Post by Lie on Jun 29, 2011 19:03:01 GMT -5
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
First of all, I just want to state the obvious: Aaron Sorkin is a God. He truly is. And besides being a god, he's - in my opinion - the best screenwriter out there today. If films like The Social Network and The President & Miss Wade, and television shows like The West Wing, Sports Night and Studio 60 isn't proof enough, I don't know what is. You sinners out there who haven't seen his work, stop what you're doing and just do it. Especially The West Wing - the only show that is more awesome than our beloved Lost. Just to clarify, I'm not a pompous fish ignoring everything else on TV that doesn't involve deep dialog and stale characters in suits. Quite the opposite, usually. But nothing can compare to that feeling of watching a show about real problems and actually feeling like you've achieved something instead of watching... ugh... Desperate Housewives.
Now you may ask 'Why don't review The West Wing then?'. Well, mostly because there's seven seasons of heavy politics and complex presidential jargon, but also 'cause it wouldn't be fun to rate every episode somewhere between a 9 and 10. So I chose his second best work, Studio 60, instead.
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip takes place behind the scenes of a live sketch comedy show with the same name (think Saturday Night Live) on the fictional television network NBS. After the previous executive producer has a total meltdown on-air during a live broadcast and creates a media frenzy, the newly appointed President of entertainment programming, Jordan McDeere (Amanda Peet), hires two sucessful but rather odd producers to take over the flagship show; Matt Albie (Matthew Perry) and Danny Tripp (Bradley Whitford). Through 22 episodes, we got to follow these three and many more through the work before, while and after the camera rolls, and finding out it's not easy handling a national success.
With stars both in front of and behind the camera, like "Friends" alumn Matthew Perry, "West Wing" alumn Bradley Whitford and great actors Amanda Peet, DL Hughley, Sarah Paulson and Steven Weber, Sorkin created something that couldn't fail... Well, it kinda did, as Studio 60 was cancelled after its first season because of tottering ratings, but anyway...
Expect the reviews to be up soon
