NBC’s next great hope: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip shows wealth of promise in pilot episode

By Frank Visco
Collegian Editor
August 30, 2006

So far in the post-Friends era, two of the illustrious six have attempted a return to television — Matt LeBlanc in the Friends spin-off, Joey, and Lisa Kudrow in the HBO faux reality/sitcom, The Comeback.

In LeBlanc’s case, Joey may have been a failure because it was too much of the same stuff from the actor. Playing the exact same character in a far inferior show made Joey seem horrendous in comparison, and so it barely had a chance of survival.

On the other hand, Kudrow may have strayed too far from Phoebe Buffay. The average audience likes watching Kudrow do her Phoebe-thing, and so her appearance in the role of Valerie Cherish in the oddly-paced The Comeback may have been too much for them to handle.

I bring this up because it seems that Matthew Perry, the actor formerly known as Chandler, may have finally found the right role with which to successfully navigate through the two extremes — Matt Albie, in Aaron Sorkin’s Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, a behind-the-scenes look at a fictional sketch comedy show.

Superficially, Matt has a lot in common with Chandler. He’s witty, neurotic, loyal and gets all the best lines. However, after steering Perry to an Emmy-winning guest stint on The West Wing, it’s clear that Sorkin hired him to do more than just play Chandler.

In his pilot script, Sorkin has given Perry layers of material to expand upon, which Friends, as a sitcom, never needed to touch. Matt is established in the pilot as a ballsy guy that happens to have immense writing talent. In other words, he’s the man Chandler always wished he could be. Furthermore, Sorkin saddles the character with strong moral and political convictions, which sets him up as more than just the resident wise guy.

So how does Perry manage in the role? Well, while one episode isn’t enough to make viewers forget about Chandler Bing, the actor anchors the show with a focused, lived-in performance.

As the show begins, Wes Mendell (Judd Hirsch), the executive producer of a late night sketch comedy show, goes on an on-air tirade about the descent of television that is prompted by a studio head’s decision to cut a controversial skit.

Immediately after this occurs, the network, a fictional one called NBS, goes into damage control. Recently hired president Jordan McDeere is expected to alleviate the bad press. Her solution — hire two former staff members, Matt Albie (Perry) and Danny Tripp (Bradley Whitford), who have made names for themselves in the film industry as a writer-director duo since being fired four years prior by network chairman, Jack Rudolph (Steven Weber).

Although Matt and Danny are initially hesitant, they eventually agree to take over the show for two years, despite the fact that Matt has just won the Writer’s Guild Award for their last film, and that they were in pre-production on their next one. The reason is that Danny, a former coke-addict, has recently fallen off the wagon and thus cannot be insured to work on a movie set for at least 18 months.

Studio 60 also concentrates on the big three — the three biggest stars on the sketch comedy show — Harriet Hayes (Sarah Paulson), Tom Jeter (Nate Corddry) and Simon Stiles (D.L. Hughley), as well as Cal Shanley (Timothy Busfield), the control room director of Studio 60.

The pilot makes much ado about Harriet’s former romantic entanglement with Matt, and also calls into question Cal’s fate after he lets Wes rant live on television for 53 seconds. It concludes with Danny and Matt calling together their crew for a meeting after officially deciding to take the reigns of the show.

The show itself is the epitome of class. Although it can not be judged on its pilot alone, Studio 60 shows a lot of promise with a good expository episode.

Only a few months removed from the finale of his last juggernaut, The West Wing, Sorkin has put all the pieces in place for another gem. Each character is set up nicely, and the potential for conflict (Danny’s drug problem, Matt’s relationship with Harriet, network censorship, etc.) is potent. Additionally, the pilot is absorbing and leaves the viewer wanting much more.

As is expected with a prestigious production like this, all the pieces of success are in place. The pilot features some really great witty writing that is made even more potent by excellent performances across the board. Notably exceptional are Perry, Whitford, Paulson and Peet.

In addition, the tech aspects of the show are phenomenal. Sorkin’s trademark shooting style (long takes with a mobile camera) serves the show well, as it suggests a documentary-like observance of the proceedings. Furthermore, his penchant for quick pacing and editing lend the show a sense of urgency, which is something a show about a live broadcast should, in fact, have.

However, my favorite aspect of the show is in its attention to detail and character development. There are many points in the episode that showcase this, but the perfect one occurs near the end of the pilot in a scene in which Perry has a brief conversation with a Studio 60 intern.

The two characters have an exchange and then Perry tells her to round up the show’s crew for a meeting. She agrees and slowly beings to walk away as Perry exits the screen. However, as soon as Perry is out of view, she turns around and runs away to gather the crew. Honest details like this raise the show to a whole new level of excellence.

There’s no denying that big things are expected of this show. With the loss of stalwarts Will and Grace and The West Wing last season, NBC needs this show to be a hit, if the network hopes to get out of the ratings cellar this year.

In addition, at a cost of close to three million an episode, the show can’t just be a modest hit; it has to be extremely well-received, otherwise it will become far too financially taxing for NBC.

Overall, Studio 60 seems a sure bet to aid the studio on its hopeful climb back to the top. Along with NBC comedies such as My Name is Earl and The Office, the show seems to be signaling a return to form for NBC, who once touted its programming as “Must See TV.”

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip airs Monday nights at 10 p.m. It debuts on Sept. 18.

viscof1@lasalle.edu