Requiem for Studio 60

On Saturday night, Mrs. Bartender and I watched the past 3 episodes of Studio 60. (Two more remain before the series is officially dead.) Why, you ask? I'm not really sure other than we've watched up until now, so why not make it through until the bitter end. And watching these episodes reinforced the problems with the show that led to its demise. (I'll leave out discussing that the sketches just aren't very funny as that theme has been beaten to death.)

The biggest problem is that the show never decided what it wanted to be. Half the time, Sorkin thought he was doing The West Wing Part II--such as the oh so manufactured plot line where Tom Jeter's brother is kidnapped in Afghanistan. Or over the fights with the FCC. Or about Matt's attempts to tell jokes in the wake of 9/11. (I know; it's been 5 years.) This is supposed to be a show about a sketch comedy program, but Sorkin's desire to tell us all that is wrong and right in the world is just too strong. Sure, Sorkin's preaching wore thin on The West Wing or A Few Good Men (you're right, Aaron, I can't handle the truth), but at least it wasn't completely misplaced. Here it's just forced.

Yet the other major strain of the show became the romantic comedy angle, but this was too was forced and repeated too many times--Danny and Jordan; Mat and Harriet;Tom and the chick from the British Office. Before we had even developed relationships with these characters, we were supposed to care about will they or won't they. This takes time to work, and here it did not.

Ironically, Sorkin masterminded a great and funny sitcom that was about the making of a TV show. Of course, Sports Night lasted only two seasons, but it was a really good show. It did not try to do too much, and you actually cared about the characters in a way that never occurred here. Alas, and better luck next time.

Well, That Wasn't So Great While It Lasted

It seems that NBC has decided to pull the plug on Studio 60. As Red Fraggle and I frequently commented (more frequently on her part), it really wasn't that good--and it certainly wasn't very funny--but we watched anyway. If you care, NBC will be showing the final episodes on Thursdays at 10pm starting on May 24. Frighteningly, I may actually watch. However, I do now plan to watch Heroes and, perhaps, Friday Night Lights this fall. Get me the DVDs now!

Another realistic television portrayal of lawyering

Are my endless rants about Studio 60 getting increasingly boring? My guess is yes. But the show annoys me so much, I must press on. (Why I continue to watch is a question I haven't been able to answer. I think because it is already programmed into my DVR and by the middle of the week there is nothing else left that Gobo will watch with me.)

I have been complaining since the first episode that the show's portrayal of professionals is horribly unrealistic. The idea that someone as young as Jordan McDeere could make it to the top of the network heap while having zero respect for her colleagues or superiors was, to me, highly unlikely. But then again, I don't work for a television network, so what do I know?

I do, however, work for a law firm. As a lawyer (when I'm not hanging out in Fraggle Rock, eating Doozer buildings, of course). And this week, Matt and his writing team is interviewed by a young female lawyer in connection with a sexual harassment claim filed against the network, the show, and some of its writers (FYI, the lawyer is played by Kari Matchett, who looked really familiar to me, but after reviewing her IMDB page, I haven't seen her in anything, and it appears her most significant role was in Invasion, a show I never watched). So the network and the show are this attorney's clients. A quick rundown on her treatment of Studio 60's head writer (I'll limit it to the most egregious examples).

Upon meeting him, she immediately questions Matt about how the show's ratings have slipped precipitously over the past four weeks, and questions his decision to have only four writers on his staff. When Matt pushes back, asking her if she would like to run the show, she claims that she is doing this to see what type of witness he will be. Interesting. Perhaps I should put this to use in my work environment. Typically, when we prepare witnesses for depositions, we sit them in a room and discuss the issues of the case with them, and then perhaps we will pretend to be opposing counsel in the case and ask them questions. We don't insult their business decisions in a casual atmosphere, as soon as we have been introduced.

Later, she gives Matt a copy of the plaintiff's complaint to read. However, instead of letting Matt read it, she continually interjects with sarcastic comments about the show--comments that have little, if any, relevance to the subject of her legal defense. Matt shushes her three or four times, but she continues on, undaunted. So I guess the second lesson I learned is to give my client important legal documents to review, but then to ignore his pleas for silence as he peruses them, while I instead continue to sarcastically insult his work.

At the end of the episode, she gives Matt her business card. Which is what any attorney would do after a deposition preparation. After all, she is the attorney who will eventually defend Matt's deposition, and he may have questions. Except when she gives him the card she suggestively tells him to give her a call for "anything." Matt asks her whether she is asking him out, and she says that she was trying to get him to ask her out. So I guess lesson three is that after I have insulted the client and ignored his request to stay quiet so he can concentrate on the legal matter at hand, I should seductively hand him my card and admit I want to date him.

For those of you who have never stepped foot in a law firm, suffered through a deposition or read a complaint, let me be the first to tell you: that's not the way it works. Oh, and as for the rest of the episode, it wasn't all that exciting either. I am looking forward to the cancellation of this show, because then I won't have to make an affirmative decision to drop it from my viewing schedule.

Fast talkers

Lately I have been annoyed by fast talkers on television shows I watch. What is up with this phenomenon? Why do actors and writers think this is a good idea? Do people sound like this in real life? I don't think so.

The biggest offender is Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. I actually don't know why I continue to watch this show. I put it on grudgingly, and feel like I am punishing myself the entire time I watch. I just don't find anything enjoyable about this show. But one of the least-enjoyable aspects is the fast talking. I know that this is a Sorkin trademark, and I thought it worked well on The West Wing. But I don't think it does on Studio 60. It just makes everything seem horribly unrealistic. People just don't talk like that in real life. Whenever the characters start getting into fast-talking mode, all I can think is "oh, they are fast-talking again." It makes the acting seem so obvious, which is probably not what they are going for, right?

The offender of late is a favorite, Veronica Mars. This season has been a lot weaker than the first two (Percy, do you still go to Hearst?), and Veronica is becoming more of a caricature with every episode. When she was in high school, with her best friend murdered, her boyfriend dumping her without explanation, her mother abandoning her, her father losing his job and her friends ignoring her, her sarcasm made good sense. It was a facade she put on to protect herself. Plus, she was just a little snarkier than the average person, which was fine--she was making fun of everyone around her. But although her life has improved markedly since season one, she has only become snarkier and more sarcastic. It seems that she should be dropping the defense mechanism just a little at this point. More jarring is her banter with Keith, which has jumped from "cute and charming" to "unrealistic and weird." Veronica advising Keith to thrust toward the bachelorette, complete with a demonstration, was a little odd for a father-daughter. And her whole "tough guy accent" when Keith walks in, keeping it up even when he is clearly down, just seems too put-on.

Interestingly, The Gilmore Girls has been doing the fast talking thing for years, and it never really bothers me. I think it's because the only fast talkers are Rory and Lorelai, and I just write it off as a familial trait that they share. It does strike me sometimes, but it never really bothers me. As a disclaimer, I have never been a regular watcher of the show--I just watch it if it is on when I am flipping the channels--so maybe if I watched more often it would bother me just as much.

The Season So Far: Monday

First, I have a confession to make. Remember how I said that I wasn't going to watch Prison Break anymore? Well, that didn't really work out. I blame my secretary, who loves the show, and was appalled at my decision to abandon it. So, I made a deal with myself that I could only watch it on the treadmill at the gym. Yes, I have entered the third stage of grief -- bargaining. The question is what am I grieving? Prison Break or my self control? Only time will tell.

Anyway, it's so much better this season now that they're out of prison. Stuff actually happens. And the addition of William Fichtner as Agent Mahone has really improved things. Also, Wentworth Miller is incredibly good looking.

Heroes is one of my favorite new shows. Yes, there are the mysterious forces that draw the characters together a la Lost. But the characters are so entertaining. And the plot advances from week to week. And you have the sneaking suspicion that the writers actually know where the story is going. And there's Hiro!

Oh, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, you frustrate me. You are so self-righteous, and full of yourself, but mostly just not funny. But then last night, amid the self-righteousness (see FCC subplot) and full-of-yourself-ness (see New Orleans subplot), I actually starting caring about the relationship between Danny and Jordan. And I think I even laughed.

First as comedy, then as farce

The past 2 episodes of Studio 60 have focused on the small town of Pahrump, Nevada. (Like Red Fraggle and others, I have my issues with the show--it's hard to caremuch about these characters and the comedy just ain't that funny, but I have, so far, stuck with it.) The episodes argued that just because the town may be a small down doesn't mean its citizens deserve to be mocked and thought of as idiots. (As a judge, John Goodman showed just how savvy such a small town resident can be.)

Well, the government of Pahrump has attempted to prove Sorkin wrong, seeking to demonstrate that they are in fact bumpknis. According to CNN, the town council has passed an ordinance prohibiting the flying of foreign flags unless they are flown below the American flag. Not just dump but blatantly unconstitutional. Congratulations, Pahrump, on (1) showing your stupidity and (2) wasting your money on defending a law that is sure to be struck down. (To be fair, the ordinance only passed 3-2.) Memo to Aaron Sorkin: pick a better small town next time before it does everything in its power to prove you wrong.

Update: For an excellent discussion of the patent unconsitutionality of this law, Eugene Volokh, as always, is of great assistance.

So what did you do on Friday night?

Per usual, I have been having problems with my DVR. So I made an appointment with Comcast to fix it for this past Saturday, appointment window from 9 a.m. until noon.

I don't know how this happened, but somehow my brain didn't make the connection that Comcast fixing the DVR most likely equal Comcast replacing the DVR which means that every show I had saved on the DVR would be lost.

Which is kind of a problem when your DVR looks like this:
Lost: 4 episodes
New Adventures of Old Christine: 2 episodes
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip: 2 episodes
The Amazing Race: 1 episodes
Ugly Betty: 4 episodes
Desperate Houswives: 1 episode
Veronia Mars: 1/4 of an episode (thanks, crappy DVR for not taping the rest)
Grey's Anatomy: 2 episodes
Dancing with the Stars: 2 episodes
The O.C.: 3 episodes
Las Vegas: 1 episode
Boston Legal: 2 episodes (only Gobo watches this)
The Wire: 3 episodes (again, just for Gobo)

And that is just the new stuff. Also on the DVR were episodes of Murder, She Wrote, King of the Hill, The Simpsons, a potentially soft-core porn movie with Alyssa Milano called Embrace of the Vampire (that's just for Gobo, who harbors a crush on her), and two episodes of Celebrity Duets featuring Belinda Carlisle I was hoping to save forever.

Unfortunately, I realized I was going to have to watch all of these shows at 10 p.m. on Friday. And Comcast was coming at 9 the next morning. So I had 11 hours in which to watch 21 hours and fifteen minutes of television. And I had just spent twelve hours at the office.

But I was on a mission. Before I left the home Gobo expressed a concern that we wouldn't have enough snacks to get us through a night of television-watching. But really, there was no time for snacks. There was no time for bathroom breaks. If we were going to get this done, we had to watch everything we could, straight through, without interruption. But then, crisis! I hear someone say my name as I rush down K Street, trying to get home as quickly as possible. Who is it? A friend from high school, who I haven't seen or spoken to in 11 years. I spent 30 minutes talking to him, and all I could think was "oh great, there goes another show I won't have time to watch." It was like losing your clue or getting a bad driver on The Amazing Race. A show which, if the conversation with high school friend went much longer, I wasn't going to be able to view. Luckily, I eventually got home.

The first order of business was to prioritize. Obviously, anything old (like Belinda on Duets and Murder, She Wrote) would have to be sacrificed. It's sad, but everyone has to make tough choices in life. I then happily realized that Desperate Housewives, The O.C. and Dancing with the Stars were available on my bedroom DVR, so I didn't have to watch those. I was down to 15 hours and 15 minutes of television. The clear first priority was Lost. Gobo and I sat down and watched it until 1 a.m. It's too bad we couldn't discuss the episodes at all, as we had to soldier on. We followed Lost up with an episode of Studio 60, and then an episode of Old Christine. Gobo fell asleep four times during Old Christine, so he went off to bed.

I, on the other hand, stayed strong (and I may have gotten crabby with Gobo for abandoning me, but I didn't really have time to stay upset). There was more work to be done. I got through The Amazing Race and then followed it up with an episode of Ugly Betty. By this time, it was 4:40 a.m. And I'm sad to admit it, but I couldn't take it anymore. I figured that I could live without ever watching the second episode of Studio 60, since I really don't enjoy the show, that I could watch Old Christine in the morning as I waited for Comcast (they were sure to be late, right?), that I would have to live without two episodes of Grey's Anatomy, which I haven't been enjoying much anyway, and that the DVR had only given me 15 minutes of Veronica Mars, so I could just read the recap on Television Without Pity.

So that's how it was to go down. The cable guy got to our place promptly at 9:10 a.m. (of course this would be the one time that Comcast has ever arrived at the beginning of my window...or hell, in the window at all), meaning I didn't wake up in time for Old Christine. But then the cable guy looked at our DVR box. And he realized he hadn't brought the proper replacement box. So he left. And he left us with our box, to return Tuesday (tomorrow) with a new box.

Meaning we had the rest of the weekend to watch all of the shows we had left.

The problem with Studio 60

I am really behind on my television watching--the NLCS put me back, and the World Series (even though I officially don't care) isn't helping matters. But last night the Series was rained out, so Gobo and I decided to catch up on some television. He refused to watch The Amazing Race (we're two weeks behind) and I wasn't in the right mindset for Lost (three weeks behind!), so we agreed on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

I was reluctant to watch it, just because I haven't been enjoying it all that much. But my only other option was Grey's Anatomy, and I haven't been into that lately either, so I decided Studio 60 was a decent option.

And in watching, I realized why I don't really like this show. The comedy sketches are not funny. The entire premise of this show is that this late-night live comedy show was sucking. But then Josh Lyman and Chandler Bing came in to make it all better, because they are super-funny and super-talented and can turn a show around.

Except it is impossible for the viewers to believe this, because we watch the sketches. And funny they are not. In the episode I watched the "best skit of the night," according to Josh and Chandler and apparently anyone whose opinion we are supposed to value, was a send-up of Nancy Grace, interviewing a teenager who had lost her cell phone. The most tedious three minutes of my life. I almost turned off the show because the skit was so tortuous.

I respect the show for wanting to show us that Chandler and Josh are funny, rather than just telling us. But in order to do that, they have to put something funny on the screen. And they are failing miserably.

Two Things That Suck

1. The new movie Marie Antoinette, written and directed by Sofia Coppola. I know that the New York Times' A.O Scott loved it, but I saw it this weekend and can tell you it sucks. The costumes and cinematography are beautiful but that's about it.

2. D.L. Hughley's character on Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip. I think he is the biggest disappointment on the show. I blame Aaron Sorkin for failing to write the guy any good lines.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

I finally had a chance to watch my third new show of the season, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. (My first new show was Celebrity Duets, which I have already blogged about, and my second was Justice, which is totally unrealistic and not at all great, but which I will continue to watch because it lacks the grit that turns me off from many dramas.)

I haven't been that excited about the new fall crop of shows--I saw both the NBC and CBS preview shows and not much looked very good. But I figured I had to give Studio 60 a chance, both because it is an Aaron Sorkin show and because it has received good buzz. My verdict: So far, so good.

The cast is quite good, even if every character Matthew Perry plays has Chandler Bing mannerisms, and even if Amanda Peet just looks way too young to be running a network (I thought that the relationship between Peet's character and Steven Weber's was confusing, although after looking at the show's website, I see that Peet's character is the president of the network while Weber's character is the chairman). And the show did little things that made me happy: when the show's original producer goes on-air to rant about the sorry state of network television, it was obviously a moment taken straight from the movie Network. And instead of ignoring that, the show made it obvious, with every television reporter offering commentary on the diatribe pointing out that it was reminiscent of "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore." And having Felicity Huffman as the special guest was a nice little wink, as the discerning viewer knows she starred in Aaron Sorkin's critically acclaimed but quickly cancelled Sports Night.

I didn't love the first episode--they were obviously trying to cram a lot of information into an hour show--but it definitely showed potential. So, for now at least, it gets a season pass on my DVR.

Fall TV Preview: Wednesday

8 pm: Dancing with the Stars (ABC), Jericho (CBS), Twenty Good Years (NBC), Bones (Fox), America’s Next Top Model (CW)

8:30 pm: 30 Rock (NBC)

9 pm: Lost (ABC), Criminal Minds (CBS), The Biggest Loser (NBC), Justice (Fox), One Tree Hill (CW)

10 pm: The Nine (ABC), CSI: NY (CBS), Kidnapped (NBC)

Okay, this will have to be quick. My picks among returning shows: America's Next Top Model and Lost. Although Lost is on probation -- it needs to deliver something resembling answers in the first few episodes or I might have to write it off.

New shows? The one I'm most intrigued by is Kidnapped, which is about guess what -- a conspiracy! -- and features Jeremy Sisto and Timothy Hutton. (Televisionary review here.) I know that Holt is looking forward to Jericho, which is some sort of post-apocolyptic thing featuring Gerald McRainey (aka Major Dad) and Skeet Ulrich. 30 Rock is the Tina Fey-written sitcom version of Studio 60. Justice is a legal drama, which -- except for the Victor Garber factor -- yawn. Televisionary panned The Nine, about people thrown together by a bank hostage crisis.

Fall TV Preview: Monday

Oh my gosh. It turns out that the fall TV season is starting tonight with the premieres of Prison Break and Vanished on Fox. Here’s the Monday lineup:

8 pm: Wife Swap (ABC), The Class (CBS), Deal or No Deal (NBC), Prison Break (Fox), 7th Heaven (CW)

8:30 pm: How I Met Your Mother (CBS)

9 pm: The Bachelor (ABC), Two and a Half Men (CBS), Heroes (NBC), Vanished (Fox), Runaway (CW)

9:30 pm: The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS)

10 pm: What about Brian? (ABC), CSI Miami (CBS), Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (NBC)

Hmm, this is a little tougher. At 8 o’clock last year, I TiVoed Prison Break, but never really felt like watching it. It’s the kind of show where I want to know what happens but I don’t really want to invest the time in actually watching it. I think I’ll just save myself 58 minutes and read the recaplet on TWOP. What will take its place? Alan Sepinwall really likes How I Met Your Mother, and it’s got Doogie. Maybe I’ll give that a try. The Class looks like a standard-issue sitcom set in a school though.

At 9 o’clock, it’s a choice among three new shows: Heroes, about people all over the world who develop super powers overnight; Vanished, about a missing senator’s wife and the conspiracy that surrounds her disappearance; and Runaway, starring Donnie Wahlberg, about a family that goes undercover in Iowa after the father is framed for murder by -- you guessed it -- a shadowy conspiracy. I want to like this, remniscent as it is of Running on Empty starring River Phoenix, but Televisionary describes it as “7th Heaven on the run.” Ouch. I’m leaning toward Heroes. But what about Christine -- another Sepinwall favorite? Does anyone watch that?

At 10, I’ll be watching Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, the new Aaron Sorkin show. I watched What about Brian? for awhile in the spring until I realized that I did not care about any of the characters.

The End of an Era

So President Bartlett has left the White House in the hands of President Santos. I think the country will survive. Last night, however, I thought the West Wing went out on a bit of a sloppy note. Leaving aside the plot (which was basically turn out the lights and pack the furniture), I expect this show to get the little things right, but on at least 3 occasions they blew it.

1. The discussion early in the show regarding who thought to inaugurate the President in January with Bartlett blaming Jefferson and Adams. Leaving aside that Jefferson wasn't involved with writing the constitution, until 1937 the President was sworn in on March 4. Blame FDR and those that wanted to shorten the time between the election and the inaugural, but the Framers are completely innocent. Very bad oversight.

2. The Chief Justice was referred to as the "Chief Justice of the Supreme Court." This is wrong. His/her title is "Chief Justice of the United States."

3. The oath. The Presidential oath is traditionally done as "I [state your name] do solemnly swear . . . ." I know the Constitution does not include the name part, but as far as I can remember, the POTUS has always inserted it.

So farewell to the West Wing. For a while, a great show, then a mediocre one, and finally a very good one. May Aaron Sorkin's next show be close to as good--and yes, I know that means Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (or whatever its title is).