Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip

There are few television shows that I flat out love and there are even fewer writers for television that I respect, but Aaron Sorkin's work has always impressed me. Whether you like the guy's politics or not, he knows how to write a damn good show and with his normal director, Tommie Schlamme, they are unstoppable as far as I'm concerned.

Sorkin and Schlamme made their presence known with the 7-year-long series The West Wing, which turned what should have been incredibly dry political drama into absolutely compelling television. Once I finally watched a few episodes, I was hooked. I've probably seen every episode three times if not four or more. I own every season on DVD and frequently go back to certain episodes when the mood hits. The writing, like with Studio 60, is sharp, witty, on point, and at an intellectual level that jives with me. The writing of both shows doesn't assume that the viewing audience is stupid, which is the assumption I think most television programs make these days (see: reality tv).

(President Bartlett and Governor Ritchie Debate, The West Wing - Season 4)

Part of Sorkin's magic is that he puts the right actors and actresses together. The casting for both shows was immaculate in so many ways, but I'll focus on Studio 60 as it was the dark horse of its time. Sorkin likes to cast the same people over and over again, but they work. In this most recent inception, he brings back Bradley Whitford (West Wing), Matthew Perry (supporting role in The West Wing), and Timothy Busfield (The West Wing). Many of the other characters in the show have had supporting roles on The West Wing and/or Sports Night, another Sorkin show, but one I never watched. 

Now, when I first heard about Matthew Perry being involved in the show, I was incredibly skeptical. I had seen some of his movies post-Friends and his comedic timing is pretty damn good, but I had no idea how much of a range he had. After watching the first two episodes, I completely forgot about his role on Friends and only saw him as his character, Matt Albie. The rapport between him and Bradley Whitford is astoundingly good. They make you feel as if they have actually been friends for years.

(from Episode 1 - crank the volume)

The guys have just found out that they're getting to come back to the old comedy show (akin to SNL) that they used to write for before they got fired or quit (the reason is ambiguous until later episodes). If you watched the clip above, you can see what I mean by not only the writing being quick and smart, but without having seen any other parts of the episode, you can probably tell there's a good history between the characters of Matt and Danny, which Bradley and Perry play off very well.

One of the big problems this show had was that it came out at the same time as 30 Rock, a show many people seem to love these days that was also a behind-the-scenes look at late night comedy. Both struggled with ratings in the early days, but Studio 60 cost significantly more to produce, which left NBC with a choice to be made as to which one got to stay; Studio 60 got the bump after being on for only a year.

My point is this: in an era that seems to lovingly languish in reality television programs, good writers don't seem to be getting the same kind of respect from the viewing public that they used to. Viewers are more interested in watching a drunken Snookie on The Jersey Shore than they are in seeing how Diablo Cody complicates her characters on The United States of Tara, another brilliant show that got the axe after a short couple of  seasons. I just started watching Studio 60 again last night...I end up watching the entire solo season once or twice a year because it's genuinely just that good. Yeah, I'm not surprised by anything that happens in the show anymore, but the writing and the acting are still phenomenal and I get to thinking this show could totally work if it were done today. I'm not sure you'd be able to get all the same people back for it, which is unfortunate as the entire ensemble really worked.

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