WRITER: Aaron Sorkin DIRECTOR: Thomas Schlamme
CAST: Steven Weber (Jack Rudolph), Timothy Busfield (Cal), Sarah Paulson (Harriet Hayes), Nathan Corddry (Tom Jeter), Matthew Perry (Matt Albie), D.L. Hughley (Simon Stiles), Bradley Whitford (Danny Tripp), Amanda Peet (Jordan McDeere), Merritt Wever (Suzanne), Nate Torrence (Dylan), Simon Helberg (Alex Anderson), Edward Asner (Wilson White), Anna Goldman (Self), Rod Tate (Security Man #1), Kate Bayley (Shelly's Assistant), Josh Phillips (MC), Josh Weinstein (Michael), Vernee Watson-Johnson (Zelma), Clement Blake (Floor Manager), Anthony Friedman (Alan), Dilva Henry (Monitor Reporter #4), Shaun Cherise Robinson (Monitor Reporter #3), Glen Walker (Monitor Reporter #2), Dave Clark (Monitor Reporter #1), Jennifer Pennington (Control Room Assistant), Judd Hirsch (Wes Mendell), Three 6 Mafia (Special Musical Appearance), Wendy Phillips (Shelly), Mandy Siegfried (Julie), Michael Mantel (Howard), Jah Shams (Production Assistant # 2), Kirstin Pierce (Marilyn Rudolph), Jayma Mays (Daphne), Kris Murphy (Karen), Emiko Parise (Assistant Producer), John Carpenter (Herb Shelton), Donna Murphy (Blair), Felicity Huffman (Herself) & Michael Stuhlberg (Jerry Jones)
Sketch show "Studio 60" is close to cancellation, particularly after its Executive Producer has an on-air meltdown, so hotshot writers Danny Tripp and Matt Albie are quickly hired to save the show...Aaron Sorkin is the man behind The West Wing, a celebrated writer with a gift for crackling dialogue. He also wrote A Few Good Men, so anyone who penned Jack Nicholson's "you can't handle the truth!" monolgue deserves special kudos.
Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip is Sorkin's latest TV project, following his departure from The West Wing during its fourth season in 2003. The West Wing was a political drama set in the White House and Studio 60 has broad similarities, with its "politics" now transferred to a TV studio. Again, Sorkin's ear for dialogue is the main reason to watch, with a handful of brilliant speeches and witty come-backs peppered throughout.
The Pilot concerns the eponymous show (a parody of Saturday Night Live) facing desperate times. In the opening ten minutes, Studio 60's creator, Wes Mendell (a superb Judd Hirsch), clashes with a censor over a controversial sketch and proceeds to have an on-air "mental breakdown", interrupting the live show and unleashing vitriol on TV entertainment to the millions watching at home.
Mendell's jaw-dropping folly leads to intense activity behind-the-scenes, involving new Network President Jordan McDeere (a sublime Amanda Peet) and hardnosed NBS Chairman-of-the-board Jack Rudolph (Steven Webber). Jordan, the dictionary definition of a capable businesswoman with a slick wit, later persuades Jack to hire two new showrunners to "save the show" and help manipulate the controversy...
Enter recovering drug-addict Danny Tripp (Bradley Whitford) and former Studio 60 staffwriter Matt Albie (Matthew Perry), two "golden boys" of television writing who were unceremoniously fired by Jack four years ago.
The meat of the episode sets up the desperate situation at the fictional Network Broadcasting System (NBS), whilst introducing some of the series' main players. They also include "the big three" performers of Studio 60; Matt's religious ex-girlfriend Harriet Hayes (a terrific Sarah Paulson), Tom Jeter (Nate Corddry) and Simon Stiles (D.L Hughley).
While Sorkin's script is the star, it would be nothing without the ensemble he's managed to pull together. There isn't a duff note with any of them, and the main players are introduced with great skill as fully-formed people. I particularly loved Amanda Peet's performance as Jordan McDeere, but Matthew Perry is also great as Matt Albie; another talented performer who has finally escaped overated sitcom Friends, along with Courtney Cox. Bradley Whitford is a new face for me as Danny, but he also shows similar shine and assuredness.
I'm no expert when it comes to running a big TV show, but the atmosphere and personalities seemed to have a ring of truth about them. I'm sure things are exaggerated for comic and dramatic effect, but it does look like a plausible look at a showbiz underbelly. It certainly has more substance than style thanks to Sorkin.
That said, there were a few niggles throughout the episode. I wasn't convinced by the plan to immediately hire two new showrunners in the wake of the on-air disaster. We're led to believe that Studio 60 is a show way past its prime (a fact that fuels Wendell's "meltdown"), so why didn't someone just hire Matt and Danny months ago to sort it out? Why will they have better success, anyway? It looked like Wendell was an intelligent man who knew comedy... but he was just usurped by Standards & Practices at every corner. Surely Matt and Danny will face the same obstacles?
I also didn't click with me that Harriet, Tom and Simon were big name stars of the show, as nothing from the actual show was shown. It might have been nice to glimpse "the big three" comedians in action, so we can identify them as being Studio 60's artistic heartbeat. They just resembled producers most of the time.
Overall though, Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip offered a great opening episode, packed with wit, some great performances and an intriguing plot mechanism. It will certainly be interesting to see how the rest of the series develops with the "new blood" in charge, and I look forward to more digs at the often-humourless Saturday Night Live sketches.
Of course, in the US, Studio 60 is very likely to be cancelled following poor ratings -- which is a crying shame. However, Aaron Sorkin only planned two seasons, so we'll be fortunate just to see 50% of his vision.
