Running Studio 60 thread (spoilers)

they're all about duty.

 

Nailed.

Give me 30 Rock. Twice as funny, one half as pretentious.

 

Ouch. I find that truly hard to fathom.

 

Sepinwall's thoughts.

http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2006/10/studio-60-try-not-to-be-funny-were.html

 

I do admire Aaron Sorkin, but this is about right.

 

I dunno, there's a grimness and sense of duty on our copy desk ...

 

Don't think no one caught that West Wing reference.

 

Amanda Peet is sooo much more attractive than Allison Janey. But it's basically the same character.

 

Hooo boy, is she ever. Double hubba!

 

But can she do The Jackal?

 

It's funny that some of you seem genuinely offended that some of us like this show, despite its flaws. How am I crapping on your TV watching experience by continuing to tune in and post on this thread? And if you don't like it so much, why keep returning to tell us how much it sucks?

I mean, can you ever imagine a 26-page thread on the first five episodes of CSI? Or any show that's not the Sopranos? Even universally adored shows like LOST, 24 or The Wire don't inspire this week-to-week analysis.

I feel about Sorkin the way I feel about Gary Smith. Both have extremely distinctive styles and unrivaled talent, both have moved me considerably with the simple power of words, and yet both can be preachy and overbearing at times. Not every Smith story brings me to tears, or leaves me trembling with reverence, but I'll always stop what I'm doing when I see one of his stories and try to get lost in it. Because I consider myself a (relatively) intelligent person, I feel I owe it to Smith and to narrative writing to support his stuff simply because it's so different and so much deeper than anything out there. Occasionally, it still makes me roll my eyes. I feel the same way about Sorkin. This past episode was a perfect example. The line about "YOUR BROTHER IS IN AFGHANISTAN, TOM!" was silly, but the scene at the end where he tells his father he loves him, and that he learned everything he knows from him, was nice. I knew the line about "Do you need any money?" was coming, and it still got to me a little bit.

Some of you seem to loath this show, and that's fine, but I find it strange that some people (many of them critics) seem to take a bit of bizare, smug pleasure in pointing out its flaws and watching it fail to find a large audience. It's as if Sorkin is personally letting them down, and they're secretly pleased that he's revealed himself to be "not so damn brilliant after all."

 

Some people are coming into this show expecting the West Wing II. I never watched that show, so perhaps that has left me with more of an open mind. Still, the show has not knocked my socks off yet.

Admittedly I had high expectations, which might be part of the problem. On the flip side, I had low expectations for 30 Rock and that has been much better than I thought.