TV for Nick: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Starring Matthew Perry, Amanda Peet, Bradley Whitford, D.L. Hughley
Created by Aaron Sorkin
Monday, 10pm NBC

I love TV, I mean real TV. I have a satellite but use very little of it, staying within the confines of ESPN, Comedy Central, some various other channels showing reruns of great shows, and my tried and true (and ever-expanding and contracting -- hello, CW) broadcast channels. I watch more on NBC than any other network and always have: from Seinfeld and Mad About You through (guiltily) Friends and Scrubs. I lived and died by the first couple seasons of Ed and even caught more than a few episodes of the promising but disappointing Providence. My late night is Conan and my hope for the future is the Thursday night block of My Name is Earl/The Office.

Needless to say, I caught my fair share of The West Wing but I was probably going to anyway: you see, I'm an OG Sorkin fan, back when he was on that other "_BC" with Sports Night though my exposure during its first run was somewhat limited. When Comedy Central breathed new life into the series in reruns, I was hooked on the dialogue, the situations, the intelligence. It was a coherent show looking at actual problems. They didn't waste time on the melodramatic soap opera storylines trapping most dramas nor did they sink to sit-com lows. The characters, though far more clever, eloquent and light-hearted than anyone in real life, were real and tangible. This became Aaron Sorkin's style, a style he seems to have refined in the past eight years.

Studio 60 is the grand mixture of the quick-paced, meticulous production in Sports Night (the details on that show were mind-boggling sometimes, right down to the continuity of monitors in the background) and the storyline/character/dialogue refinement cultivated during The West Wing. What we get is a series of characters we care about in situations we feel for speaking in such a way that we know isn't real life but we almost wish it were. Combine that with a cast specializing in delivery (Matthew Perry, DL Hughley, Bradley Whitford) with an immense sharpness and suddenly this show is a monster waiting to happen.

Also, I like shows that feature behind-the-scenes at a TV show. It's neat

So catch the show. It's worth watching for sure. If Monday night doesn't do it for you, record it and watch it instead of ER on Thursday. You know ER: it's that doctor show with Uncle Jesse.