User reviews

After having seen the pilot episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, I am left with a sudden sense of excitement for the series to begin. The show hits the gate hard as a veteran executive producer of a late night comedy show (Judd Hirsch) goes on a verbal assault on live television, a moment straight out of Network (which the news media quickly catches onto). The studio is in complete disarray only minutes after the show ends, especially since the network's new president (Amanda Peet) as only been on the job for one day. How can they repair the damage done? Why not call in the two men who made the show a hit (Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford), and have since been fired two years prior. But things aren't going to be so easy to fix since there are execs just waiting to shred all three of them to pieces.

The show is pure Aaron Sorkin: it's witty, intelligent, and heart-felt about issues. It's also a blast to watch as a cast of incredibly talented actors and actresses work together to make Sorkin's words shine. But one thing Studio 60 isn't is a retread of either Sports Night or The West Wing. It's a completely different monster. This time, Sorkin's looking to dive deep into the worlds of Hollywood, Mass Media, and Big Business. With Perry and Whitford, we have televisions new odd couple, both incredibly funny both alone and together. Peet brings her A-game with her as she takes on her most ambitious part yet. And let's not forget some great contributions by D.L. Hughley, Timothy Busfield and Steven Webber. And this is coming straight from the pilot. Who knows where the show will go from here. But I know where I'm going to be on Monday nights.

I've enjoyed Sorkin ever since I saw A Few Good Men. Sports Night gets regular repeats in my DVD player, and while I never quite got in to West Wing because of scheduling problems on my end, what I did see always impressed me. So I was waiting very eagerly for Studio 60 to premiere. It didn't disappoint.

Now, this show is probably not for everyone. Sorkin doesn't lob softballs at us. He wants us to think, he's not going to spell every little thing out for the audience. Some see him as being preachy, but I'm afraid they not seeing for the forest for the trees here. Some also accuse him of anti-whatever propaganda, but fail to acknowledge or account for the existence of counter balance in the show itself (IE anti-Christian sentiments in S60, although one of his main characters is a level headed and likable Christian woman).

The cast is sublime. Matthew Perry pretty much does what he does, but now he can be the edgier actor he wanted to be. Bradley Whitford has always been underrated and he doesn't fail to impress me here. All of the other members of the supporting cast (including Timothy Busfield, who was looking surprisingly John Ritter-esquire in profile) are worthy. I've seen tons of criticism for Amanda Peet as the newly named president of the network, but I honestly can say I'm buying it. She does have a tendency to make the same face for everything, but otherwise, she's playing the part as it's written. Sometimes it's not the actor, it is the character (see Holmes, Katie and Begins, Batman), and I think this is one of those times. She's playing a relatively young powerful female exec like I'd expect her to. Kinda wink wink like, with a poker face.

Overall, I think this show, only 2 episodes in, is already one of the best shows on the network channels today. Hopefully NBC will give it the due course it deserves, even while it openly mocks the network.

Saw the pilot on NetFlix, and it's everything one should expect from Sorkin, Schlamme and this cast...sharp, tense, funny, and exhilarating television. Even if you don't care about behind-the-scenes drama or live TV or Saturday Night Live (which the show is based on), check this out...it's got a ton of drama, heart, and fun. Hopefully Sorkin will take time to develop each character. My only issue with the episode is that there's too much to cover, so we only get quick glosses of characters, but it's just a pilot, so it's OK to serve as an introduction. Matthew Perry, Amanda Peet, Brad Whitford, Timothy Busfield are all perfectly cast and show new range. Can't wait for the season to get going.

What a joy. Can you imagine someone actually answering a reporter in a press conference with the TRUTH? Even if it costs them? In Aaron Sorkin's world things are set aright and, while he clearly has questions, he sets out to answer them in a righteous and evenhanded way bringing thoughtful debate to the minds of the audience which, thankfully, he seems to believe can participate in thoughtful debate.

In Sorkin's world there is loyalty unlike almost anywhere on earth. Both in his personal loyalties and those of his interesting, full of life characters, bursting with individuality, personality and beautiful DIALOG...YES! So much incredibly wonderful dialog.

The unique and enduring music of W.G. Snuffy Walden adds such depth of emotion and intent to Studio 60. Music that moves us and causes us to feel with the characters we laugh and cry with and love to see again and again.

Sorkin and Schlamme bring actors we thought were pretty good, some we already really liked a lot, many we didn't even know their names - but now we do...and we always will. Because their talent has been revealed in the most profound way. And, after the pilot, I felt I knew them well and loved them each - a lot.

People enter from stage right and left - set builders, camera people, runners and a fantastic PA played by Merritt Wever who won my heart in the first episode. And I thought...only Sorkin would use this lucky girl in this way and she'll be so great...is so great...

And there are the cameos. Judd Hirsch, Ed Asner. Precious bits of time. As in The Wrap Party where the famous Eli Wallach was exquisite as the old writer/veteran who was once blacklisted in Hollywood. I cried. Very brave lines here, wonderfully acted by all involved. What a piece of film!

And with so much story and so many personalities, there is always room for one more...and one more that amazingly fills a new important space. No fillers here. Enter Christine Lahti...pure class. One more of the unique women in his script. Women who are strong, intelligent, interesting, funny...as well as loyal and led by their integrity. They vary in personality, careers, education, physical appearance and age. They are each absolutely beautiful in ways that most writers/producers/directors haven't seemed to notice nor use yet.

And there are the love scenes between Matthew Perry and Sarah Paulson. Truly amazing, awesome love scenes. Filled with depth and respect; fired with emotion and among the most beautiful ever filmed.

Week after week the story builds, the characters deepen and the anticipation of what is to follow is delightful...because we know the foundation will always be there. We know we can trust Sorkin to always be true.

The most recent: Nevada Day was absolutely great. One of the funniest things I've seen in years. I laughed until my sides hurt. What wit! and what an amazing ability to take real life people and their situations, examine truth and controversy while at the same time making us laugh out loud. And John Goodman, who would never disappoint us if all he did was enter the room...he is so good...was perfect as the judge from Pahrump...yeah Pahrump Nevada. Well, you've just got to watch this one.

The content always is intelligent, honest and courageous. The writing, directing, set design, costume, makeup - all pure talent, pure art. The acting is as acting should be - believable and strong: Perry, Whitford, Peet, Paulson Busfield, Hughley, Weber, and every one in between. Each actor is excellent and important. The show is important. I only hope there will be 130000 episodes.

Thank you Aaron Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme and a most incredible ensemble for giving us your very best every time. You knock our socks off.

I will forever be mad that NCB cancelled this show. Studio 60 is the perfect example of a show that would've thrived on a streaming service, sadly it was ahead of its time. Is it perfect, no. Is it Sorkin's best, no (but that is a tall ask), but it is a million times better than the majority of shows renewed for a second season and deserved better. The pilot episode and the Christmas episode are two of the finest hours of television ever made. It is my second favourite of Sorkin's shows and the short one season makes for excellent comfort viewing. The cast is phenomenal, so nice to see Matthew Perry in a more dramatic role, he's excellent. Bradley Whitford, Amanda Peet, Steven Webber particularly shine with Sorkin's dialogue. The main complaint I see against this show is that the sketches are not funny, and to that I say the Dateline Santa from the Christmas episode of Studio 60 was funnier than any sketch I've seen on SNL in recent years. It's a travesty this show wasn't given the chance it deserved, I believe with a second season it really would've found it's audience, but I will rewatch it forever because it's perfect to me.

I have emailed NBC twice about canceling this show. One of the few intelligent, well written, thought provoking shows I have seen in a while. What's the alternative, Singing Bee or watching women compete for a date? I have looked forward to viewing this show and am very disappointed in it's cancellation. Was it an air time problem or another season needed to gain viewer ship? I enjoyed it's complication-a good story along with great acting is becoming so rare these days. To hear statements that contain some reference as to what people are really thinking is such a refreshing switch from the pc crowd.Perhaps another network will see it's possibilities and pick it up. I just wish all those who made Studio 60 could know that some of us admired their work and will miss the show.

It is funny, smart, articulate, and touched the heart all at the same time. So of course word is that is has been canceled! It ran so briefly before getting pre-empted several times, that it barely got seen, yet NBC saw fit to shoot it down, and will be putting on several live game shows and other reality garbage of that ilk. Worse than that, they now torture us with the last new episodes, so that we might be bereft when it is gone. I wish there was a way to save the show, but networks rarely let shows live long enough to find their audience. NBC barely let it run long enough for anyone to find it. I think the best episode was the "Disaster Show," and watching Allison Janey and former "West Wing" lover Tim Busfield work together. What a hoot. What a waste that such a clever show will be lost to TV history.

I will not only be talking about Matthew Perry here, i promise, but i need to say this. I am a Friends fan. A can-quote-them-in-the-middle-of-the-night, know-and-own-every-episode kind of fan and i was worried about Mr. Perry, it's just the curse of playing a certain role for 10 years. I must admit, hands down, he is brilliant! Fantastic! Not once did i think of Chandler or Friends for that matter and i applaud him.

Now, Ms. Peet is wonderful too and i did not know she was this talented, i must admit. And Bradley Whitford - i loved him in West Wing, i love him here. I could in fact go on and on about the casting of this show, which is brilliant (Sarah Paulson - OMG), but i don't want to make this comment too long.

I was looking forward to this show and i am not disappointed! The writing is superb, engaging, the dialogues are quick and witty and intelligent! I am a sucker for shows that make me think, that make me watch open mouthed and leave me shell shocked and in not being able to believe the 45 minutes are gone. I re-watched it a couple of times just because i knew there were things i missed in the first run.

To Mr. Sorkin and everybody who is creating this show: you're doing an amazing job! I am hooked. And i so hope this show is here to stay!

In a time of Apprentice, Fear Factor, Bachelor and a dozen police/crime scene shows, Studio 60 brings diversity to network television. This is a very witty and thought provoking show, which offers philosophical views on many topics, relative to today's society.

We've seen how police stations, hospitals, and the White House work, now we get to see how network television works. The show incorporates a lot of self-irony and probably borrows a lot of material from real life experiences behind the scenes of network TV.

Like many others, I was afraid that Mathew Perry would not be able to put the Chandler character behind, but I was pleased to find out, that he did it, and he did it in style. I believe Perry has grown a lot as an actor and he is shining. The rest of the cast is also great, and so far it looks like this show has no main character - this has proved to be very successful in the past.

I realize that the audience of this show is naturally limited, but I really hope it stays, because I believe it has the potential to become a classic!

in the TV world of cop-shop-talk, overly hyped courtroom drama, and inherent idiocy of reality shows, it's a welcome change & refreshing to hear smart, funny dialog between characters, and plot lines with hints of addressing serious American cultural issues. "Studio 60" is an intelligent pleasure to watch, and Aaron Sorkin makes great use of talented actors he's worked with before, from Timothy Busfield, Matthew Perry, D.L. Hughley, Bradley Whitford, Evan Handler (recently from "Sex in the City") plus lots of other familiar faces...and the chemistry & witty dialog flows from beginning to end. I've enjoyed every show; cant wait to see more...

Apparently so. From the first kinetic moments, Studio 60 blazes through an hour of swift dialog, brilliant speeches, and a storyline that can go any which way. The camaraderie of Perry and Whitford feels genuine. Whitfords bottled nervous energy which could often become annoying on TWW is perfectly contained if not explained by a history of drug use. And the concept of the show seems remarkable fresh. Who knew? One must love Sorkin for his loyalty (the Albie/Tripp relationship must be Sorkin/ Schlamme) with West Wing regulars showing up. One can only hope Allison Janney gets a regular spot. Some have suggested the show is quite unlike The West Wing, which I disagree with...its the same cinematographer, the same lighting, the same run over dialog Sorkin is famous for...and who cares? It works, and you know it works when you feel exhilarated watching a show, and yearning for the week to pass quickly to see what happens next, and that is exactly what happened. Loved it.

Witty dialogs, credible situations, attaching characters, excellent actors, great mise en scene : "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" had everything to be a major hit on television. Except that it isn't neither a fantastic/sci-fi/teenager project, neither a show about doctors or cops, but about the reality of the world of television, and it may have been a little to intelligent, witty and realistic for TV.

Matt Alby (Matthey Perry, who plays what a realistic Chandler could have become if he had kept writing) and Danny Tripp, now famous writer, director and producers for the big screen (a little bit like, say, Soderbergh and Clooney) have to come back to the TV weekly show as executive producers, writer and director, that make them famous. The show used to be sarcastic, critical and funny, but the deterioration of the audience's needs (in the producers'mind at least) this last years make it just like another mediocre and consensual show. They'll have to fight the executives of the major that produces the show, the internal conflicts that prevent it from being good, and the clock in order to give "Studio 60" all it's glorious past again.

The story is quite passionating, and you really learn how a TV show is made while watching it. Aaron Sorkin really share his knowledge here and all the situations seem sincere and true. But don't get me wrong, it's far from being a documentary : the more you go in the series, the more the situations could become unpredictable and even absurd (see for instance the "Nevada Day" episode, with the great John Goodman in a great part). So, you'll also get your part of surprises, action and comedy. And of course, like in every show, the personal life of the characters become as important as their work, and you'll also get your part of romance, betrayals, quiprocos and love stories.

But after a promising first season, I've heard that the show have now been canceled. I've always thought something was missing in the show (surprise, maybe, all this is too well crafted ?), and I was waiting for the second season to see if this sentiment will be erased. But now, I guess I'll just miss the show. The last five episodes, witch formed the final arc, are quite disappointed, for they're way too dense, with flashbacks and multiple resolutions, as if everything has to be told in five hours. This five hours could have been a great second season in my opinion, and it's really a shame it won't be. But at least, if you've learn how a network works while watching this show, you won't be surprised it's been canceled.

I just don't understand this executives at NBC! They renew formulaic, boring shows like Deal or Not deal with that annoying bald headed host, but cant give the time to a well crafted, original marvel like Sunset Strip. Sometimes it takes a while for a good show to find its audience and establish itself, take Sainfeld for example! For a guy who gave us The west Wing, The Americam President, among many jewels, Aaron Sorkin I think has not been treated the right way here, he should be given the benefit of doubt!Jeff Zucker should probably know better than that, he is probbably too concern with the numbers he forgot to be a producer! It was probably an expensive show to make sure, but, sometimes you just have to take a risk, especially when that risk involves a genius like Sorkin. Go elsewhere Aaron! Go make some wonderful movies, or go make history at HBO were they think been crazy and writing about your own life (David Chase) is genius! I love the show, it is the only one good thing worth watching at NBC.

Really, I can't fathom the people who don't like this show. It is, simply put, one of the most brilliant programs you'll ever see, and it's a shame that it was canceled. The writing is classic Sorkin, and you've got a cast that is absolutely phenomenal in their roles. Some people have complained that it's not funny--they're wrong. Maybe too many years of brain dead sitcoms have dulled their sense of humor to the point where they can't appreciate comedy without a laugh track. But S60 managed to weave a tremendous amount of humor into what was, fundamentally, a dramatic series. It's barely thinkable that this didn't become the same kind of breakout hit that The West Wing did. Unfortunately, the critics trashed it--shows what they know--and the network didn't give it a second chance. Any show which can make you laugh, think, and tear up within the same episode as much as this one did deserves more consideration.

I cannot believe it. They are closing this show down. It's a terrible shame!!! Studio 60 is one of the best shows I have ever seen; great characters, excellent stories and this fabulous feeling of being backstage at a real show with all that happens there.

And then they close it down because not enough millions are watching. The curse of capitalism, I tell you. You'd think you'll keep a show that's getting rave reviews and giving it at least a couple of years to grow on the public.

I'm freaking out here. It just bothers me so much. It's like getting a friend and then loosing him a couple of months later.

Bring it back!

Studio 60 is the coming out party for Aaron Sorkin since he left NBC (during; The West Wing). He's brilliant again. This series is going to be as big if not bigger than Sports Night and The West Wing. OK, maybe not as big as TWW because you can't be better than 96 Emmy nods. But no joke S60 will blow people away and remind them why they loved and still love AS since he walked into the lives of millions back in the late 90s. I had the fortune to see a sneak peak (hey all you can if you are a netflixian) of S60 and I have already seen it three times. I love the chemistry between Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford, it's like they have worked together for years. Being a regular Sorkinite, I have followed all his hits. This is just going to be a great addition to an already amazing resume. Many of the greats (staff and cast) are back from either TWW, American President or SN. It's good to have you home, Aaron!

As usual the "Sorkonian rhythm" is just amazing to me and yes I am claiming that name. I'll keep this short, but looking back to Sports Night, Aaron has always made me think. The first time I saw that kind of dialogue,it reminded me of a little show back in the mid 80's called moonlighting. That sit up and pay attention attitude of writing, and delivery of dialogue I just fell in love with.

I get to enjoy that in a whole new way with the Rhythm that only Aaron can write. Forget anyone else When you get Aaron and Tommy on a project it's like a bus that comes down the road that you can either get on and enjoy a ride like you will never ever have again in a lifetime, or stand in the way and let it just run you over! I found myself this evening after watching this episode getting online and looking up and reading about "The Hollywood 10" and reading the stories of each and every one of them and the hundreds of others that were blacklisted as well.

I very rarely get emotional over TV shows, but the shows that Aaron writes touch me in ways that I never knew were possible from a box that will display things like "Date my Mom" and "Pimp My Trike" I bow to the enlightening wit, drama, and even when it takes a slap to the face to see all sides of a story. Never ever stop what you are doing! But in closing I really have to ask myself what it must be like around the Shoe Money offices with people running around all day long telling each other "Hey don't forget I need to meet with the guy about the thing..." A personal thanks to Aaron and Tommy for Years of entertainment and for many more to come!

Studio 60 is a fast-paced, well-written series which challenges the viewer to keep up with the action. The characters have full dimension and the portrayals make the viewer care what happens to each character.

The network has invested not only time and money into this show, it has gathered a plethora of skilled actors who've proved their skills in other venues as well as presenting talented people in secondary roles with the strong hint of more presence to come. I look forward to seeing the development of these currently secondary players and their various impacts on the varied underlying themes.

This show is a keeper and so should be kept running.

Studio 60 has nothing but promise. Matthew Perry is perfectly cast, whereas Amanda Peet is poorly cast. For a women who is supposed to show style and grace she comes off as a ice cold super computer delivering dialogue. For a women who throws her weight, wit, and knowledge around Peet displays the exact opposite of that. Great pilot but not what I was expecting. The feel is closer to West Wing when its comedic setting should bring its temperature to more of an hour long sitcom. Had Studio 60 been on HBO there would be no problem but there is only so much you can get away with when the FCC and advertisers hold your hand (funny that's what a great majority of the first episodes content had to deal with) Overall, wonderfully shot and casted, but if Peet's performance doesn't pick up the believe-abilitity; ie, emotion and swagger, this show will be hitting the NBC cut floor.

There are (delightful) shades of Sports Night's Dan & Casey combo in this very well written series. Matthew Perry was right to wait for the perfect project to come along. From the looks of it, Studio 60 will let him do what he has seldom been afforded the opportunity to do, and that is subtle comedy with an edge. West Wing fans will have no problem accepting Bradley Whitford in this decidedly un-Josh Lyman role. Rounding out the core cast are some of Hollywood's most interesting and under-cast actors, including D.L. Hughley, Sarah Pauley (perhaps this will finally be the break out that she deserves) and Steven Webber. And Amanda Peete is magnetic in her return to both the small screen and to center stage, as a driven and enigmatic young television exec. Aaron Sorkin & Tommy Schlamme deliver once again.

Network: NBC; Genre: Dramedy; Content Rating: TV-14 (language and adult dialog); Perspective; Contemporary (star range: 1 - 4);

Seasons Reviewed: 1 season

Even though he only has two shows to his name, Aaron Sorkin's style is so distinct and instantly recognizable that most TV viewers already know what they are getting with "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip". So this review is strictly for the Sorkin fans, who may find it thrilling or befuddling to watch him spend every bit of capital he attained from "The West Wing" to go back to the behind-the-TV-scenes "Sports Night" well.

"Studio 60" starts off like a firecracker. Fresh out of rehab and angry as hell at the state of TV today, Sorkin opens the show with Judd Hirsh as the head writer for the title series, up to his intellectual ears in reality TV and network pandering to both the lowest common denominator and political interest groups, lashing out in and on-air meltdown of biblical proportions. Right off the bat "Studio 60" says everything I have been dying for a TV show to stand up and say: that it doesn't have to be like that and all it takes is one show that doesn't believe that the audience is stupid to make a difference. But is "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" that show?

On her first day on the job, NBS programming executive Jordan McDiere (Amanda Peet) must deal with the crisis at Studio 60 while being fought at every turn by programming president Steven Weber. As someone who believes in the Hirsch character's TV outlook, she hires highly regarded and controversial former writers Matt (Matthew Perry) and just-out-of-rehab Danny (Bradley Whitford) to add some class and edge to the late-night sketch comedy series. Studio 60, itself is a transparent "Saturday Night Live" satire starring Simon (D. L. Hughley), Tom (Nathan Corddry) and Matt's crush and the show's token Christian Harriet Hayes (Sarah Paulson). Timothy Busfield is a kick as the show's frazzled director.

How can it loose? Perry giving a bitter twist on his "Friends" persona, Whitford - the breakout actor from "The West Wing" - given a lead role and Aaron Sorkin back in his element. NBC taking it on the chin every Monday night. Sign me up. Even though it appears Sorkin has abandoned his trademark rapid-fire dialog and the history lesson are now limited to the fictitious history of the studio, his angry liberal rants and fairy tale romanticism is still in tact.

As much as I wanted to like his latest creation, if only for having the guts to cleverly lacerate its own network, it became hard to get past the elephant in the room. The show within the show… makes no sense. The show is never able to decide if it wants to parody the inane political posturing, lame character sketches and Christian-bashing of "Saturday Night Live" or if it wants to be better than "SNL". All the characters walk around talking about how intellectual and satirical Matt and Danny's jokes are. Yet every time we actually see "Studio 60", it delivers a lame Tom Cruise impression in Celebrity Jeopardy, "The Nicholas Cage Show" or Hughley hosting "Pimp My Trike" (the most infamous 15 seconds in the show's history). I might as well be watching "SNL". The show smartly never shows us Matt's infamous "Crazy Christians" sketch. "Nations" is looking pretty good right now.

Oh, there is some great stuff here. The 2nd episode, "The Cold Opening" is from start to finish exceptional. In it we actually see the elaborate musical number the show has been concocting for the last hour (rare for behind-the-scenes shows to show us the final product so this was refreshing). A sub plot involving a ticking clock until show time that mocks Matt is icing on the cake. "The Wrap Party" in which Hughley seeks out an original, cliché-free black comic to write for the show is also fine work and "The West Coast Delay" in which the show races to prevent a plagiary accusation is a hoot. Also working is a budding relationship between Tim and freshman writer Lucy ("The Office's" Lucy Davis, always a delight) that under Sorkin's eye has an adorable puppy dog innocence (another Sorkin staple).

But before the fledgling first season comes to its end the show has lost its focus entirely. Sorkin makes two crucial mistakes. First, he becomes overbearingly single-minded in a mission to prove to the audience that the Christian right and the FCC are the two greatest threats to American life. Again and again Matt and Harriet go up against each other over false-premise debates about religion, gay marriage, middle-America etc. Second, his desire to get all the characters together (including the most likely of couples) buries the show in the same hopelessly romantic pabulum that helped kill "Sports Night". Both of these tones take away from what the show does best.

What "Studio" does best is recreate the sweaty chaos of getting a live show on the air and those late night writing sessions where no idea works. I love that most of the stories existing in the minutes before the show or between the end of the show and a wrap party that nobody seems to make it to.

"Studio 60" is an entertaining watch, brave for network TV, with solid writing and capable performances, but Sorkin goes on auto-pilot and allows it to wander of the reservation into an edgeless, warmed over "Sports Night" clone, toning down the TV industry inside-Baseball in an attempt to garner an audience that wouldn't appreciate him anyway. Only those that like "Studio 60" a lot will be the ones disappointed by it. Yes, I still think TV can be successful without pandering to the "Cheaters" crowd, but you have to take it all the way. Playing both sides against the middle doesn't work either.

* * * / 4

Amanda Peet is not right for this part. She looks overwhelmed and is without weight. Sorkin's women are strong, even when they're neurotic. There is something to them that has to read 'been there, done that'. That is sadly missing and her acting in this is most difficult to enjoy. Hopefully she will improve with time. The show is otherwise very well cast and I am excited to see Matthew Perry in a role that has some gravitas and wounded humanity. It must feel great as an actor to get out from under the shadow of such a long-lived sitcom role. Steven Weber is managing his arsehole role really well too. And once again Brad Whitford knocks it out of the park with his subtlety and grace.

Let's face it -- this show simply isn't up to the gold standard that Aaron Sorkin set for himself with 'Sports Night' and 'The West Wing.' Now normally even something of Sorkin's that is sub-par would still be far superior to most of the drivel on network television. But in this case, since the series is itself a commentary on the sorry state of the current television industry it needs to provide a compelling vision of what television COULD or SHOULD be. It does not. Instead, we get a mediocre show about people putting on a "comedy show" where NONE of the sketches we've yet to see from this show-within-a-show are REMOTELY funny.

The show feels too much like Sorkin and producer Thomas Schlamme trying to rub NBC's noses in its decision to kick the two off of the West Wing crew after its fourth season (which was a travesty) and consequently feels too much like a personal, in-joke filled therapy session of Sorkin trying to show the world how things SHOULD have happened. The show also has too much of a preachy quality to it (something that many viewers have complained about 'The West Wing' - but there it seemed more appropriate since the topic matter was something as lofty and morally relevant as politics and the future of American policy).

In the end, the show simply isn't funny (even though it's supposed to be about funny people) nor is the focus of its drama at all compelling or interesting - you ultimately could care less about any of the characters or what happens to them. This is the result of a few things - first of all, the show's plots have largely focused television insider jargon (which we saw on Sports Night but there the behind-the-scenes look at TV was always done as interesting window- dressing around plots focused on the characters' personal lives, not as the focus of the plots themselves). Secondly, the lack of interest in the characters comes from the show's dark, drab set of undistinguished locations that makes the whole production feel dark and cramped without any feeling of zest or life in it.

But most fundamentally, our lack of interest in the characters results from both underwritten and miscast roles. Bradley Whitford and Matthew Perry are solid as the two leads, but they only really come alive in scenes between their two characters, which so far have been few and far between. Similarly, Timothy Busfield is always a solid actor but so far he has been given nothing to do; similarly, Nathan Corddry.

On the miscast side, D.L. Hughley, while usually good in other films and shows, just doesn't quite click with Sorkin's rapid-fire dialogue here. Sarah Paulson's casting as Harriet Harris, Matthew Perry's love interest, is seriously off-kilter. For one thing, her character's Christianity is written far too buffonishly, which isn't her fault of course and once again demonstrates Hollywood's outlandish misconceptions of most Americans' sense of religion. But beyond that flaw in how the character is written, Paulson as an actress provides NO spark that would give viewers any reason to care about her. And finally, Amanda Peet is woefully miscast, turning the character into too one-dimensional and perky a type to ever convincingly have become a major network executive. Sorkin clearly was aiming for another strong female lead character like Dana on 'Sports Night,' but he needed an actress with much better dramatic chops (like Felicity Huffman) to fully realize the role in a three-dimensional way.

In short, this is a show filled with talented people in front of and behind the camera and all their efforts have misfired into an unappealing, unappetizing mess. Better to let this show fade after one season so that all this talent can be released to try their luck on other projects. If you want to see the best of what this show's writer and producer (and some of these actors) can do, rent or buy 'Sports Night' or 'The West Wing.'

Straight of the bat, I'm writing this whilst only halfway through the second episode. I was a huge Perry fan and really disliked Bradley Whitfield and Steven Weber, and only knew Amanda Peet because of her tits on The Whole Nine Yards. But god damn, this show is absolutely brilliant.

Perfect cast. Not one weak note. Peet and Whitfield are now favourite actors of mine, and actually don't hate Steven Weber. Perry and Paulson are terrific separate and perfection together.

Finally, the final song of the episode, BEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN ON A TV SHOW.