Prime Television about a Prime-Time Show (Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip)

Member Name: TheChocolateLady

Product:	Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Date:	11/09/07 (127 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Um... everything, acfually

Disadvantages: Only one season was made and no more will be made

"Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" is a behind-the-scenes look at a sketch-comedy show, a la "Saturday Night Live" (or SNL), focusing on two main characters – Matt Albie (Matthew Perry, "Friends"), the new head writer, and Danny Tripp (Bradley Whitford, "The West Wing"), and the new Executive Producer. As the series begins, the show's old Executive Producer, Wes Mendell (Judd Hirsch, "Numb3rs", and "Taxi") has an on-air meltdown and is fired. The new network President, Jordan McDeere (Amanda Peet) hires Matt and Danny in hopes they can rescue it from disaster, and possibly help the network as well.

This is Aaron Sorkin's brain-child, the man who created "Sports Night" and "The West Wing". What unites these three shows is that they all concentrate on the people while out of the public eye – the sports casters, the White House staff, the TV shows' company, staff and crew. Also in common is none of these shows are considered comedies, yet each includes quite a bit of comic relief. All these shows show an intelligence of scripts that is very rare for American television. You never feel like the characters are dumbed-down, or they act or react uncharacteristically. Still, you can't second-guess their actions either, making them all that more interesting. Moreover, the stories are almost never far-fetched, and despite occasional absurd situations, there's nothing presented that can't have happened in real life. Finally, while Matt and Danny are the show's "stars", even the smallest supporting character is carefully crafted and made equally essential to each episode.

As for the acting, we border on perfection here. While shows like "Desperate Housewives" and even "Gray's Anatomy" can tolerate some stereotyped characters, which don't always stop short of over-the-top, Sorkin and his director Thomas Schlamme both seem to refuse to go down that road and control is their keyword. There's never a drunk (or high person) that slobbers, never a touching moment that turns saccharine and no comic repartee turning slapstick. This is true of the whole cast from Perry and Whitford, right down to the cue-card holder.

Speaking of smaller parts, I should mention a few that caught my eye, and might catch yours. For instance, fans of the British "The Office" will recognize Lucy Davis (Dawn Tinsley), playing the part of Lucy Kentwright, one of new staff writers. The name Timothy Busfield may mean nothing to you, but I remember his "supporting" role in "Thirtysomething" which earned him an Emmy, as well as the semi-annoying, but ultimately charming journalist Danny Concannon in "The West Wing". While he's again in the supporting role of Cal Shanley, the show's director, he always shines through, giving off pure, honest chemistry that clicks with everyone in every scene. Sarah Paulson and Amanda Peet were first seen together on the TV series "Jack & Jill". Reunited here, my only regret is that they have very little on-screen interaction, but I still enjoyed seeing them both in every episode. I could go on, but it would be tiresome to read kudos for each and every actor and character, although I can't think of even one that is undeserving.

This doesn't mean that anyone here steals the show. On the contrary, this is an ensemble that is filled with synergy. Take one character out and you'll feel something is missing. Equally, we don't feel overloaded with personae, either. The latter is quite an achievement as guest stars and cameo appearances abound, with many even appearing over several episodes as story line enhancements.

As already mentioned, the scripts are extremely well written, but are the stories presented here compelling or not? Once again, I have to give a rousing "absolutely". Mind you, my husband wasn't totally sure about this show because he doesn't usually like series that portray the "troubled rich and famous". He was soon convinced otherwise as the characters developed into people we can all relate to, facing types of difficulties we can mostly all understand. Even those who feel that this might have been too close for comfort to SNL, will soon realize these shows could have easily lived side-by-side. Mind you, many people think that "30 Rock" stole this show's thunder, but I don't think so, since that's a straight comedy, and this is more dramatic.

As the fabled Goldilocks would say, this show is "just right". The concept, writing, direction, stories, characters, guests, acting and even the sets, costumes, make-up and music all come up trumps. There are 22 marvelous episodes that you won't want to miss even one of, and probably want to watch the reruns as well. My biggest (and only) disappointment about this show is that despite numerous petitions, thousands of signatures and desperate pleas from the public, NBC will not be filming a second season. I understand this was simply too costly to produce, and Sorkin wouldn't cut corners (nor should he have). There's speculation that "30 Rock's" success was instrumental in this cancellation. However, the only two things that "30 Rock" and "Studio 60" have in common are, they both are behind-the-scenes of sketch-comedy shows and both have a numeral in their titles. At that, the similarities end, and I doubt that one influenced the other. Whatever the reason, it's a true shame that "Studio 60" is now gone – I'll miss it terribly (until I can buy the DVD, that is).

Obviously, after all that I must recommend this show as highly as possible, and would give it six stars out of five if I could.

Thanks for reading!

Davida Chazan © September, 2007

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Technical Stuff:

This series began airing in the UK with the pilot episode on July 26 at 10pm on channel 4's "More 4", and continues to air on Thursdays at 10pm (repeats on Sundays at 11:05pm).

The UK site for this is located at http://www.channel4.com/more4/drama/s/studio60/ind ex.html and the official American site is located at http://www.nbc.com/Studio_60_on_the_Sunset_Strip/

"Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" has been nominated for five Emmy's for 2007 – Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series, Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-camera Series, Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, and two Outstanding Guest Actors in a Drama Series – Eli Wallach as Eli Weintraub, and John Goodman as Judge Robert Bebe. Of course, they can only win four of these, since Eli Wallach and John Goodman can't both win that, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Still, if you like this series, there will be a DVD of the complete series available as of October 16, 2007 which you can buy from Amazon in the USA (for US $41.99 – NTSC) and I'm sure it will be available in PAL on the UK site not long after the show finishes airing there.
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Summary: An extraordianry program about behind-the-scenes of a sketch comedy show.