I really despise Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Aaron Sorkin's latest brand of crack. Why? I can't afford the extra hour lost each week. Can't do it. YET I MUST. Why must I? As if the fact that it's written by Sorkin wasn't enough, the final nail in my time-management coffin came during the third episode, when the best ever slip-in of a Sondheim lyric occurred.
The Big Boss Man was talking to the Amanda Peet character (president of the network) after someone leaked her expunged arrest record to the press. It isn't supposed to exist, she complained - it's supposed to be impossible to get, how did someone get it, why would someone do that to me, blah blah, wah wah. And he just looked her in the eye and said, without a blink,
"Now you know. Thieves get rich, saints get shot, God don't answer prayers a lot". He recited lyrically and unapologetically and then BOOM, it was done, right to the next scene, and I didn't even have time to squeal about it.
ANY PERSON who can work one of my favorite ALL-TIME Sondheim lines (from Merrily We Roll Along, the most underrated of his shows, during a song called, you guessed it, "Now You Know") so seamlessly into dialogue like that has my lifelong adoration. I have to wonder how much he had to pay in royalties, or if it's considered small enough to be fair use. Either way, Aaron Sorkin drawing on Sondheim? Damn. Heaven. Now all we need is some J.K. Rowling references (I'm sure there'll be some) and we're set.
But still, I hate him. Because now I have to watch. Sondheim sealed the deal. I must watch.
The other great thing about this show is that it seems to be unfettered Sorkin. I always equated the last scene of his last West Wing with his real-life departure: he handed control over to the bloated, arrogant bad guys and walked out while the rest of the staff had to stay behind with their mouths open, about to be manhandled by someone who cares very little for their agendas or talent. So, whatever happened there, here's the absolute reverse: Sorkin writes about a TV network called NBS, with a renegade at the controls and the entire premise of the show based upon a necessary slap to the nature of modern television. It opens as a TV producer has a freak attack live on-air, decrying the most popular network television shows for exactly what they are: eye candy, mass appeal, lowest denominator, artless, feckless pieces of mindless drudge. The network goes into a tailspin, the new prez promises to turn things around by silently acknowledging the (now ousted) man's points and bringing in people who only agree to work under the condition that they can buck authority.
So, basically, it's a Stick It To The Man-a-thon, from the writer who wanted most to do so but was hamstrung with his last project, and whose first TV escapade was too good and too smart to last for too long.
The show is just...ripe with it. Ripe with the words of an embittered writer who came enough into his own that he has earned the right to be so, ripe with jabs at the stupidity of common culture and complete inanity of politics. (Another favorite line: Matthew Perry, defending himself against being a political wimp, says he takes plenty of pot-shots at the Republicans, and would do the same to the Democrats if only one of them would say or do ANYTHING. WORD! Sing it!)
It'll be interesting to see if Studio can keep mangling the hand feeding it, or if audiences think it's too smug and too smart (there are ways in which it definitely is, but come on, Bradley Whitford and Matthew Perry ooze le charm and make up for the annoying but growing-on-me character Amanda Peet plays). I have to give NBC credit for committing so wholly to something that exposes it so regularly and viciously. And I wonder what real behind-the-scenes situations mirror the scriptwriting, which is so full of uptight execs/political panderers/demographic hounds/people who are generally made uncomfortable by anything that makes anyone uncomfortable.
We'll see. In the meantime: Hate you, Aaron.
Ohhhhh, Aaron. I love you, Aaron.
This show is killing me in the best way possible. Every time I watch it, I can't help but happily exclaim or sigh or squee, "OH THIS IS SO PURE AARON SORKIN." Sports Night was never given the credit that it deserved, West Wing was taken by that idiot John Wells and systematically butchered into a show about nothing more than shock and awe politics (what characters? why do they matter?). It's so wonderful to have this combination of Aaron and Tommy back on the air.
And like you, I am impressed that NBC has the guts to air it. It's this delicious meta-show, and when it blows my mind with the things it dares to say and show, I can't help but wonder what it's doing to the minds of NBC execs!
God, I love this show! Not quite as much as I loved West Wing, but it's early yet.
We NEED a show that examines the purpose and use of entertainment, specifically satire. AND a show that refuses to talk down to its audience.
Thank goodness there are still Paddy Chayefskys out there!
I love love love this show, too! It's smart. It's funny. It's timely. I love the fast pace, yet the storyline doesn't feel rushed.
It's brilliant. Purely brilliant!
I think Sorkin's a skillful writer, but I'm not quite as cheerful about his demonstrated habit of sticking other people's lines into his scripts as you are.
Where you see a seamless insertion which should be praised as clever, I see a guy who is drawing verbatim from other minds without any attribution, and who is paid millions of dollars a year for it.
This is actually typical for him. In the "special episode" post 9/11, Sorkin directly ripped off a Salon article ("when you think of the people of Afghanistan, think of Polish Jews in WW II", etc). A couple of years before that, he directly lifted from an open letter to Dr. Laura which became an Internet forward in building a near-identical scene aimed at a "Dr. Nora."
He's got the chops; he should use them. The author of "Two Cathedrals" should not be so quick to endorse the cliche that while good writers borrow, great writers steal.
Well, then, the judgment call comes in what is borrowing and what is stealing. These kinds of allusions are very small and fleeting, and, I am sure, properly vetted through legal to check if they're in the domain of fair use and if not, paid through royalties (I could be wrong, of ocurse, but let's try and imagine NBC legal not checking the script thoroughly, or Sorkin thinking he coiuld stick a Sondheim line in and escape people's notice). Also, the charactesr are also usually *making* those allusions, clearly: the head of the network doesn't speak in rhyme, he was clearly quoting something, the way assinine people sometimes do. This kind of borrow doesn't feel dishonest; were it any more extended it probably would. Eh. Diff of opinion.
Very interesting post.
Now, this is weird. After the Cal LeakyMug, my sister, bro-in-law, hubby, son & me went out to eat & what did we talk about? This show. I haven't seen it yet, but obviously I'm meant to get hooked. Thanks alot Melissa....
Whatever its still not as good as Lost. The premiere was awesome.
I've been meaning to watch Studio, but I would constantly compare it to West Wing which i loved, and it's weird because I started watching Wing when I was eleven so...yup.
Since a musical was mentioned in Studio I shall have to reconsider watching it. Although, if you have Bradley Whitfield in the cast, it really cannot be bad.
*Squee* ^^
I'm completely in love with Studio 60. I don't understand why no one is watching it. TV Guide says the ratings are going down drastically from week to week. How is it that Desperate Housewives is still around but Studio 60 is close to being cancelled? I think because it's a Sorkin show NBC will keep it around as long as they can.
So, you don’t like Jordan? Really? I love her.
Studio 60 just gets better and better each week. That line about how the Democrats don't do anything made me laugh so hard my roommate though I was dying. I know it takes time out of your week, but we must keep watching, if only to save such a great show.
Speaking of Sondheim references, a lot of the episode titles on Desperate Housewives are named after Sondheim songs, like "I Know Things Now", "It Takes Two", "Children Will Listen", "Your Fault", etc. I first read this on Wikipedia and then going through the episode titles I realized it was true, having just been a stepsister in my school's production of Into the Woods. Desperate Housewives is pretty ridiculous, but I'm hooked!
Oh, and congratulations on your Mets. I'm so sad the Yankees lost! But, hockey season has started, and the Rangers look really awesome this year...