Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
POSTED BY: reginaroadie
UPDATED: Tuesday, October 3, 2006 06:47
VIEWED: 6658
PAGE 2 of 3
On youtube, what's that rant called? I'd love to see it, since I missed the show.
Edit: I found it and it's brilliant!!! Here's the url,
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I seen the trouble clear as day when I was on my back before...
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I LOVED IT!!!! Seriously I was so amped up for this premiere. Of course, I worship Aaron Sorkin shows the way most folks here follow Joss.
I like it just as well as West Wing (which I watched religiously from the 2nd season). I loved both Bradley Whitford and Matthew Perry on West Wing and I think Studio 60 is maybe a little better. Because there's still the witty banter and social commentary, but now they can run around like idiots a little instead of being serious upstanding members of the White House staff.
This show may not appeal to the "strictly sci-fi" viewers previously mentioned. But Sorkin fans should definitely be pleased. I am!
--Tanya
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I enjoyed it, and I think it has potential.
The only thing that makes me hesitate is Sorkin's tendency to make everyone perfect. Even when they're flawed, they're still perfectly articulate, attractive, idealistic individuals who are imminently competent at whatever it is they're doing. If you think everyone (or anyone, really) in government or in Hollywood is like that, you need a reality check. If Studio 60 falls into that same habit, I'll probably lose interest pretty fast.
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Quote:
Originally posted by flakbait:
I enjoyed it, and I think it has potential.
The only thing that makes me hesitate is Sorkin's tendency to make everyone perfect. Even when they're flawed, they're still perfectly articulate, attractive, idealistic individuals who are imminently competent at whatever it is they're doing. If you think everyone (or anyone, really) in government or in Hollywood is like that, you need a reality check. If Studio 60 falls into that same habit, I'll probably lose interest pretty fast.
I would agree that his characters are extremely articulate and idealistic, but one of things I liked about the "West Wing" was that very few of the cast was "pretty" in a traditional sense. The obvious exceptions to this was the Republican blonde (now on CSI Miami) and Rob Lowe. The other pretty faces were cast after Sorkin had already left the show.
All the others (CJ, Josh, Toby, Donna, all the Bartlets) were actually kinda' homely. A nice change from every other show on TV. Even (ducks to avoid head injury) Firefly.
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I agree with the whole "pretty acotrs" thing. And as much as Joss's shows have gone against the grain for the most part, his shows still had cast members of pretty young things.
Like with BUFFY, even though Buffy, Willow and Xander were supposed to be these outsiders, they looked just as popular as the popular kids. No geek or wiccan/computer nerd in real life looks as good as Niki Brendon or Allyson Hannigan. That was the only aspect of the show I never bought. Only Seth Green looked exactly like his character on that show.
And on FIREFLY, I know that Kaylee was supposed to look like a girl who enjoyed a cheesburger on a regular basis, and be not fat, but "thick." But I guess by tv conventions, "thick" means half a size more than the average twig. The point is, Kaylee never struck me as plus sized.
And for Simon, it's kind of a conflicted thing. Simon was the character I identified with the most on the show because I saw a lot of myself in that character. The only difference is, I do not look like the refugee from the WB that he does. So while I identify with his plight, thus making him the focal point of my stories since writing him is pretty easy, I slightly resent him for looking prettier than most of the women on board.
As for Sorkin shows, I guess that he does cast normal looking actors. Seeing Matt Perry on this show is a bit of a shock, because even though it's been two years since FRIENDS ended, he looks like he's been through the ringer and has aged fifteen years. And Brad Whitford certainly won't be on any "sexiest men" lists anytime soon.
One show that really does go against the grain in casting normal, even downright ugly people, is THE OFFICE. The only people on the show that look remotely appealing to the eyes is John Krasinski (Jim) and Jenna Fischer (Pam). Everyone else looks like regular people. Steve Carrell has a pointy nose, Rainn Wilson has inspired a bobblehead, B.J. Novak has that horse face with the big chin. Angela has a pretty severe look. Brian (Kevin) is balding and has I think a triple chin, Paul Liberstein (Toby) has that hang-dog look, you can tell on Meredith that the alcohol is getting to her and the rest of the cast range from middle age to older than hell. And that's one of the reasons I love that show to death because it looks and feels like an actual office environment.
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"I have no reason to believe you and every reason not to."
"Why's that?"
"You work in television."
STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP
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Quote:
Oh, and if you only watch shows that have a FIREFLY/SERENITY connection to them, Sarah Paulson, who played Dr. Caron (the holographic doc on the Miranda recording) is one of the cast members on the show.
So is Carlos Jacott, who played Dobson in 'Serenity' (the pilot, not the movie).
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The 3 rules of aging:
1. Never bypass a bathroom
2. Never waste an erection
3. Never trust a fart
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I caught the pilot on Monday (and ironically had it arrive from Netflix yesterday), and as a big West Wing fan, while I definitely enjoyed it, there was a sense of weightiness to the West Wing that I really enjoyed, and that Studio 60 seems to lack. Maybe that will come in later, or maybe the show will compensate with something else. But I really did like the feeling in the West Wing that they were involved in something bigger than themselves, something that mattered, and I missed that in Studio 60. That said, I love Sorkin (and Bradley Whitford!) enough to give the show more than adequate time to make me fall in love with it.
I will agree with the point someone brought up about Sorkin's characters being extraordinarily articulate, but that's actually one of the things I love about Sorkin's writing. I come from a very articulate family, and for the most part I feel like what's on TV is written at a fourth grade reading level -- and then read out loud. The witty banter and quips was what first drew me to Buffy, and the fast back-and-forth between extremely intelligent characters was one of the things I loved about the West Wing. Add to that some of the fantastic physical comedy in the West Wing (which I hope we get to see more of in Studio 60 -- Bradley Whitford falling on his butt in the Capitol building because his mother sent him new shoes was beyond hilarious), and the West Wing was pretty much my perfect show for its first four seasons.
I do have to disagree that Bradley Whitford won't be winning any sexiest men awards. You might be surprised at the number of women he makes go weak in the knees. Then again, if you've seen his dimples, you might not be all that surprised. 
~CK
You can't take the sky from me...
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Of course part of this "perfection" (though how you can say that when a big part of the episode is Matt screwing up by announcing his partner's drug test results to an entire room) is that these people are supposed to be the cream of the crop. They're comedy makers and comedians, they're supposed to be quick witted and snappy.
I really enjoyed the first episode and yeah, it is at least partly the fault of the Christians for how gutless US TV is. The money men are behind why it is lowest common denominator but it is all those boycott crazy Christian groups that steer television away from anything resembling an opinion.
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Caught most of it opening night...
Abso-freakin-lutely brilliant.
will definately keep my eye on it.
Doesn't hurt that Sarah Paulson's in it and that I totally fell in love with her from her scene in Serenity...
"Life's not fair... and 'Earnest Goes To Jail' teaches us that."
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Seeing as how there's a large number of people who really dig this show, I figured I bump this with thoughts every week on the latest eps. I know it's on Monday nights on NBC in the States, but up here in Canada, we get it a night earlier, so this is more for the Canadian viewers, at least until tomorrow night.
*spoiler warnings*
I loved the press confrence in that it not only kept the ball rolling that was set in the pilot, but got it rolling faster when Danny freely admitted to the failed cocaine test to all of these reporters. And Amanda's characters attempt at a joke after the revelation. "Did you know about this?"; "Well I was high at the time."
When Matt and Danny go into Wes' old office, I like the reverence that the act has. That by taking the office of this comedic legend is in some way denigrating it. And I like them discovering the clock that even when it's turned off still keeps counting down till Friday night at 11:30. I wonder if Joss ever had a ticking clock for when he was producing.
The scene in the writer's room was really killer in that you really got the sense of peeking behind the curtain of not only a sketch comedy show, but just tv shows in general. I know all you guys got excited to see Carlos Jacott on the show, but I was psyched to see John Ennis, a vet from MR. SHOW the David Cross/Bob Odenkirk HBO sketch show, in the writer's room. And Matt's bit with the writers was great.
"JUST STOP. (room goes silent) What are you all wearing? I'm not Blackwell or anything, but holy cow what the Hell are you guys wearing? One of the things this show does is decide what's cool, and I've just decided that it's no longer cool for grown men to dress as if they're in junior high school."
"It's comedy, Matt."
"Not yet, it's not. And until it is, we're all going to act professionally. You understand? We're going to act, dress, talk, write and behave professionally."
(Harriet barges into the room) "You are an adolescent, over-sexed, whoremonger with the sensitivity of a head of cabbage."
"And all that will begin in just a few minutes."
My favorite tiny moment was when Harriet hit Jeanie with the prop beer bottle over her head. It was like when Dawn kicked Buffy in the series finale. A little tiny moment that had a bigger reaction.
And the musical number at the end was just genius. Had no idea Aaron Sorkin loved the show tunes as much as Joss does. And that it ends with a shot of the clock resetting itself was just perfect.
*spoilers end*
I don't know if Joss watches this show, but I bet that if he does, he'd be grinning ear to ear just remembering all the drama that went on backstage during that 8 year stretch when he produced three genre bending and defining shows.
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"I have no reason to believe you and every reason not to."
"Why's that?"
"You work in television."
STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP
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