be hard to live up to. So, no pressure.

And now we’re at the studio, where Cal announces to the cast that our guys are on TV. The cast gathers to watch, and Jeannie comes in to chat with Harriet. No spilling of the weekend-with-Matt beans yet, though I’m sure we’re all poised for that.

Reviled writers Ricky and Ron are watching the press conference, too, and preparing for the most humiliating day of their lives. The rest of the writing staff gathers, and doesn’t look too happy, either. But now we’re back onstage with the guys. Making jokes about Jack …

… who’s watching now. When asked why they’re not doing a movie, Jack says what he wants to hear, and so does Matt, but then Danny comes right on out and says the truth about his cocaine habit temporarily derailing his ability to get movies made. The room, which we’re back in now, explodes in questions, but Danny’s said all he’s going to say on that, and Jordan’s making jokes again. They’re falling flat now.

And now, for the real trouble. Some gal from Rapture magazine asks about the “Crazy Christians�? sketch in a way that makes you think she’s not so much an impartial journalist as a crazy Christian herself. Matt again hedges, Danny again tells the truth, and the conference comes to a quick close. Not quick enough, now, was it?

Much walking and talking and yelling as Jordan and Danny and Matt and Shelly the PR lady race down the hall debating all the many ways that went badly. They’re stopped by Jack, who’s snappish about Danny’s honesty and Jordan’s following it with a joke, and surprised that Matt of all people is the only one who held it together. He’s also surprised to hear from Shelly how many people read Rapture magazine. Matt’s surprised that word of the sketch got out, but Jordan reminds him of all the people who saw it at the dress rehearsal, not to mention the fact that it was rattling around as a script for four years. Danny’s still ticked about how high Jordan set the bar with her intro, but she just expects them to shut up and clear it.

As Matt and Danny walk back to the studio, Matt’s obessing about his need for a killer opening sketch, mostly, and Harriet, a little bit. They argue a little about who will (or, really, doesn’t want to) get Wes’s office, and Matt wins/loses — Wes’s lair is his. As they enter, we get that rarity in a Sorkin show: an extended period of silence. The room carries a lot of weight.

It also has a countdown clock on the wall, the activating of which sends Matt further into a creative tizzy. It doesn’t seem likely that a visit to the writer’s room, which looks sort of like a frat house the morning after, is going to help much, especially after Danny gives the kind of pep talk designed to make everybody hate Matt and then splits.

We leave Matt to listen to what will undoubtedly be a bunch of very bad ideas, and descend to the bowels of the theater and the actors’ dressing rooms. Tom’s reading an unflattering blog post about the show, and delivers a little anti-blogger rant. The conversation bounces around from Tom, to Simon, to Harriet, on to the subject of Matt’s back surgery and whether he can sit at a desk and write for fourteen hours, a short day for him, and inevitably the ball goes to Jeannie, who mentions she saw him doing leg lifts, and … wait for it … while Danny’s giving another of his anti-pep-talks … and the talk goes back to Matt and his leg lifts … and Jeannie makes it clear that she saw him doing them at his house … and … BAM! Harriet gets it, and she’s up the stairs like a shot.

She makes it to the writer’s room to hurl invective at Matt just as he’s making a speech about the need for professionalism. They take it out into the hallway, where first he cautions her to never speak like that to him in front of the writers again, which admonishment she seems to accept. And then they get back to the yelling and sniping and using words as instruments of injury, over the fact that Matt may or may not be dating Jeannie, and may or may not be dating a lot of other people, and she broke up with him in an e-mail, and — aw, you know, the particulars don’t matter that much, it’s the same argument about how they love each other but can’t live with each other. And it ends, sadly and tensely, with Harriet walking away and Matt cursing.

Title Card: Tuesday

Jack and Shelly are discussing the rapture, again. Then Jordan comes in, and we see we’re at a meeting where representatives for affiliates and sales are going to complain about the sketch. The kinda creepy Rapture reporter has mobilized the masses to scare station owners in Terre Haute, untold other markets, and the NBS executive suite, where Jack orders Jordan to have the guys cut the sketch. She refuses, because she made them a promise. She doesn’t care if no one can watch, she doesn’t care if phone lines are flooded, she doesn’t care if they come after her pesonally, she’s not breaking the promise.

It’s looking like “Crazy Christians�? may be the only thing on the show, though, because a meeting with Danny, Cal, and the crew makes clear that nothing’s been written yet. Cal puts everyone on stand-by. That’s confidence-inspiring. Good meeting!

Turns out, there’s not even a musical guest, because Jack White of the White Stripes has tonsillitis. So Danny orders some other group to be found or reunited to fill in. Then he runs into Simon and asks about a tense little moment at the earlier meeting. Simon’s miffed that Danny’s only there because he failed a drug test, and there’s obviously some bad blood over the fact that Danny left four years before to stand by Matt, and Simon didn’t.

But before we can spend much time with that, Danny goes to Matt’s office, its countdown clock ticking ominously, to inform him that the musical guest is out. That leaves the bulletin board that maps out the show entirely bare. Hey, there’s still three more days. The clock says so!

Soon Tom wanders in, wearing a Jack White wig that’s now not needed, and Cal wanders in to give Matt some reassurance, and Simon wanders in to maybe have a talk with Matt, and soon they’re throwing around ideas for that opening sketch. They talk about the things it needs to be — self-deprecating, serious about the show but not about themselves, calling on the show’s heritage, saying they’ll be model citizens — and pretty soon, they’ve got an idea for a big Gilbert and Sullivan parody opener, with musicians and light opera singers and cracks about the producer doing blow. Get those costume folks off stand-by!

Title Card: Friday

Protesters are picketing the studio, while inside Matt and the cast members are still tweaking the script. Excitement’s brewing, the board’s full of cards, the dress was spectacular, and Matt’s already worrying about next week. Danny’s worrying about whether Matt’s in love with Harriet, and how much that’s going to screw up the show. Matt denies it in the most unconvincing way possible, and they realize the trouble’s there, buddy.

Trying to be a little less troublesome is Jeannie, who stops by Harriet’s dressing room to explain that she and Matt are just friends who sometimes wind up together when they’re not otherwise attached, and Harriet breaks a breakaway bottle over her head and all seems to be okay. It’ll be okay between Danny and Simon, too, as they clear the air about past disputes and relieve Simon’s fears about being expendable because he can’t do voices. How about co-anchoring the news?

And now we’re almost live. Jack’s standing by, getting a beer and pausing to tell Jordan that he hates spunk. They tally the cost of the protest in affiliates and advertisers, and the cost to Jordan if her boldness doesn’t work, but for now it’s Friday night, and she’s spunky.

The orchestra is tuning up, the cast’s in formalwear, gathered for more of Matt and Danny’s patented anti-pep-talk. Then they join hands while Harriet prays, for a good show and for something heavy to fall on Matt’s head. But she asks him for some comedy advice after, and they have a sweet, uncomplicated moment.

Cal gives Danny a little hazing in the form of a make-believe control room scare. Matt’s in his office, watching the opening number through his window, watching the clock tick down to zero.

And we’re live! The opening number goes great, despite being at a pitch where nobody seems able to sing comfortably, and gets a standing ovation, making Matt happy … until he turns around and sees that infernal, all-knowing clock, already set back to seven days and counting.

Studio 60, NBC, The Cold Open, recap