Sorkin & Schlamme are Back! New 'fastest hour on TV'.

[laststeamtrain]

I used to call The West Wing 'the fastest hour on TV'.

I'd make a sandwich or get a bowl of ice cream (or whatever) and sit down to WATCH and suddenly it would be an hour later.

A few years ago I began to turn off TV when I found my mind wandering. If I was thinking about something else there was no need to have the TV on. It's been a good thing. More books read, more thinking done, more letters written, etc.

I had that 'total absorption' experience last night watching Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studio_60_on_the_Sunset_Strip ).

I think we've got a winner here. At the end of shows like this you haven't wasted any time. Something's been added to your life, not taken away. Something vivid and stimulating.

All shows seem to have a freshness date. They only last so long and then they start to sour a little.
I really, really hope this show attracts enough of an audience to last through that date.

I think Monday night, 10pm is a good time slot. A Monday night reward.

Anyway, I'm happy that there's a good, new show on the boob tube...

[bdamomma]

1. the hour did go by fast

[displacedtexan]

2. It was superb!

I was in total Sorkin Heaven!

[Scout1071]

3. It lived up to the hype. I really liked it. nt

[Armstead]

4. The mark of a good show is you don;t want it to end

Bad or mediocre TV is like an endurance test. Can you stand it for an hour?

Studio 60 seemed to race by, and I found myself wishing it had another hour to go by the end.

[xxqqqzme]

5. agree - I felt that way

about 'West Wing' as well - What? that was an hour?

It was great seeing their names up on the screen again. It was good to see old familiar Sorkin/Schlamme faces in the cast.

[RubyDuby in GA]

6. I thought it was great.

As I only have one tv show on NBC that I watch (Medium - and what about the Monday night 10pm time slot? Who gets it?), I am quite glad to see a worthy successor to WW.

[movie_girl99]

7. we really enjoyed it as well

I really like Bradley Whitford. He is a guest on Bill Maher quite often. The whole show was very entertaining.

[napi21]

8. I agree. I gave afew other newbies ashot lat night, but

Studio 60 was the only one that made the cut. I always try to do that with every new one...even if I think I'm not going to like it, but they only get one chance, and sometimesit's a very short chnce, like "Class" last night. I think they got about 3-4 minutes.

[Nikki Stone 1]

9. God Bless Aaron Sorkin!

One of the few in the industry that can speak the truth and get it on the air.

What a great show!!

[RubyDuby in GA]

10. Exactly! Judd Hirsch's opening speech was the best thing

I've seen on TV in a while (and I've been home on maternity leave watching a lot of TV!) :)

[Blue Belle]

13. I agree... it was great - and extremely truthful!

The original post was right - that was a quick hour of TV. It was interesting how the plot imitates real life (Bradly Witford's character's addiction to cocaine/ Arron Sorkin's battle with cocaine, The symbiotic team of Danny and Matt mirrors the Sorkin/Schlammme dynamic duo), and I love the talent of actors he employs... that show was a real treat last night.

[Nikki Stone 1]

14. The show is quite dark. You can see that Sorkin got burned and is

telling his own story in a way.

What I loved though is the way he pulled no punches. There was absolutely no way to misunderstand the message. It was gritty.

And I think this is some of Matthew Perry's best work. (Maybe that's just me, but the sardonic humor really suits him.)

[Blue Belle]

16. I agree... I think it will be a good vehicle for Matthew Perry.

It will be a good chance for him to show more range than just being pigeon-holed as the "funny Friend". I'm really excited to see where his character goes. I was also happy to see Felicity Huffman on as the "guest Host" - it seemed to pay homage to "Sport's Night".

[Nikki Stone 1]

17. I hadn't made that connection with Huffman, but now that makes sense

She was actually very good too. I loved Ed Asner's cameo as well. (I like seeing him pop up on these kinds of things.)

[Blue Belle]

19. I love Ed Asner...

I hope he appears more on the show. I keep thinking that eventually they'll work in a regular character for Joshua Molina too - He seems to be a Sorkin favorite.

[Nikki Stone 1]

23. I just hope to God it stays on

And a propos. where were the fundies ? You'd think with Studio 60 being as anti Robertson as a show can get that some fundies would have been marching around with 8-foot crosses protesting. I mean they were all there for Desperate Housewives, down to the boycott threat; they yelled and screamed about CBS's 9/11 documentary (by the French brothers) to get it moved to 10:00 (So everyone could watch ABC?).

Maybe they don't care about Studio 60...

[Blue Belle]

28. I know... Remember how the Fundies went ape-shit over "The Book of Daniel"

The show didn't even make it on the air in some markets... they were writing letters in mass and condeming ABC to the seventh circle of Hell for even suggesting that a "Man of the Cloth" have a Gay son, Alcoholic Wife, and an addiction problem (cause that almost never happens in real life). Maybe theythe RNC didn't circulate the memo that Pat Robertson was going to be called a Bigot on Prime Time TV... Maybe they just write off NBC as the "Law and Order Eight Days a Week!" Network... Maybe they were too busy watching CSI (but wouldn't that be a little too sciencey for them?).

[LizW]

25. Matthew Perry is a very good actor.

They say if you can do comedy well, you can kill at drama. I think Matthew Perry can.

But damn, when did he get so old? Does that mean... (GASP!).... I'M OLD???????? :wow:

[Blue Belle]

27. I'm right there with ya...

I think the years of addiction and the rapid weight loss combined with the over weight gain are catching up with him. I've always been a huge fan of Matthew Perry, but I was a little concerned about his close-ups... makes me wonder what I'd look like under those lights and in front of the brutally honest camera. YIKES!

[SoCalDem]

11. Well crap.. I missed it... I think I was watching reruns of Law & order

or a Danz lecture on 9400.. Perhaps I'll tune in next week :)

[laststeamtrain]

15. I noticed that it re-runs Wed. on Bravo.

It's meaningless to me because I don't have cable. But if you do you get another chance.
I think NBC should run it again on the main channel.

[SoCalDem]

18. Thanks for the heads up.. I'll record it Wed

and watch it when we get home wednesday night after bowling :)

[SeattleGirl]

12. OMG, what a great show!

As I posted last night on another thread, I was hooked before the first commercial break.

[Imalittleteapot]

20. TIVO'd. I want to watch it again and again. Great show.

[JerseygirlCT]

21. I thought it was terrific too

The only thing that seemed to be missing for me was the idealism of WW. This show is more cynical, I think.

And, whine, whine, whine, 10 pm is past my bedtime! I'm tired!

[DeepModem Mom]

22. THANK YOU, AARON SORKIN AND TOMMY SCHLAMME!

Smart, relevant -- terrific writing, amazing direction, a fantastic hour of TV!

[Vidar]

24. Sorkin's Studio 60 is off to a magnificent start.

Sorkin is a writer with very few peers, maybe Norman Lear & Stephen Bochco. Television, at present, is indeed the cesspool that Judd Hirsch's rant so aptly portrayed. Pat Robertson, more than being a bigot, is a psychopath, a false prophet par excellence, and an embarrassment to every thinking Christian.

[Bryan]

26. It's a very nicely-produced show.

Casting that assclown from Friends (and, yes, that's his name, That Assclown From Friends) as the co-lead was a serious tactical error from a quality standpoint, but I've got a season pass for the show all the same.