Fall TV Preview: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
NBC is betting a lot on Studio 60, which is absolutely loaded with talent. Writer Aaron Sorkin drew the fans into The West Wing with his densely worded, intelligent style. He will have to do the same to get fans invested in the show.
CHARACTERS
Three of the main characters do not play actors on the fictional show. Amanda Peet is Jordan, a new network executive who is trying to turn about the struggling comedy. To do this, she relies on the creative team of Matt (Matthew Perry) and Danny (Bradley Whitford).
The stars of the fictional comedy show are Tom (Nathan Corddry), Harriet (Sarah Paulson) and Simon (D.L. Hughley). Other behind-the-scenes characters are director Cal (Timothy Busfield) and network chief Jack (Steven Weber).
STARS
The biggest star power on the show comes from Perry after his 10-year run on Friends. Although that comedy powerhouse has been off the air for a while, it may be tough for audiences to look at Perry and not think “Chandler Bing.”
Perry and Peet have appeared together on film in The Whole Nine Yards and its sequel, The Whole Ten Yards. Whitford was on The West Wing for several years, and Weber starred on another long-running NBC show, Wings.
Hughley had his own comedy show, The Hughleys, for several years on ABC. Like Perry, he will be making the transition to TV drama. Busfield to no stranger to the genre; he is an alumnus of ABC’s thirtysomething.
COMPETITION
With Monday Night Football moving to ESPN, ABC will throw drama What About Brian against Studio 60 in the 10 p.m. slot. The show stars Barry Watson (7th Heaven) as a single guy surrounded by married friends. Brian didn’t set the world on fire in its brief spring run, so it shouldn’t pose too big a threat for Studio 60.
The biggest threat to the new show will be CSI: Miami on CBS. Shows like CSI, with each case wrapping up in an hour, gain strength in the summertime. Fans can catch up on the episodes they missed one at a time, without having to know all the backstory of a show like Lost or Alias.
OUTLOOK
NBC has high hopes that Studio 60 and Sunday Night Football will help to fix its sagging ratings. However, the network has already made a couple of mistakes.
First, NBC is debuting another show, a comedy called 30 Rock, which also deals with the backstage dealings of a show like Saturday Night Live.30 Rock stars SNL alumnae Tina Fey and Rachel Dratch, as well as movie star Alec Baldwin. Sometimes a pair of new fall shows deal with the same topic, but from the same network? That’s ridiculous. NBC is hoping fans will watch both shows, not to mention the real Saturday Night Live. That may be too much to ask.
Another boneheaded move by NBC is putting numbers in the titles of both shows, as well as another comedy, Twenty Good Years. This is a promising show, starring John Lithgow and Jeffrey Tambor as friends who are trying to squeeze the maximum amount of fun out of their midlife years.
NBC needs to realize that most new fall shows don’t make it, and a network must do everything it can to make its programs different and appealing to watch. Studio 60, 30 Rock and Twenty Good Years all look like good shows, and they each deserve a full season to find an audience.
