Studio 60

[Dave]

Well, did everyone watch? what did you guys think?

My initial impressions were that it was very good, well shot and acted, and frankly very intense for a show about TV.

The opening with the "network" style rant on cam was great, but then i'm a fan of Judd Hearsh (though i can't spell his name), and most of what he said was pretty right on. I also like that the Director (Poindexter from Revenge of the Nerds) held the Standards and Practices at bay for so long.

We only just met most of the characters so i don't know what to make about each of them yet, though i'm guessing Stephen Webber is going to be the heavy. What the hell did he do to his eyebrows, has he been in a Fryer-lator accident and they got seered off or something, because they were almost none existant. I literally got up from my seat and got close to the TV to see if he had any hair on his brow at all. It's a weird look. Men shouldn't be that groomed.

I thought Matthew Perry was good as one of the shows "saviors", but thought he was moving around very well for someone who was only a few days out of backsurgery, even if he was doped to the gills on Percoset. I'm also interested to see what his strong Aversion is to Pat Robertson and the 700 Club is all about. To me at least, it seems like something silly to be a 'deal breaker' as we say around here.

That brings me to his former Girlfriend, she's a pretty weak person in my opinion, if she both apologises for going on 700 Club and says if she had it to do over again, she wouldn't go. She was selling a gospel record after all, where else would she go to promote it.

That one problem aside, It was an excellent show, one that i can't wait to watch every week.

[FanGirl]

I have it Tivoed. I'll be watching tonight hopefully.

[PftLBritt]

Dave, as usual, I concur. A couple other items of note that i thought about when I saw it:

Loved, loved Amanda Peet as well as her character (very smartly acted)
The bond between Perry's and the guy from the West Wing's characters seemed genuine. Looking forward to how the dynamic will play out (seems similar to the relationship between the two sports anchors on "Sports Night").
I'm a big Hirsch fan too. Loved "Dear John"
Lastly, the fat guy from all of the commercials could be a Belushi/Farley colne. Isee a very special episode with him dying of some sort of drug OD.

[FanGirl]

Dear John was a great show. I still remember the theme song.

[Dave]

Yeah, Amanda Peet was great too. And you are right, the bond between Perry and 'other guy' seemed very real.

I don't remember the fat guy, but i suspect you are right about that.

I loved the ex-girlfriend telling that guy at the rap party that he could talk to her when he got more than 2 lines, too.

[FanGirl]

Watched it last night. Ended up having dreams about it as well.

I liked it, but I don't feel like I have to watch it like Lost or Battlestar. It wasn't as smooth as West Wing first episode, but still good. I've never liked Amanda Peet, but she was good in this. It'll be interesting to see what issues they'll be covering. In other words, I'm down the middle on this one. I season passed it on the Tivo. I'll wacth a few more episodes before making up my mind.

[phit_demon]

It wasn't as smooth as West Wing first episode
What a pilot!
I was going to put Bartlet's entrance in the "Enter stage right..." thread, but it's not a movie.

[BAMSS04]

Damn I wish I had caught it!

[ILovePapaSmurf]

Bravo is airing reruns.

Saw it the other day and loved it. Granted it is not as great as 'Sports Night,' this will be one of the new shows of the season that I have listed on my DVR to record.

Loved Matthew Perry, always have and love Sarah Paulson (see 'Down with Love') and Mr. Whittford is great in just about everything he does, including Billy Madison.

Can't wait to see the new episode. Let's just hope this show doesn't get canned and I end up "borrowing" someone's dvd collection forever.

[jjcourtright]

Mr. Whittford is great in just about everything he does, including Billy Madison.This guy?
http://www.aerosmith-lyrics.com/files/Brad_Whitford.jpg

[Dave]

Saw it the other day and loved it. Granted it is not as great as 'Sports Night,' this will be one of the new shows of the season that I have listed on my DVR to record.

It's only had one episode, lets speak on this subject again at the end of the season...

[FanGirl]

I thought last night's episode was much better than the Pilot. Now, I'm into the show. I look forward to next week. The musical number was perfect.

"Don't give it special powers. It's just a clock." - Fav line.

[Dave]

Yeah, and i liked the showdown between the suits and Amanda Peet. She's got some ball on her. I like that. It will be interesting to see if they (Capt. No Eyebrows, mainly) finally break her down or if she can withstand their unrelenting pressure to bow to the myriad of special interests that will be bitching about stuff.

[PftLBritt]

Yeah, and i liked the showdown between the suits and Amanda Peet. She's got some ball on her. I like that. It will be interesting to see if they (Capt. No Eyebrows, mainly) finally break her down or if she can withstand their unrelenting pressure to bow to the myriad of special interests that will be bitching about stuff.
I watched the show via TiVo last night. I also liked it and loved when Amanda Peet's character was calling out these small-minded small markets then charging sponosrs who backed out a higher ad rate fee to come back. Nice and shrewd.

Fav line - the quote from the Mary Tyler Moore show "You've got spunk. I hate spunk."

[ILovePapaSmurf]

The second episode was much better and it is such a great show. Let's hope it stays on the air. :)

[ozchick]

Seeing as odds are that we won't get this show till 2007 at the earliest I thought I'd "borrow" it. Just finished watching the first 2 episodes and I really liked it. The chemistry between all the characters were really good, it was well written and you can definately see the similarities with The West Wing. I'll look forward to "borrowing" the rest of the season!


Side Note: Is there something weird with the board formatting or is it just me? I can't put my finger on it.

[phit_demon]

Seeing as odds are that we won't get this show till 2007 at the earliest I thought I'd "borrow" it...I'll look forward to "borrowing" the rest of the season!
What's all this shame to do with downloading stuff?!
I'm gonna just come straight out and say it, I download TV shows and movies all the time. The ones I like, I buy afterwards. The ones I don't get deleted. It's either that or wait until things come on TV over here, at which point I'll have to be drip-fed them once a week, with commercials interrupting my viewing every 15 minutes, so feck that!

Viva La Revolution!

[By-tor]

You're so going to Hell. :D

[phit_demon]

You're so going to Hell. :D
See you there. Keep me a seat. ;)

[FanGirl]

Anyone watch last night? I liked the song at the end. I thought it was a perfect choice. Did you notice they gave a nice plug to the Smoking Gun. I wonder who is going to play her ex-husband.

"God, hates you and loves me."
"Oh yea, prove it."
*Lights come back on*
"Okay, I'm a little scared right now."

[PftLBritt]

I'm gonna try to watch it tonight since MNF was on. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how this one settles down the series so it can find it's weekly groove.

[Dave]

Another excellent show, i especially liked the Skit montage that finally gave us a feel for what the "Studio 60" show is like.

I have to say this, i hope that they lay off the 'small market' business soon. I sort of find it offensive. I know it's sort of the point, but you don't want to alienate the fly-over markets by continually bashing them, do you?

[PftLBritt]

I have to say this, i hope that they lay off the 'small market' business soon. I sort of find it offensive. I know it's sort of the point, but you don't want to alienate the fly-over markets by continually bashing them, do you?

I'm not a Hollywood player by any means but I think that it's a plot device to create a more black/white separation between the cold, uncaring suits that run the network and the warm and sensitive creative that run the show. In the second episode, Perry's character actually seems concerned about being called a "Streisand-loving Hollywood Democrat". Now, maybe it was under the "not wanting to be accused of being gay" guise (which is developing a strange back story between Perry and Whitford) but still, the thought demonstrated that he cares what everybody thinks. And thus makes him relatable, unlike the suits that could care less about the "small minded people" in Terre Haute. Again, I could be reading this all wrong..

[Dave]

You're probably right, and that goes along with Perry being worried about the 50% of people who see the show as "Patriotic", and all that.

Who leaked the Focus Group report to the cast, I wonder?

[FanGirl]

I thought Jeanie said she got it from Ricky and Ronnie.

So Variety had a report that Studio 60 got good reviews and bad ratings and Heroes got bad reviews and good ratings. So sad, I like Studio 60 a lot and can't stand Heroes.

[Dave]

Hero's was boring. I'll not watch it again.

However i love Studio 60, I have to believe that the suits at MBS will keep a good thing on the air for more than a season to build viewership.

Maybe they'll move it to the hole in Thursday nights between the Office and ER

[FanGirl]

That's were it was orginally scheduled, but there are too many heavies on at that time already.

I hated Heroes. It was slow and uninteresting. I too shall not watch it again. Lame. Lame. Lame.

[PftLBritt]

Wow, I thought that I was in the inority. Heroes was bad like a slow torturous death way. After watching the first 10 minutes, I deleted it, cancelled the season pass then put in disc 1 of MXC.

Studio 60 was excellent as well. And you guys was right - the montage was a good peak into how the show would appear on the TV. The only thing - the 7% increase in shares seemed rather high for an established down-and-out show. Or maybe it's me?

[FanGirl]

I think Heroes is scifi light. The people who seem to like it don't watch real scifi and don't realize how good it can be. It's like beginner geek when most of us need the advanced stuff.

[Dave]

No, i think your right about that. But in the magical land of TV, i guess it could happen. Kind of like Letterman post heart surgery.

Hopefully they do a show where the number drop (as the boys said at the end, we know where the script goes from here -- or something like that)

EDIT: i was replying to Britt

[Jason_Brown]

The people who seem to like it don't watch real scifi and don't realize how good it can be.
Yup. That's me.:rolleyes:

[FanGirl]

I'm conjecturing based on the people here at work who like it.

[PftLBritt]

Since MNF was SUX, I watched last night's ep. Since I don't know the temperature of the room, I'll start with:



***** Spoilers ********











On one hand, it was a good episode as far as finding more details about the characters and seeing how many different types of crisises can come up in a "live" show (and live I mean for everyone other than the West Coast). And I beginning to see how Perry's character falls in love with Harry. She seems to light up when she's on the set.

But, in other respects, it was a big letdown. The way that the show was teased, I was expecting a huge Charles Rocket/George Carlin's "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television" kind of screwup. But a runaround on plagarism that ended up being a much-to-do-about-nothing just killed the buzz of the entire show. Really, parts of the show were A+ material but it ended up being a C, at least in my book.

[FanGirl]

I agree. It was teased to be very different from what it ended up being. There were shots in the commericals that weren't in the actual episode.

[PftLBritt]

I thought so too but my memory is not like it was...

[ILovePapaSmurf]

Missed the past two weeks. God bless the DVR. :)

[jjcourtright]

I watched "The Focus Group" and "The West Coast Feed" last night. Damn is this a good show. I've never seen Sportsnight or The West Wing, so I went in cold, but really dug it.

Do they have a rhyming line in each episode, or was that just weird coincidence?

[Dave]

I don't know that i've caught the rhyming lines yet, but it wouldn't suprise me at all. I'll be on the lookout (listenout?) from now on.

[jjcourtright]

I think it was Whitford in "The Focus Group" and Peet in "The West Coast Feed," when she was at her car talking to her assistant if memory serves.

[Threadkiller]

Anybody else catch the premier of 30 Rock? I thought it was great. Tracy Morgan steals the show a bit as the "Martin Lawrence" character and I wanted to see more of the other writers. But I guess that's what I get for a 30 minute show. Y'all should check it out before it gets cancelled which should happen any second now.

[FanGirl]

The commericals didn't make me laugh once. Plus it's up against Jerico so I probably won't catch it.

[Threadkiller]

I like the idea of Jericho but the individual episodes are bugging me. Every single day there is some new race against life and death and only the cute lead character has the pluck and the courage to get it done. blah blah. On top of that, have any of the writers ever lived in a small rural town? There aren't nearly enough crazy survivalist rednecks to be believable for me.

[Dave]

I totally love Jericho. The Jericho/Lost 2 hours is great TV. I like the premise (a sucker from any Red Dawn/Day After senario), and am intregued as to whats up with both the Black Guy -- Was that a Russian website? -- and what the prodigal son has been up too.

I don't think it's missing crazy survivalists at all. I've lived in several southern towns that didn't have any that i knew of. (besides, they could still be holed up in their bunker. ;)

[ILovePapaSmurf]

I keep missing the show, but I heard that it has gone wayyy off course and a lot of people aren't too happy about it.

[PftLBritt]

I keep missing the show, but I heard that it has gone wayyy off course and a lot of people aren't too happy about it.
I watched it via TiVo last night and I can see where people might be saying that. There were like four to five different plotlines juggling for time on the show. Very soap-opera like. I'll try to explain it for you but don't kill me if I don't have the names of the characters.

**SPOILERS**












It's the wrap-up party after the Sting show hosted by the elder Gilmore Girl show. Harry and Matt are suffering for the almost kiss after-effects. Jordan (studio pres) is still glowing about smacking Jack down and getting her show signed to the Network then tries to make friends with the entire cast. An old man tries to steal some picture and get caught by security and Cal (director in the control room) intervenes and gets him in a separate room to ensure that he gets home okay.

Tom, the youngish star of the show has his parents coming by (which is not thrilled about seeing) and he gives them a tour of the studio (along with a history of it) where the show is shot. Danny is trying to get Matt to forget about Harry by having him hook up with bimbos, who get distracted by Harry's new baseball boyfriend. In the meantime, the old man is giving Cal the runaround about who he is and finally finds out his name through a VA ID card.

While this stuff is going on, Tom is going through the history of the building with his parents on his tour and his father blurts out two facts: Tom is not his real name but his stage name and his younger brother is overseas in the war. Hello, Dysfunction Junction. It appears that Dad does not approve of his job or the Hollywood scene, in general, while Mom just smiles and tries to get everyone to get along. Tom recovers and touches about the Red Scare in the 50s just as Cal learns that the old man was a staff writer on a Texaco Comedy Hour-style show for NBS and was one of those people who were affected by McCarthyism.

Meanwhile, Matt gets accused by Simon Styles of not having enough people of color on the writing staff. To meet his challenge, Matt goes with Simon to see some up-and-coming comic, who trades on the stereotypical black jokes (baby mamas, phat butts, differences between white and black people). Simon is embarrassed and Matt consoles him with a couple of cold ones at the bar when they hear a comic who is dying but is talking about socially relevant issues. They both decide to hire him as a staff writer after he's done with his set.

Jordan wants an autograph from Harry's boyfriend for her nephew. She gets the ball signed, turns and sees that it has his phone number on it. Who says that athletes are dumb? If it worked before....

The show ends with Danny and Matt meeting the old man and hearing about his times as a staff writer, Tom tells his dad that he loves him and taught him all he knew then gives him an Abbot and Costello "Who's On First?" on vinyl while Harry figures out what was signed on Jordan's baseball and says that she deserves it because the jock is the "anti-Matt".

For me, the show was good in some parts; borderline preachy in others.

Grade=C

[FanGirl]

This past week wasn't the best.

Although, we interpreted something different. When his dad calls him by the wrong name, I took it that he called him by his brother's name and not that it was his real name.

The previous episodes have been better.

[PftLBritt]

Although, we interpreted something different. When his dad calls him by the wrong name, I took it that he called him by his brother's name and not that it was his real name.

Yeah, that could've been it. I was not fully paying attention to it at that time.

[Dave]

Tom, the youngish star of the show has his parents coming by (which is not thrilled about seeing) and he gives them a tour of the studio (along with a history of it) where the show is shot.

And his parent's don't know "Who's on First?" even in the backwoods of Alabama we know that routine. Rang as False. I agree that he was accidentally called his brothers name.

Meanwhile, Matt gets accused by Simon Styles of not having enough people of color on the writing staff. To meet his challenge, Matt goes with Simon to see some up-and-coming comic, who trades on the stereotypical black jokes (baby mamas, phat butts, differences between white and black people). Simon is embarrassed and Matt consoles him with a couple of cold ones at the bar when they hear a comic who is dying but is talking about socially relevant issues. They both decide to hire him as a staff writer after he's done with his set.

As soon as the first comic went on stage, i saw this development coming down the block...

I like this show a lot, and honestly have been surprised by reading all the negitivity about it lately. I think it's better than 2/3s of the stuff on TV now. I was concerned initially about the religion aspect, but they seem to have that under control. I don't see the preachy part that much, (I do see where they could be setting the preachy stuff up, with all the McCarthy, War/body armour, Race stuff) but it doesn't feel like i'm being lectured too, at least not yet.

[FanGirl]

This week was a little weird. It reminded me of one of my favorite episodes of West Wing where Edward James Olmos was arrested and Josh took over the Press room.

Sadly, it just wasn't as good. It just was missing something. I think maybe by this point the writers were hearing reviews on the first few eps. I'm going to watch it until its cancelled which shouldn't be too much longer. They only got picked up for 3 more epsiodes instead of the rest of the season.

So sad, this is a good show.

[Aaron]

Can't wait to see the new episode. Let's just hope this show doesn't get canned and I end up "borrowing" someone's dvd collection forever.
:(

I know it's a little late to post in this thread, but I've been re-watching all the first (and only) series like a crack addict lately.
Sometimes I really don't understand how quality like this can get cancelled and absolute dross still stays on the air...

[ratm1966]

Most people don't care about quality, which is why Reality shit TV stays on the air.

[ZBarclay]

I think the problem with Studio 60 was that there was too much going on for the standard audience member to understand. It was an either "you got or you didn't" show.
I thought it was one of the 3 best shows on TV that year.

[Aaron]

Totally.
And I would have loved to have seen it handle the writers strike thats on now.

Fanny can probably answer this one for me.
Because Aaron Sorkin is also the producer of the show. Does that mean he could write it seperate to the strike?
May sound stupid but I was wondering if that was a loop-hole.

[ZBarclay]

Totally.
And I would have loved to have seen it handle the writers strike thats on now.

Fanny can probably answer this one for me.
Because Aaron Sorkin is also the producer of the show. Does that mean he could write it seperate to the strike?
May sound stupid but I was wondering if that was a loop-hole.

I do know that Leno was getting a lot of flak even for writing his own monologue since he used it on a show, which he garners financial gain from. It's a big freakin' mess. I think they should give in to their demands. The writers do some good work...I miss them.

[Aaron]

What was he supposed to do? Stand there in silence?
I don't understand strikes sometimes.
I know they're making a stand and it seems to be for good reasons.
But if someone else is going to lose a job because of them, you can't get bitchy with them for trying their best.

[ZBarclay]

What was he supposed to do? Stand there in silence?
I don't understand strikes sometimes.
I know they're making a stand and it seems to be for good reasons.
But if someone else is going to lose a job because of them, you can't get bitchy with them for trying their best.

Oh, I agree. I was just trying to help answer your question using the information that I have...which is not much.

[Dave]

yeah, to answer your question. Sorkin could not write episodes for the show. Just like JJ Abrams can't write Lost as it would be a violation of the WGA strike.

Personally, i detest Unions, and which all states were Right to Work states. The writers do have some good points about profit sharing, but what they do could also be considered "work for hire" because the studios own the shows and employ the writers to write those shows.

[Czaple]

Personally, i detest Unions, and which all states were Right to Work states. The writers do have some good points about profit sharing, but what they do could also be considered "work for hire" because the studios own the shows and employ the writers to write those shows.

Yah, but you could say the same thing about musicians, that they 'work for hire' for music companies. The studio doesn't create/write the TV shows, they only finance them. If you wrote a book and a publisher financed its publication, do you agree the publisher should own all rights to the book once you get your advance?

I'd like to think we were beyond unions, but we're not. Every non-union job I've ever had, I've had problems with raises and the companies I was working for trying to fuck me over. When you have a union behind you, you're employer is more liable to the benefits they promise their employees. Unfortunately, without unions, I'd imagine many artists and artisans would be kept poor and starving.

[ratm1966]

The reason why Leno caught all of that flack is that he is a member of the Writers Guild and it is the Writers Guild that is on strike. If he wasn't a member, there would have been no problem with him writing his own material for the show.

[Aaron]

Ah, didn't know he was in the writers guild.
Makes sense

[ZBarclay]

Ah, didn't know he was in the writers guild.
Makes sense

Oooooooooh. I thought you knew. I guess I should have started my comment with that. My fault...Ima stoopid.

[ratm1966]

Ah, didn't know he was in the writers guild.
Makes sense

Yeah, a lot of people don't know that. Hell, I didn't even know it until I did some research to find out why everyone had their panties in a wad.