In the fall of 2006, two new television shows, essentially about the same thing, premiered on network television. “30 Rock”, written by and starring Tina Fey, was a half hour sitcom about a late night sketch comedy show like Saturday Night Live (from where Ms. Fey hailed). It also starred Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan and Jane Krakowski. It was a huge hit and ran for seven seasons.
The other show was “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip”. Again about the writers and producers of a late night sketch comedy show, this one being an hour-long drama. Created and written by Aaron Sorkin, who was coming off the hugely successful and groundbreaking “West Wing”, it ran for one season before being cancelled.
I never really watched 30 Rock and was devoted to Studio 60. My son and I would stay up until 10:00 to watch it instead of setting the DVR. So what happened? If this was such a great show, as the initial critical reviews also touted, why didn’t it last? Before we get to that, let’s first discuss what made this show so magical, at least in the beginning.
First there was the cast: Pulling from “Friends” and “West Wing” we get Matthew Perry (Matt Albie) and Bradley Whitford (Danny Trip) respectively. They play the exiled former co-execs of Studio 60. Amanda Peete (Jordan McDeer) is the new head of the network NBS. Sarah Paulson (Harriet Hayes) plays one of the three big stars on the show and is the former love interest of Matt. Steven Weber (formerly of the hit show “Wings”) plays Jack Rudolph the chairman of the network (As Allessandra Stanley points out in her September 2006 New York Times review it wasn’t long before he’s stealing every scene he is in). I agree, Jack became one of my favorite characters. The supporting characters are great too (e.g., ex-West Winger Timothy Busfield as production manager Cal Shanley). It was an ensemble tour-de-force.
Second, the writing: Sorkin’s characters were fully formed and multidimensional especially the female leads Peete and Paulson. It’s the West Wing approach all over again. The pilot episode starts with its own cold open as we watch the current executive producer of Studio 60 (Played by Judd Hirsch) melt down with Network-esqe rage on national television. Meanwhile Jordan is being toasted at a lustrous Hollywood dinner when the cell phones of everyone in attendance go off alerting them to the catastrophe that is unfolding at this week’s show. This all sets the stage for Jordan to lure Matt and Danny back to the show. The first half of the season unfurls from there and it is close to perfection with episodes like “The Focus Group” and the very clever two-part “Nevada Day” (with an excellent guest star turn from John Goodman)[1]. “
The other thing that was fun about Studio 60 was the show within the show. Each week they were putting on 90 minutes of sketch comedy. There were real guest hosts (e.g., Rob Reiner) and musical guests (e.g. Sting in his lute playing stage). There were also actual skits like “Nicholas Cage Couples Counselor” and a Family Feud-style number called “Science Schmience” (with Rob Reiner).
Stanley also points out in her early season review that Studio 60 had among its charms, a romantic view of television. There is no better example of this than Jordan’s relentless drive to up the quality of programming on NBS. She clashes with Jack over a reality show that is sure to be hit but it also “disgustingly” manipulative. The disagreement winds getting arbitrated by their boss Wilson White (played with glorious gruffness by Ed Asner). He sums up his decision to let Jordan have her way by saying “If you want her to cook the meal you have to let her buy the groceries”. When Jordan asks afterward whom White was referring to, Jack doesn’t miss a beat, replying, “Bill Parcells, a coach that hasn’t won a playoff game in nine years.”
For the first half of the season every episode was better than the last. The Christmas show, though still excellent, was a harbinger of where things would go wrong in the second half.
So what happened? A number of things combined to doom this show that started off to be something really special. In no particular order:
1. The storyline of Danny falling for Jordan, introduced in the Christmas show, didn’t work. It defused the dynamic tension between them that had been so carefully nurtured for the first ten episodes. It felt forced and like very ordinary television (The romantic angle that was working was between Matt and Harriett.)
2. For some reason Sorkin checked out during the second half of the season, phoning it in while he focused on writing the film “Charlie Wilson’s War”.
3. Was prime TV ready for a drama that didn’t involve cops, lawyers or doctors? They went for politics (“West Wing”) but perhaps a TV show about TV was a bridge to far.[2]
4. The show was very expensive. The all-star cast alone must have cost a fortune. It was a lot to bear when the ratings started to slide.
Nevertheless I have a very soft spot for Studio 60. Find it on Netflix or Amazon and at least watch the first half of the season. It’s smart, funny and well written with fully drawn characters. It’s still some of the best television I’ve ever watched.
ARTS ROUNDUP
Watching – “Goliath” (Amazon) – Billy Bob Thornton is playing against type as Billy McBride a down and out lawyer exiled from the large firm he created. Set in Los Angeles, Billy is drinking his time away in a local Santa Monica bar when is drawn back into the life by a wrongful death suit that involves his old firm. Also starring William Hurt as the head of Billy’s old law firm and Maria Bello as his ex-wife and partner at the firm. Very cool show. Thanks to my friend Tim for telling me I needed to watch this show. He was right.
Listening – Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, “Live from the Ryman”. I’ve known about Isbell for some time but have never really listened to him. I heard about this new album on the weekly email from AllMusic (a recap of the week’s new releases across all musical categories). The sound is country-style writing in an alt-rock setting. Isbell is an expert wordsmith and sounds a bit like Warren Haynes (Govt Mule). It’s all good stuff especially the rockers like “Cumberland Gap” and “Super 8”. My friend Pat convinced me to finally give Isbell a listen.
Reading – “November Road” by Lou Berney. I heard about Berney in a recent Wall Street Journal article [link]. In his latest novel The Kennedy assassination becomes the catalyst that sends two different people on the run. New Orleans fixer Frank Guidry is running from his mob boss who Frank realizes had something to do with the assassination. This knowledge has made Guidry expendable. Charlotte Roy has decided to run from her dead-end Oklahoma life, and a drunkard, deadbeat husband. She takes off with her two young daughters, and an ailing dog, for California. Frank and Charlotte cross paths in New Mexico. Charlotte needs a ride and Frank needs the cover of a family. They head for Las Vegas where Frank hopes to sort out his situation. Trust me you’ll like this one. Now I’m off for some of Berney’s back catalogue.
[1]The episode takes place in the town of Pahrump, Nevada. When Jack receives a phone call about the situation that is unfolding his first response is “Say the name of the town again.”
[2]Maybe the times are different in the 21stcentury. The “Name of the Game”, which ran from 1968 to 1971, was about a publishing house.