Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip - Season One (1 Viewer)

Hey cats and kittens. I'm a bit of a fan of some of the people involved in the said show (see signature). Though it could be said, as it was by Whitford's Josh Lyman, "That's not being a fan, that's having a fetish". It's true though man. I'd have sex with any of these guys....metaphorically, or somethin'....

The point is the fact that this is gonna be the best thing on the 06-07 schedule this year. This is gonna be television's saving grace, NBC's saving grace, my saving grace from shooting myself in the face after the loss of Arrested Development. There's nothing about this show that doesn't look amazing. Aaron Sorkin has established himself and remained the master. This is the guy who made the B plot about the Census Bureau a compelling story. The reign of golden television that started 1998 with a little ABC dramedy ditty called Sports Night and took a short sabbatical in '03 as Sorkin and Schlamme pulled out of The West Wing returns this fall. There's nothing I won't love about this show. Baby, we got a stew goin'. I can't wait to see what's next?

P.S. - I'm a happy bastard to be the guy that starts the thread

I'm really looking forward to this show as well. I loved the West Wing and really liked Sports Night, although I never understood where he was going with it. I have no interest in sports which was okay for that show, because sports usually took a back seat to politics, corporate maneuverings, writing, the creative process and good old fashioned characters.

Studio 60 should be a knockout!

Although I'm looking forward to this, I'm curious to see how this works with a broad audience a commercial network needs, given its premise is somewhat rarified (television shows about the making of television shows isn't a particularly compelling concept for a lot of people).

I hope this show lives up to its promise. I read a draft of the pilot and it was compelling and funny: classic Sorkin. Some of the leads have already been announced, so it's great fun imagining how they might inhabit these characters. It's sort of the "Sports Night / West Wing" politicking covered with an "SNL" glaze (minus all the not-funny) with a tiny dash of "Network".

I am really looking forward to it as well. I think all good film and TV starts with good writing and I think Sorkin is the master as well.

I was big fan of West Wing. I never caught Sports Night when it aired but I have recently been catching the series through my Netflix account. It is excellent, and interesting to see how many of the actors were brought back in different roles in West Wing.

This has all the makings of a great show with Sorkin and Schlamme together again.

And the cast list is top notch too.

Matthew Perry as Matthew Albie
Bradley Whitford as Daniel Tripp
Amanda Peet as Jordan McDeere
Steven Weber as Jack Rudolph
Sarah Paulson as Harriet Hayes
D.L. Hughley as Simon Stiles
Nathan Corddry as Tom Jeter
Carlos Jacott as Ricky Beck
Evan Handler as Ronald Oswald
Timothy as Busfield Cal

Synopsis:

Aaron Sorkin takes us behind the scenes of a fictional late-night sketch comedy series. Lately, “funny” has been in short supply at Studio 60. The executive producer just had a meltdown – on live TV. The control room is out of control. The actors are acting up. And that’s just last Friday’s show! Studio 60’s only hope lies with two wunderkind writers (Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford) with troubles of their own, and the headstrong new network president (Amanda Peet) determined to turn things around.

I'm actually looking forward to a show on NBC again.

Trailer

I just started watching Sports Night on DVD, and have seen the first 4 seasons of The West Wing (all on DVD). Enjoyed all of them so far.

I look forward to Studio 60 as well.

I just saw the Pilot, which I rented from Netflix. So far, it looks like a show with potential. I enjoyed it more than Sports Night, but it didn't grab me as much as The West Wing.

It will take some getting used to the fact that Matthew Perry is not Chandler Bing.

Just watched "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" and it's got a lot of potential, like the cast, like the chemistry between Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford. Amanda Peet seems a little young for her role, but she's got the devilish "I know more than you think I know" smile down to an art. Steven Weber is perfectly cast as the jackass head honcho for NBS.

Eh? I thought it was a Fall 2006/07 show, debuting in September? Or did you somehow get access to some preview, you sly dog?

The pilot is available "on the net" but it is also available through legitimate means too- Netflix is offering a disc that has the pilots for "Sunset Strip" and "Kidnapped".

I am looking forward to it. West Wing is one of my all-time favorites and this cast looks great. I am very disappointed that NBC caved and moved the show to Monday. Ugh that's weak.

I liked the pilot, although I don't know where it is going to go. Is it going to be a comedy? I didn't laugh (and I loved SPORTS NIGHT). Is it going to be a drama? And if so, will it get all preachy like THE WEST WING did (which I gave up on after a few seasons).

I do like Peet in the role though.

It'll be a dramatic comedy, i.e. a dramedy.

The chemistry between Perry & Whitford was evident in the short preview clip NBC had up a few months ago. They just seemed to "click" together, in the same way Peter Krause & Josh Charles did in "Sports Night".

In a fall season that looks very promising, this is by far my most anticipated show.

I rented the pilot from Netflix and watched it last night. I really enjoyed it. I think it has an interesting concept and the acting is definitely top notch. It's sort of like a "Entourage"-type show, but instead of being about the movie business, it's about the TV biz and instead of being a comedy it's more on the drama side. Ok, maybe they aren't anything alike.. well, except they both do give you an insight to the inner workings of Hollywood and the entertainment business. Whatever, I liked the show and I will definitely do my best to get the buzz out there so more people will watch the pilot because I really think that's all you need to watch to be hooked. And this is coming from someone who never watched "Sports Night" or "The West Wing".

I think Netflix doing this exclusive deal with NBC to be able to rent the pilot was really cool. Tonight I'll watch the other show and I think I might go to my Netflix acct right now and add "Sports Night".

Speaking of "Sports Night"... makes sense now why that one person was in the episode. I wonder if that will happen alot? Where they get real people to 'host' the show? I hope so, I always like seeing celebrities playing themselves.

I also just received the pilot from Netflix.

Not bad. I'm not sure though how well this will play everywhere, considering the whole bit with Perry, even to me, seemed over-the-top grating. In moments like that, I often feel like it switched to "let me preach a little to you.."

I also didn't care so much for the "Network President" who seemed overly mousy and I kept waiting for her to bite her thumb or something equally goofy. (?) She just didn't seem to have enough power behind her.

This is a show that I will definitely give a try, but I am a little bit cautious of based on what I've seen so far.

I watched the pilot & liked it.

Hardly anybody is mentioning the odd fact that NBC has 2 new shows about "behind the scenes at an SNL-type show". What are the odds?

Didn't care much for the Kidnapped pilot on the same disc- was OK, but just a run-of-the-mill crime drama.

First off, let me saw I am a huge West Wing fan and loved Sports Night too.

I was unfortunately just a little underwhelmed by the Studio 60 pilot. But I am more than prepared to say that any new show needs a bit of time to bed in -- save the West Wing which was sheer genius from day one -- and also the plot being the set-up to show how our two heroes get hired (back) to run the show, means that the entire episode was practically exposition/backstory, and now we get to move onto the real meat of the show. In contrast, Sports Night started off with everyone already in place, and therefore also hit the ground running.
Not as much of the trademark Sorkin repartee, but I'm sure that'll gear up as the show progresses.

What's the other behind-the-scenes-at-SNL show? As an aside, I'm rather cheesed off that CNBC out here no longer shows SNL, they did last season but not anymore. Grrrrr...

That would be "30 Rock".