On the tube.

[cactuswatcher]

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 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!

Comments

[ponygirl2000.livejournal.com]

Happy birthday!

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Pony!

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the backing up scene in The Class saved the night...

I wasn't really impressed by Studio 60 - mostly because it was too much style and not enough substance for me... but I want it to do well, really, for D.L. Hughley. Noticing the scenes with how the PA's are always treated like crap, and remembering that the behind the scenes staff at ABC repeatedly and independently telling me he was the best star they'd ever worked with in terms of how he treated people.

[midnightsjane.livejournal.com]

I didn't see it; totally forgot about it, and in retrospect I probably didn't have a lot of interest in it. I got turned off the West Wing after season 3, I think it was, so I'm kind of meh about this show.

[atpo-onm.livejournal.com]

*** Is it a drama? Is it a comedy? Um, after one episode, it's just kind of there. ***

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!

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

It definitely had that SNL feel didn't it? I'll probably tune in next week as well.

Thanks for the birthday wishes!

[scrollgirl.livejournal.com]

Aww, I'm sorry to hear that, Jane. But then I'm pretty biased when it comes to Sorkin. If you change your mind, I'm sure there will be re-runs. Or I could always upload it to you!

[scrollgirl.livejournal.com]

I've never seen Hughley in anything else, but I liked him even with the short scenes we had him in. The pilot is definitely more of a "prologue" than a regular episode, so I'm looking forward to the series settling down to its usual pace. I'm sure we'll get the characters fleshed out more.

[scrollgirl.livejournal.com]

I have to admit, I don't know much of the background when it comes to network execs or whoever Mary Richards is supposed to be. So on the one hand, I love that Matt and Danny are Aaron and Tommy, but on the other, I'm thankfully not overwhelmed with references to other Hollywood business types whom I don't care about.

Sometimes ignorance *is* bliss!

Also, happy belated birthday, CW!

Originality is relative.

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

Mary Richards was the role Mary Tyler Moore played on her series "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." On the first episode ever-nervous, but ultimately optimistic Mary gets a job at a floundering Minneapolis TV station. Her boss was Lou Grant. As time passes Mary gets better at her job and becomes more important to the existence of the station as it was then operated. After a good run, the real life show ended when the ownership of the fictitious station changed and everyone including Lou Grant and Mary Richards got fired in the change over.

Much of what you saw in the first episode of Studio 60 isn't original. In 50+ years of watching TV I've seen all of that story in one form or another. Real life incidents are what spawned some of the ideas. But, as long as those ideas are new to you there is no reason for you not to see them as original. What's important is that this show presents the stories in a way that is entertaining for you and other adults your age without running afoul of the long memories of older folks like me. If the people who are running Studio 60 don't know the history of this kind of upheaval in real TV already, I'm sure someone will soon teach them. The story should move beyond this point quickly. But there will always be comparisons with the history of real life TV, because there are so many of us around who still remember virtually all of it. ;o)