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I don't think there is much question that Studio 60 was the best overall thing on TV last night. Which is sad both because it had the flaws of a pilot and I actually enjoyed watching The Class more. Studio 60 was really good and then again it really wasn't. The Class was old hat in some ways, but in some ways it was more clever than Studio 60.
There isn't any question that Studio 60 shows a lot of promise. Even if I hadn't seen![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
scrollgirl's comment last night before it came on, I'd have been shocked if I'd heard she didn't like it. The Very Far West, West Wing, maybe might be the best way to describe the show. There is a lot to say good about it. I think for now it's a definite hit. But...
To say the pilot lacked subtlety is a gross understatement.
Yoo Hoo! Our female lead should remind you of Mary Richards, and just so you don't miss the point here's Ed (Lou Grant) Asner. Everybody give a big hand for Ed Asner!!!1!!
Jordan bizarrely compliments the caterer in front of the big bosses. Minutes later, in case we missed that, efficient assistant (TM) comes over and tells her that was weird. Of course, that's Mary Richards blundering through her first day of work. Except Jordan is supposed to be a seasoned professional.
(The whole episode was so self-referential and over stuffed with meta as to border on being painful. For instance, Matthew Perry's, character has trouble with pain killers and apparently other drugs. I wonder how they dreamed that one up?)
We see Jud Hersch do a scene reminiscent of the movie "Network" Then in case any of the viewers is young and has no knowledge of "Network," the characters mention "Paddy Chayevsky's Network." That's fine. But it's mentioned again and Paddy Chayevsky at least twice more. No more detail, just repetitive name dropping at this point. Plus there is no mention that "Network" was an expansion on the real life outburst of Jack Paar (on his version of the Tonight Show), which had a lot more in common with the scene on Studio 60 anyway. Nor was there any mention of the plug being pulled on the Smothers Brothers for doing things the network clearly didn't want.
Talk about telegraphing your big punch lines. How many times were we teased with that sketch that would offend Christians, before the 'big' payoff' of Perry calling Pat Robertson a bigot? The funniest line in the whole show was (unintentionally?) telegraphed by Jud Hersch's line about TV becoming low-grade pornography.
I think the rapid fire style of presentation went too far as well. It would be nice if there were some semblance of a story. Instead we got a grand collection of vignettes, partial stories, but certainly no over-all story worth an hour of TV time. With all the cameos and name dropping we barely got to know any of the characters except for Matthew Perry's. I don't remember the names of any of the characters, because there were so damn many of them. The exception is Jordan. The reason being that her name was the title of the episode. (Jordan also is the worst character on the show so far. Utterly unbelievable. But I'm sure she'll improve.)
Is it a drama? Is it a comedy? Um, after one episode, it's just kind of there. Tons and tons of promise, but let's wait till next week before we say it's something special. So far, thumbs up for Matthew Perry.
On the other hand, I have to like a show with a vastly lower budget, like "The Class" that has the guy, whose whole life has just been saved by the sweet, cute girl on the show, back up and accidentally hit her with his car while he's having his first daydream about her.
PS. Thanks for the cardsoulfulspike80!
There isn't any question that Studio 60 shows a lot of promise. Even if I hadn't seen
scrollgirl's comment last night before it came on, I'd have been shocked if I'd heard she didn't like it. The Very Far West, West Wing, maybe might be the best way to describe the show. There is a lot to say good about it. I think for now it's a definite hit. But...To say the pilot lacked subtlety is a gross understatement.
Yoo Hoo! Our female lead should remind you of Mary Richards, and just so you don't miss the point here's Ed (Lou Grant) Asner. Everybody give a big hand for Ed Asner!!!1!!
Jordan bizarrely compliments the caterer in front of the big bosses. Minutes later, in case we missed that, efficient assistant (TM) comes over and tells her that was weird. Of course, that's Mary Richards blundering through her first day of work. Except Jordan is supposed to be a seasoned professional.
(The whole episode was so self-referential and over stuffed with meta as to border on being painful. For instance, Matthew Perry's, character has trouble with pain killers and apparently other drugs. I wonder how they dreamed that one up?)
We see Jud Hersch do a scene reminiscent of the movie "Network" Then in case any of the viewers is young and has no knowledge of "Network," the characters mention "Paddy Chayevsky's Network." That's fine. But it's mentioned again and Paddy Chayevsky at least twice more. No more detail, just repetitive name dropping at this point. Plus there is no mention that "Network" was an expansion on the real life outburst of Jack Paar (on his version of the Tonight Show), which had a lot more in common with the scene on Studio 60 anyway. Nor was there any mention of the plug being pulled on the Smothers Brothers for doing things the network clearly didn't want.
Talk about telegraphing your big punch lines. How many times were we teased with that sketch that would offend Christians, before the 'big' payoff' of Perry calling Pat Robertson a bigot? The funniest line in the whole show was (unintentionally?) telegraphed by Jud Hersch's line about TV becoming low-grade pornography.
I think the rapid fire style of presentation went too far as well. It would be nice if there were some semblance of a story. Instead we got a grand collection of vignettes, partial stories, but certainly no over-all story worth an hour of TV time. With all the cameos and name dropping we barely got to know any of the characters except for Matthew Perry's. I don't remember the names of any of the characters, because there were so damn many of them. The exception is Jordan. The reason being that her name was the title of the episode. (Jordan also is the worst character on the show so far. Utterly unbelievable. But I'm sure she'll improve.)
Is it a drama? Is it a comedy? Um, after one episode, it's just kind of there. Tons and tons of promise, but let's wait till next week before we say it's something special. So far, thumbs up for Matthew Perry.
On the other hand, I have to like a show with a vastly lower budget, like "The Class" that has the guy, whose whole life has just been saved by the sweet, cute girl on the show, back up and accidentally hit her with his car while he's having his first daydream about her.
PS. Thanks for the card
soulfulspike80!![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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I suspect that's why I may have just absolutely loved it.
I agree that it probably can't stay that way, and shouldn't, but it was wild and crazy and audacious, which is pretty much what SNL was in the first few years. It got my attention. It got me to want to tune in the next week to see what happens next.
And Happy Birthday!
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Thanks for the birthday wishes!