Watching Studio60

We’re taking a second look at “The Wrap Party,” the sixth episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, which originally aired on October 23, 2006. Following up on yesterday’s review, here’s a recap of the episode. Tune in later in the week for memorable lines and five questions.

It’s the end of the Friday-night show that started last episode, “The Long Lead Story,” and guest host Lauren Graham’s saying her goodnights. Meanwhile, Cal’s buzzing around the control room getting ready for a wrap party in the studio, in the hopes that the wrap party won’t destroy the studio. While he’s looking after a hundred different details, a tipsy Jordan follows him around, expositioning that she bought a show on the U.N., she didn’t buy a show Jack wanted, and she’s hiding from him at the party. Too bad: Jack walks in, also tipsy, also at the party. Good luck keeping the studio in one piece there, Cal.

Jordan’s hiding and Jack’s ticked, but Jeannie’s happy as can be, because people actually laughed at her Commedia dell’Arte sketch. Harriet, however, is a little rattled over her near-miss kiss with Matt at the end of last episode, up there on the balcony with Sting serenading them. No matter: She’s meeting her baseball-playing “anti Matt” at the wrap party, and he’s non-bantering and non-sarcastic and church-going, so what could possibly go wrong?

Sarcasm is going to be a curse for Tom tonight, because his parents are visiting, and his father does not appreciate the smart talk. Or anything else about Tom’s job or, maybe, self. Simon admonishes Tom to remember that his dad works for a living and don’t be an ass, but as we’ll see later, he’s got enough issues with his past that he probably shouldn’t be judging Tom. Especially since Tom’s the one who’s going to have to show the old folks around the studio, with the sure knowledge that they will not appreciate his sure knowledge.

Danny and Matt banter a bit with Lauren Graham, who was in two episodes here as a guest host and really had very little to do, though this scene is cute enough. Matt mentions his near-kiss with Harriet to Danny, who tries to distract him with some shiny baubles named Shana, Laci, and Treasure. And they sure do represent the anti-Harriet, with their goal in life to date someone more mature than a rock star and their complete lack of understanding of what Matt does on the show. They do think Darren Wells is hot, though.

There’s a heated scene going on in the lobby as a couple of security guys try to usher an elderly gentleman out of the theater. When Cal intervenes, they explain that the old fellow didn’t have a pass to the party and tried to steal a picture off the wall. But Cal’s got a sense that the trespasser may be more than what he appears to be — maybe because of the photo he chose to steal; maybe because he mentions “Tars and Spars,” which Cal recognizes as a reference to Sid Caesar; and maybe because the confused codger is played by guest star Eli Wallach. At any rate, Cal has him sequestered in a conference room until they can figure out who he is.

It’s a night full of references to comedy greats, as Tom gives his parents a tour of the theater that sounds like the kind of thing you’d get from a tour guide. When he mentions that Abbott and Costello tried out “a new piece of material here called ‘Who’s on First?’” he learns that not only do his folks not have much understanding of what he does, they have no particular interest in comedy at all, and have amazingly never heard of the classic routine. Not too happy with his amazement, either.

At the party, Matt’s still trying to get the bimbettes to understand what it is he does as this “writer” thing. He’s happy to be rescued when Simon needs to talk to him, but not so happy that Simon thinks the writing staff needs a black member. They banter about whether Matt can or cannot write good material for Simon, and make plans to go see a comedian Simon’s interested in at the Improv.

Jordan is interested in making friends, of which she apparently has none at the moment, and in her intoxicated state thinks it would be a good idea to just go ahead and ask cast members to be her buddies. She also wants a baseball signed by Darren Wells, and Harriet recruits Alex and Dylan to find her one.

Cal’s still trying to find the identity of the old gent in the lobby, but he’s gone from giving no name to giving three. Cal goes off to find someone else to be in the room while he goes through the guy’s pockets, and happens to mention the names to Danny — who immediately recognizes that they are not three names but six, the last names of six of the Hollywood Ten. Danny thinks Cal’s being played, and should let security have it. But now, Cal’s taking it personally.

Tom’s still trying to get his parents to appreciate the theater, or even to get his dad to remember that his name’s Tom, not Mark. The shadow of that brother looms large over their evening, and the harder he tries to distract with architectural details about the building, the more his father’s annoyed. Turns out Tom’s brother is standing in the middle of Afghanistan, and that makes Tom standing in the middle of a really great theater seem entirely unworthy.

Simon decides the comedian he’s come to hear at the Improv is unworthy when the guy’s routine is just an endless stream of stereotypes and lowest common denominator. Simon’s disgusted and apologetic about having dragged Matt out, and they decide to sit and have a few beers and maybe discuss what’s really going on with Simon. And maybe, I don’t know, hear a better comic?

Cal’s back, with Lily, to go through the old man’s pockets. He finds a wallet, a name — Eli Weinraub — and a VA card, and Lily goes off to go through back channels to find out where he lives. Jordan’s found out that the best the Studio 60 prop room has to offer in the way of baseballs is an orange painted to look like a baseball and a baseball that explodes. No worries, though, because Darren Wells travels with a box full o’ baseballs, and promptly signs one while making an allusion to the gossip about Jordan, her tale-telling ex-husband, and sex clubs. Jordan never quite mentions that the baseball is for her nephew, and she seems unhappy with what he’s written on it. Gosh, do you suppose there’s something there besides his name?

Besides the old man’s name, Cal now has some information about his war hero past, and being a WWII buff, he describes to the guy and Lily what the experience must have been like. Cal asks if shrapnel from the invasion of Normandy gave Eli the scar on his face, then notices there’s a man with a scar in the picture Eli wanted. And then, we jump from war history to comedy history. The war hero was a comedy writer at the time of the blacklist.

Matt’s going to want to talk to him, but first he wants to talk to Simon. At the bar, Simon talks about an early turning point in which he was steered away from violence by someone who’s now serving consecutive life sentences. Simon’s feeling responsible for doing some rescue work of his own. Needing rescue at the moment is a comedian named Darius who’s doing an entirely different sort of routine on his own personal African American experience. It’s bombing big-time with the audience, but going over well with Simon and Matt, who promptly offer him a job on the writing staff.

Danny would be needing a job if Jack had anything to do with it, and if helping Jordan acquire a show about the U.N. was a fireable offense. In lieu of taking his job, Jack would be happy to just beat Danny to a bloody pulp, but his wife comes to collect him just in time. Jordan, meanwhile, is trying to make a quick exit from the party, but Harriet questions her about the baseball and guesses pretty quickly that Darren Wells did the “sign something with your phone number” come on with her, too. Turns out he’s the “anti-Matt” in some not so good ways, too.

We finish up in the writer’s room, with Matt, Danny, Cal, and the man Cal officially introduces as “Eli Weinraub, freshman writer for The Philco Comedy Hour live from Studio 60,” which we heard about earlier in the evening from Tom. They learn Eli was blacklisted after one sketch, and listen as he describes all the writers in the photo, and realize that things don’t change all that much over time. Including writers doing their best work to impress the girls they love.

Studio 60, NBC, The Wrap Party, recap