Director: Timothy Busfield
Cast: Sarah Paulson (Harriet Hayes), Timothy Busfield (Cal), D.L. Hughley (Simon Stiles), Matthew Perry (Matt Albie), Nathan Corddry (Tom Jeter), Bradley Whitford (Danny Tripp), Amanda Peet (Jordan McDeere), Nate Torrence (Dylan), Camille Chen (Samantha), Lucy Davis (Lucy), Diana-Maria Riva (Lilly), Ayda Field (Jeanie Whatley), Merritt Wever (Suzanne), Fred Stoller (Lenny Gold), Amita Balla (Antonia), William Stanford Davis (Floor Manager), Amy Honey (P.A. #1), Jah Shams (P.A. #2), Michael Hyatt (Maisie), John Cabrera (Elliot), Wendle Josepher (Deb), Staci B. Flood (Staci), Karla Andrade (Karla), Kasey Campbell (Kasey), Telisha Shaw (Telisha), Kelvin Yu (Kevin Yu), Edward Sears (Darren Wells), Amir Talai (Fred), Chris Hogan (Hal), John Ennis (Denny), Christine Lahti (Martha O'Dell) & Cyia Batten (Wendy)
Harriet gives Matt a gift she once received from a fan, Jordan gives a journalist behind-the-scenes access to the show, and Studio 60 attempts to recover from 90-seconds of questionable material...The dilemma-of-the-week for episode 4 concerns a writer submitting material for a news sketch that is apparently plagiarized. As a studio lackey comments; for a writer, being called a plagiarist is like being called a sex offender.
It's. That. Serious. Okay?
Before more enjoyable moments of controlled chaos, Studio 60 develops the increasing antagonism between writer Matt (Matthew Perry, growing increasingly Chandler-esque) and star Harriet (Sarah Paulson, who can do a passable Juliette Lewis impersonation.)
Here, Harriet makes the mistake of giving Matt a baseball bat signed by a famous pitcher, to say "well done" for Studio 60's great start in the ratings. Unfortunately, it's a gift that was intended for her specifically, as a phone number scrawled on the handle attests. Matt isn't happy. Cue another ex-lover's tiff, delivered whilst walking through sets, or around that metal spiral staircase.
If my tone is getting sillier with Studio 60, it's not because I hate the show. I enjoy it for the moments of wit and intelligence, but find plenty of misplaced humour in its premise and every character's belief that their show's success is what keeps the planet spinning. Anyway, cutting through the narrative guff and dialogue so razor-sharp it couldn't come from the spontaneous minds of real people, The West Coast Delay finally gets to its point: plagiarism.
The brown stuff hits the fan when a few gags written to plug a 90-second gap in the show are revealed to have been told by a comedian over a year ago. Oops. This causes a "panic meltdown" when Matt is appraised of the situation by Danny (Bradley Whitford), in scenes written as if Matt were the President being told terrorists had just nuked New York.
It's. That. Serious. Okay?
Cue all kinds of flapping and behind-the-scenes tension as the Studio 60 crew prepare to intercept the recorded showing for the West Coast audience 3 hours later. Curse those American time-zones! Commander-In-Chief Matt has a daring plan... but he needs up-to-the-minute cricket scores, dammit! Oh, and $20 bills to bribe street performers, prostitutes and some Hell's Angels to become a new live audience, as they apologize and shoehorn in new jokes.
I'm sure writer Aaron Sorkin (co-writing this episode with Mark Goffman) knows how silly American TV can be. There are lots of scenes that knowingly wink at the audience, give in to TV stereotypes (a writer's table crammed with more Starbucks styrofoam than ideas), or are meant to be pure silliness (Matt smashing his office window with his bat), and it works well enough.
It only seems awkward when Sorkin seems to get flashbacks to his days on The West Wing and imbues the show with so much pomp and seriousness, you're not sure if he's joking now. Should we be worried Studio 60 may have broadcast 90-seconds of plagiarized material? That's almost two-minutes, people! Again, from a UK perspective, it all seems like overkill.
I often hear jokes on TV that are copied, or similar to existing jokes. Comedy is endlessly recycling itself, really. When it's word-for-word, there's definitely copyright infringement going on, but... would you go to such lengths to "patch over" the problem like they do here? Or just take the hit. I mean, the mistake has already been broadcast to millions of people on the East Coast, hasn't it?
Of course, the Plagiarism Dilemma is solved when the definitive origin of the offending gag is traced back to their staff writer who submitted it... begging the question, why didn't they just ask him if he stole it? That would have saved a lot of aggravation... and an hour of my time.
Overall, I may be getting a slight kick from slating Studio 60's ridiculous nature and tone. But it's not all silly nonsense. There's a palpable sense of comradeship and the actors are all brilliant at wrapping their tongues around Sorkin's rat-a-tat prose. A new subplot with a Vanity Fair reporter getting behind-the-scenes access should also provide more BIG DILEMMAS in a later episode... when her article inevitably digs the dirt on everyone. What will Matt, Danny and saucer-eyed President Jordan do?
Whatever they do, you can guaranteed they'll treat it with total, stern seriousness. Working in comedy isn't about smiling and having fun, remember?
It's. Serious. Shit.
16 August 2007
More4, 10.00 pm
