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I haven't watched a new NBC show since Law and Order: CI started. (Frankly, I think Law and Order shows are the only thing that kept NBC alive for the last several years.) NBC used to have excellent drama and comedy shows. I've heard good things about West Wing, but I was never able to get into it. The few episodes I did see, were interesting, and I may try for DVD. Unfortunately, in the last few years, Must See TV, is more like, Maybe if Nothing Else is On TV.
Last night, I saw the pilot episode to Studio 60 (it was on Bravo), and I have to say that I was impressed. Most impressed. If you haven't seen it yet, you can watch the whole episode at nbc.com. I encourage you to tune in. Tonight is the second episode, and I'll be watching.
Possible spoilers
I love the speech that the Character Wes, (the Studio 60 version of Lorne Michaels from SNL) gives about how the show, and television stink. It's as if Lorne Michaels would get up and admit to the audience that SNL just isn't that funny anymore. (And let's face it, while it has the occasional good sketch, it hasn't been funny to it's original calibur in years.) I give special kudos to NBC to picking up a show that is making fun of one of it's longest running shows.
Edit: Sorry if there is already a thread on this. I used the search function and didn't find one.
Posts: 1214 | Registered: Aug 2005
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We get the episodes on Sunday night here. The second episode definitely lives up to the groundwork laid in the first. This has the makings of a very good series.
Posts: 1336 | Registered: Mar 2002
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I also really loved the show, and will be watching it again tonight.
There are quite a few shows that sparked my interest this year. Hopefully they will stick around and find an audience. They way it pokes fun at TV execs, studio 60 had really better do well or it will be canned quickly.
Posts: 1901 | Registered: May 2004
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quote:Originally posted by solo: We get the episodes on Sunday night here. The second episode definitely lives up to the groundwork laid in the first. This has the makings of a very good series.
posted
I'm also loving the fact that NBC is putting the whole episode on their website. For FREE!!!!!! I don't have to download it from Amazon Unbox or iTunes, which means I don't have to wait 2-3 days before it's up if I miss it, or I want to see it again.
Edit: It also means I don't have to pay $1.99 for it.
Posts: 1214 | Registered: Aug 2005
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That was AWESOME! Even better than the pilot, and featuring a ton more of that classic Sorkin witty dialogue (and pedeconferencing!!). Matt and Danny continue to have fantastic chemistry, and Jordan and Jack, the two characters who I thought were somewhat weak in the pilot, showed that they can handle Sorkin's style of dry humor with aplomb. Loved Cal's "oh god, our camera's aren't working" joke- it was almost Firefly-ish in the way they used overly-dramatic music to underscore Danny's horror. Any remaining worries I had from the heavily expository pilot evaporated like so many secret plans to fight inflation.
And the "Model Network TV show" was sheer genius.Posts: 1321 | Registered: Sep 1999
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Totally agree on pretty much all of Tarrsk's points. Matthew Perry has really found something that's good for him, and he's proving he can do serious as well as funny, and even both at the same time.
But is it sad that so far every Studio 60 skit they've shown is much better than anything that's come off SNL lately?
Posts: 1735 | Registered: Oct 2004
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I thought it was great. I was a little nervous, but after the first episode I think it earned a second watch, and now I think it earned my attention for the next couple weeks.
My only complaint is that I want to see more of the ACTUAL show that is being portrayed. I realize this is supposed to be a behind the scenes look, but we're being bashed over the head with how amazing the producers are, and how talented the cast is...so I want to see it, otherwise I have to take 50% of the show on faith, the actual performance, and then live off the behind the scenes stuff, which isn't really fair.
I'll be happy if the last 10 minutes of every show is the first 10 minutes of every "episode" of the actual Studio 60. I liked how tonight ended, and it was clever, and hilarious, and I loved it. Good episode, good start to a series with a lot of potential. I also loved the undertones of the Crazy Christians sketch, and though I felt a bit battered with it, I liked Sorkin's point.
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SNL stopped being funny about the time my parents decided that I was old enough to watch it. That was about 15 years ago now.
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No, I think Will Ferrel's and Darrel Hammond's generation was hysterical. But with them gone, it's nowhere near worth wataching.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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That generation had some funny sketches, but the show as a whole hasn't been really funny since the Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, David Spade generation.
Posts: 1214 | Registered: Aug 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: My only complaint is that I want to see more of the ACTUAL show that is being portrayed. I realize this is supposed to be a behind the scenes look, but we're being bashed over the head with how amazing the producers are, and how talented the cast is...so I want to see it, otherwise I have to take 50% of the show on faith, the actual performance, and then live off the behind the scenes stuff, which isn't really fair.
The thing is, I think the show (that is, the show-within-the-show) is going to primarily be a MacGuffin- what actually happens on set isn't nearly as interesting as seeing how we get there. Studio 60 is heavily influenced by Sports Night in that regard, where we never saw much more than a few seconds of any given episode of the show-within-a-show. Although, even on The West Wing, we rarely saw any of the action. For example, we'd see lots of discussion about writing the State of the Union, and lots of the aftermath (polling, press reactions, etc), but the address itself is skipped over, because it's not the point. Or Bartlet would order a military strike, but we don't actually get any scenes of soldiers on the ground or helicopters in the air.
Posts: 1321 | Registered: Sep 1999
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Yeah, it'll probably work as a MacGuffin too.
But if that's the case, stop spending so much time trying to convince us that these people are funny. SHOW us that they are funny. I like how it's being done so far, but I want a taste of the show every night too.
West Wing was behind the scenes stuff too, but there wasn't really anything to show other than what happened IN the West Wing. They didn't just say that all the people in the show were good at their jobs, and that Bartlet was a good president, we were shown every episode how good they were, how smart they were, and funny, and how much they really cared about what they were doing. They weren't all just sitting in a room TALKING about how they were good at their jobs.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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Saturday Night Live actually *is* good right now, with some of the younger guys producing some classic SNL bits (Lettuce, Dopplegangers, Young Chuck Norris, Lazy Sunday, etc)... But let's not get sidetracked on that little discussion.
This episode of Studio 60 was even better than the first. Bradley Whitford is growing on me.
The problem I see *now* is that Harriet (don't know the name of the actress) is being set up as being this phenomenal talent ("There're maybe 50 people in this town who get how good she is, and we're two of them") and I don't know if she's going to be able to carry that off.
It'll be interesting to see.
I'm hooked, I think.
Posts: 2267 | Registered: May 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Joldo: But is it sad that so far every Studio 60 skit they've shown is much better than anything that's come off SNL lately?
Wouldn't it be nice if this show shamed SNL into being funny again?
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Next week looks great. I like the mixture of show and show in show coverage. And I'm already rooting for Harriet and Matt to get back together. Oy.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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I didn't really like the game show bit, so that kind of killed it for me. I liked the Harriet news objection though.
Maybe it's because I'm such a big fan of Sports Night, but I'm just not getting the big hits I was expecting.
I'm just checking out the episode I missed last week. I really like the opening so far.
I just think that there may be too many balls in the air. The Matt and Danny stuff is great. But with so many characters, you don't get so much of the punch.
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Tonight's episode was awesome. The show had a rocky start, but I think it's really beginning to hit its stride. Not quite there yet, but coming close.
I know the Heroes/Studio 60 combination is crazy on the part of NBC, but I'm loving it.
I loved Jack's diatribe at the end of this episode. Wonderful and classic.
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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I dug everything involving Jack, but overall I thought this episode was the worst one yet- particularly disappointing since I thought Part 1 was fantastic. Every aspect of the Matt/Harriet argument had me rolling my eyes. Black people have only lived in the open for four hundred years? Say what?
Posts: 1321 | Registered: Sep 1999
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How good was that episode? Man, that was what I was expecting when I first heard about the show. And they did it without the taking shots at anybody. Well, except the FCC, but, I mean, it's the FCC.
Posts: 10177 | Registered: Apr 2001
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I think tonight's episode was the best so far this season. The dialogue at the beginning and the business mans speech at the end? Classic West Wing.
And then all of the stuff not at all West Wing that was still awesome. Harry and Matt, great as always. Danny and Jordan, unexpected, but amazing. Jordan crashing Jack's meeting, priceless. I love this show.
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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I love this show so much. I agree that the kiss was amazing. And the whole thing with Danny and Jordan, I sort of saw it coming, but I still liked it nonetheless.
I think the one underrated character is Cal. I mean, the conversations he and Danny have are just amazing. It's nice to see some of the West Wing crowd back again. It just makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.
This show is amazing.
Posts: 1789 | Registered: Jul 2003
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They added a lot more of him it seemed this episode. I loved the thing with the Nazi Santa and the coconut. Wacky but funny.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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I agree, Evie. I love Timothy Busfield, and I REALLY wish we saw more of him. His comedic timing is really, really good.
Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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When Jordan asked to sit in on the meeting, I started yelling at the TV, "Don't let her! Are you insane?!" I love Jordan, but she has no governor on her mouth.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Heh, I said the same thing when I was watching. He HAD to know there was no way she was going to keep her mouth shut.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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quote:When do you think the first Africans were brought to America?
The quote from Harriet was "The difference is that black people had lived openly as black people for four hundred years before civil rights. Gay people have lived openly for about thirty". Many people found this less than convincing. (language warning)
Posts: 148 | Registered: Feb 2000
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I think a Sorkin show just doesn't really work for me without an Isaac / Jed / Leo around to tell everyone to get over themselves already.
Posts: 148 | Registered: Feb 2000
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quote:When do you think the first Africans were brought to America?
The quote from Harriet was "The difference is that black people had lived openly as black people for four hundred years before civil rights. Gay people have lived openly for about thirty". Many people found this less than convincing. (language warning)
I don't see the problem with that statement factually. The first slaves were brought to North America in the early 17th century, which is, give or take, 400 years ago.
TWoP is known for being scathing regardless of the show. Most of the time they are funny, but I honestly I don't think they know how to enjoy TV just to enjoy it.
I don't agree with her argument in the show at all, but it sounds plausible, and her position seems very diplomatic, which it needs to be considering her precarious position.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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I still don't think Studio 60 is as good as the WEst Wing, but I do like some of the stuff that Studio 60 can do that West Wing couldn't. Like the romances between Danny and Jordan and between Matt and Harriet. The West Wing could never have those be important just for their own sake, I like that Studio 60 can.
Oh, and Sam_Storyteller on livejournal writes some awesome Studio 60 fanfic, if anyone is interested in that.
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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blacwolve, I have to agree. I'm definately enjoying the show, but it doesn't seem quite up to the calibur of West Wing (yet). At the same time, it deals with such different concerns/topics that it's hard to do a direct comparison.
As you mentioned it can certainly approach certain topics much more freely than West Wing could (such as inter-office romance).
At the same time I have to give it a little leeway in comparison because naturally I'm going to care more about say a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan than I do about the latest struggles of a mock-SNL crew. Not that the latter isn't interesting and well-done, but it's not going to tug at my heartstrings on the same level, or force me to take the show seriously.
All that said, I'm glad that they're continuing the season, encourage any who haven't yet to start watching, and give them kudos for a good job so far (especially the last ep)
Posts: 1038 | Registered: Feb 2006
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quote:I don't see the problem with that statement factually.
There isn't one. It just seemed like suggesting that the reason black people deserved civil rights is because they've completed their waiting period was... not quite the optimal line to take on that argument. Her character doesn't work if she sounds like an idiot.
quote:TWoP is known for being scathing regardless of the show. Most of the time they are funny, but I honestly I don't think they know how to enjoy TV just to enjoy it.
Of the ones I've followed, Sports Night, West Wing, Battlestar Galactica, and Serenity were all done by huge fans. They've been justifiably fairly cruel to reality shows, Lost and Studio 60. Firefly is the only one I felt they were too mean to.
Posts: 148 | Registered: Feb 2000
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I don't think her point was that there's a benchmark for when people can be given the rights they deserve, it's that family values small town Christians don't like how fast and open the world is, and prefer a return to smaller, simpler times when they could more easily protect their children from what they feel are bad influences. She isn't saying 400 years is a necessity, she's saying look at it comparatively. No, I don't think it's a particularly good argument, but she's also not really supporting it, she's trying to explain it. In other words, she isn't saying "gays wait 400 years," I think she's just saying "they want some time to adjust." Again, not a particularly GOOD argument, but she isn't an idiot.
And LOST and Studio 60 are reality shows? By what definition are those more 'real' than West Wing or Sports Night? I don't follow all of TWoP, but even the episodes they give good ratings too are still treated rather harshly in my opinion. The site is obviously bathed in sarcasm, which I have no problem with, but sometimes it's just over the top.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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Heh, and I was just thinking that it didn't really matter that I have no idea about the proper use of commas in lists. If I'd put "reality shows, Lost, and Studio 60", it might've been more clear that I meant three seperate things.
Posts: 148 | Registered: Feb 2000
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For the conversation to sound realistic to me she needed to at least point out some differences between the civil rights movement and gay marriage. Accepting the comparison and moving on makes it sound like she's agreeing that they're basically racists but they'll get over it. Which is probably not how she means it, but... Actually that sounds offensive to both sides, which fits perfectly with her press trouble. Is the point that Harriet has trouble expressing herself clearly? If I thought that was their point it would work for me.
Similarly, if I thought they were intentionally making Matt, Danny, and Jordan way too immature to do their jobs (or leave their houses, really), and planned to seriously address that at some point, I'd have a lot more faith in where this is going.
Posts: 148 | Registered: Feb 2000
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Well there ARE a lot of similarities between the women's rights movement, the civil rights movement, and the gay rights movement. NOT recognizing that does more harm to her argument (and I think those similarities are inherent to the argument) than her needing to point out their differences.
As to your second point, meh, I don't think you understand them. Or you're just being a fuddy duddy.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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quote: Accepting the comparison and moving on makes it sound like she's agreeing that they're basically racists but they'll get over it.
I'm pretty sure this is exactly what she means. I also think it's pretty much correct. I think part of Harriet's character is that she's a great performer, but she doesn't really know what to do when she's not on stage. I don't think that was the only reason for that subplot, though. Studio 60 is trying to breach the cultural divide, that's the real purpose of Harriet's character, and that's the reason for that subplot.
One of the things I love about Studio 60 is that it doesn't shy away from addressing the massive cultural divide in our country. I like that it has a conservative character. I like that the conservative character is sort of confused about how she actually feels and how she actually fits into the world. I think that Harriet represents a huge portion of society that isn't normally represented on televison.
If you're wondering, on social issues I'm about as liberal as you get; but it's also really important to me to try and respect people I disagree with.
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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I think there's a certain irony having a lesbian play a slightly homophobic conservative religious Christian.
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I really enjoyed that kiss.
