I’ve seen the commercials for the upcoming Studio 60 series and heard the hype about it, and I have a one word reaction: “Yaaaaaawn.” I’m one of those people who thought the West Wing was good in parts but I never worshipped it and never found it great. Frequently I found it too annoying and I didn’t even watch the last few seasons, bailing even before Sorkin left. My problem with Sorkin is the overwhelming cutesiness and writerliness of his shows. I never ever for one second believe these are real characters. I can always hear Sorkin behind the actor and see his hand working the gears. I just get tired of it.
I have no plans to watch this show. It’s funny that podcasters and bloggers catch shit about talking about their own medium too much, but half of all network TV shows are about TV shows.
Update: I’d been curious why all these people are commenting on a several weeks old post about how unenticing I found the promos for this TV show. Turns out this post is on the first page of the Google search for “Studio 60”, right below the link to the official site for the show. I was as good as my word and passed on the show last night because I truly don’t care. Whereas most people find Sorkin’s involvement a selling point, to me it is a hurdle to be overcome. I don’t want to listen to lots of rapid-fire bon mots and long impassioned monologues that are oh-so-clever and oh-so-cute. I got sick of that by the second season of the West Wing. People seem to like it and more power to them, but I opt out of this particular self-referential solipstistic exercise.
This all proves there is no justice. If I’m going to get this kind of traffic from Google, I wish it pertained to a subject I care about rather than this one, of which I am already sick.
I’ll do ya one better 🙂 There was nothing about the show, the actors or anything else that made me the slightest bit interested in this show. But… the full length pilot was on YouTube for a while, and I can’t pass up anything free. I was really surprised how good it was. Almost good enough to program my TiVo (but now quite). MUCH better than I thought.
I don’t think there’s any show in current production on the Big 3 (4?) that I watch anymore. I didn’t watch The West Wing because I missed the first season and I’m a stickler for watching a series from the first episode and in order.
I do plan on watching Studio 60. I like the cast members; I’ve liked what they’ve brought to the table in past projects and hope to be entertained by the show. I’m going into it with cautious optimism, though, as I haven’t been wowed by any live-action, non-reality TV show since Arrested Development, I believe.
We got the screener DVD of Studio 60 and have watched it 3 times already. It is smart, funny and I can’t wait for episode 2. I love good dialogue and Sorkin is the man when it comes to good dialoge. That’s why the last few seasons of West Wing sucked.. he left the show.
Jason, I stopped liking the West Wing when Sorkin was still on it. I specifically hate his dialogue – everyone else seems to think it crackles with wit but I think it is tedious and arch and that every single character sounds the same. I hate Matthew Perry and don’t much care about Bradley Whitford, and I am uninterested in the inner working of TV shows. The commercials they keep running for this, with what one presumes is what they think are the best bits, make me want to change the channel. I’m sure some people will love this show, but I’m also sure that I won’t be one of them.
I loved West Wing and I saw the Studio 60 pilot and can’t wait for more, to each his own.
I like Bradley Whitford, after watching him for so long he’s like a friend. Same with Mathew Perry, I think he has grown a lot with this role over what he did in Friends. There are some trademark Sorkin lines I will admit. There were times I could hear CJ Craig saying something one of the other characters said. Still that didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the show. In real life people don’t usually deliver such great lines but then real life on TV would be boring!
Studio 60 is the symptom of the complete collapse of creativity at the network level. All they can do now is produce shows about “Themselves” (capital T intentional). Wow, we’re so cool, TV excutives. Let’s do a show about US! Sorry, morons, we want something a little more interesting. Studio 60 is just “The West Wing” with palm trees. It SUCKS.
I loved the West Wing for the first 3 seasons, then it started to fall off hard. But Studio 60…emm, not so much. Seems like Sorkin picked up right where he left off with West Wing–running out of witty dialogue and interesting plotlines.
Of course the West Wing pilot wasn’t that great either, so I’ll give this one a chance, but based on what I’ve seen so far I am underwhelmed. Amanda Peet seems to be the weakest link. She’s easy on the eyes, but I really couldn’t take her character seriously. She’s supposed to be strong and smart but she seemed more like a deer caught in the headlights. Where’s Ansley when you need her?
“To each his own” is the salient comment. I loved, then liked, “The West Wing” and enjoyed “Sports Night” before it. Just watched the premiere of “Studio 60” and…I liked it. Mostly Amanda Peet, but her character is designed for the liking. It’s easy to shoot down a show if you’ve never made one…and I know, that’s no excuse. Turn the channel if you don’t like something (or read a book, like “Good Omens”…I just hope y’all aren’t tuning into mind-numbing (fake) “reality” TV.
In the end, a television drama should be about entertainment. I enjoy Sorkin because he’s a great entertainer. The dialogue is funny, his characters are often well-developed (helped by good actors), and he brings you a world you wouldn’t mind spending some time in. Yeah, it’s navel-gazing, but sometimes great things can come from navel-gazing – think The Player, Sullivan’s Travels, Sunset Boulevard, Day For Night, 81/2, to name a few.
The whole show was brilliant. Not sure how well it will carry over into mainstream audiences, however I work in television and all I have to say to this show is “Someone Finally Said It”. While watching it, I wanted to stand up and yell “amen” several times throughout. There is definitely a movement that is happening in the business, and it seems like the public is responding. There is no doubt that this show was inspired by the success of Entourage, and if the rest of the series is anything like the pilot, then I will religiously watch this show as well until it ends, whether in it’s series finale 7 years from now or because it gets pulled by NBC in a month for exposing the dirty side of the business. Either way, This is one incredible show!
I watched the premiere of this show last night and have to say I really enjoyed it. It is about time someone said what I have been saying for awhile “Saturday Night Live” sucks and most comedy being produced today has no balls. I will avoid going on a rant about comedy, although I want to.
As for “Studio 60” Aaron Sorkin produced a smart show, skillfully executed, with a little bit of rebellion. Let’s see if he has the courage to keep it up.
I loved the West Wing (not so much after Sorkin left) and the Studio 60 pilot was pretty good.
It sagged a bit in the middle, and Amanda Peet was most definitely the weakest link in the show, but it was a promising first episode.
I just wanted to write that Timothy Busfield is a damn fine actor. I didn’t realize this until he was on the West Wing, but he turned in yet another great performance in the pilot. When Bradley Whitford told him that he still had his job at the end of the show, the look on Timothy’s face is priceless. Great acting.
I hate ER, West Wing, CSI, Law & Order, Name is Earl, CSI Miami, Bones, Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, Big Brother, Survivor, and most anything else you can think of. I tivo House on Fox, I LOVED Lucky Louie on HBO, Curb Your Enthusiasm ,obviously, and a show on IFC called Minor Accomplishments.
But on an article I read in Time magazine I tivo’d Studio 60. I immediately liked it. NBC hasn’t made anything with an edge in a long time. At least with this you could feel them trying. I’ve never watched West Wing so I’m not familiar with Sorkin. I like about 90% of the dialogue. Amanda Peet was very likable. Mathew Perry needs a little time with this one. Strange to say this, but it reminded me of the Miami Vice pilot of 20 years ago. And I think they went for that (a tiny bit). Now I’ve lost my hope in Network Television a long time ago, but if this show can remain edgy, I might stick with it….
WELL, THERE IS NOTHING MORE SUBJECTIVE THAN ENTERTAINMENT. I HAVE WALKED OUT A MOVIE MY BEST FRIEND LOVED – AND I HAVE LOVED TV SHOWS MY BEST FRIEND HATED.
I HAD NEVER SEEN STUDIO 60 BEFORE AS I WAS ALREADY ADDICTED TO “THE SHEILD”, “RESCUE ME”,” MEDIUM” AND “FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS” AND JUST DIDN’T WANT TO LIKE ANOTHER SHOW ENOUGH TO WANT TO WATCH IT.- I JUST DIDN’T HAVE THE TIME. THE TRAILER OF “STUDIO 60” DID NOT ENTICE ME AT ALL. BUT – I JUST SAW THE PILOT FOR THE FIRST TIME -WOW! I LOVED IT! IT WAS WELL WRITTEN, FABULOUSLY WELL DIRECTED, GREAT CAST – EVERYTHING ABOUT IT WAS SMART, GREAT PACING – VERY, VERY, ENTERTAINING – AND NOW I’M SORRY IT;’S GONE – I WOULD HAVE WATCHED EVERY EPISODE FAITHFULLY – AND BY FAR I THINBK IT’S THE BEST THING MATHEW PERRY HAS EVER DONE !