In lieu of actual Studio 60 commentary...

[kellinator]

Questions I'd like to ask Aaron Sorkin: 

• So if Harriet's from Michigan, how come she's a Southern Baptist?
• Have you ever actually met any Christians besides Kristin Chenoweth?
• Speaking of, when is she going to get around to suing your ass?
• How did you ever get her to date your pompous ass in the first place anyway?
• Do you really think cocaine is less dangerous than alcohol?
• Are you back on the blow? Because you won't shut up about it.
• When exactly did you start believing your own hype?
• Did you realize there's a difference between witty and funny?
• Isn't it a little hypocritical of you to attack reality TV when you're mining so much of your work from your own life (and your ex-girlfriend)?
• Do you have any idea how ridiculous your obviously-referring-to-yourself-and-your-brilliance-and-doing-a-drama-set-at-the-UN dialogue sounds?
• Why does my fiance inexplicably love your smug, irritating, pretentious show?
  

Comments

[bossieboots.livejournal.com]

SNORT. I haven't actually watched this yet, and now I'm wondering if I'm missing anything.

Kristen Chenowith has an interesting romantic history. She used to be engaged to Broadway bigwig, and then she dated Sorkin, and it seems like SHE ought to get some mileage out of it.

[girlvinyl.livejournal.com]

Other question:
When in the realm of reality would the public EVER give one iota of a FUCK about the personal life of the president of a television network? No one knows anything about them, cares about them or is interested in them in any way. AT ALL.


And I know she supposedly has this incredibly pedigree and track record of making all this stuff happen at these other networks, but she really seems way out of her league and completely off the fucking wall with a lot of this stuff.

Also, Harri slips her christianity in as an attempted bitting snark at people. I don't understand how that jives with christianity. Like... are you really supposed to use "well, god hates you and I'm going to heaven" as a dig?

[alladinsane.livejournal.com]

To question #1...

there are Southern Baptist congregations in all states even in the North...dont be surprised if Harriet one day leaves the SB and goes nondenominational(as KC has done in real life)...

cant answer the other ones including the last...

However how about some quick ratings news:

Ratings points for Monday Oct 16:

CSI: Miami Overall: 11.4 Adults 18-49: 5.6
What About Brian? Overall: 5.7 Adults 18-49: 3.6
Studio 60 Overall: 5.3 Adults 18-49: 3.2(down 15% from the week before)

Now Studio 60 is not only way behind CSI:Miami, it's now finishing behind a piddling ABC show that was barely renewed from last year...

Seen on a TV forum:

Sorkin is being intellectual rather than intelligent, and it is not working. He is not explaining the intellectual side as he did in TWW. POTUS and Toby etal explained Norman Borlock, but no one explained commedia dell-arte or Strindberg or any of the other "I'm smarter than you" references in the show. There is nothing wrong with being the smartest guy in the class, but if you keep telling everyone that you are the smartest guy, they will either beat you up or keep away from you, and it looks like the loyal following is doing the first and the viewers are doing the second.

[blondeheroine.livejournal.com]

I KNEW that Harriet was based on Chenoweth. I haven't read anything about it, but I knew it without even reading it.

[scarcrest.livejournal.com]

The Southern Baptist Convention has spread its influence across the country. I read a commentary a year or so back about how, in a way, the Southern Baptist Convention's success beyond the South has represented the South winning the Civil War by dragging the entire nation down into religious fundamentalism and various forms of bigotry (more of the anti-gay variety now, since they did sorta blink on the racism that inspired the SBC's break from the rest of the Baptists).

So Harriet being a Southern Baptist from Michigan didn't even make me blink. And she very easily could have been raised as a Free Will Baptist (do whatever you want, as long as you show up on Sundays and tell God you're sorry) and gotten involved with the Southern Baptists later. I know the Free Wills are in Michigan -- my ex-fiancee knew kids growing up there who were in that church.

[wacko1138.livejournal.com]

I think the pretentiousness depends on whether or not he expects people to know all these details about his life.

While I knew about his arrest for crack, that's the only personal detail I knew prior to reading this post cause I just don't give a f*ck about the personal lives of celebrities. Heck, I'm not sure I'd recognize him if I passed him on the street.

I do feel compelled to point out too (as I seem to be playing full on devil's advocate here), that many writers draw as heavily from their personal lives. Does it rankle so much in this case because it's on TV? Or is it a matter of you think the show sucks and, since you have enjoyed his work in the past, figure it must be beacuse he is drawing so heavily on his own life?

[raistlinbrown.livejournal.com]

Being a fan of both The West Wing and Sports Night, I gave Studio 60 a chance on Monday night. It has that whole Sorkin walk-and-talk-banter thing down, but hybrid that it is, I felt it was missing the gravitas of the former and the funny of the latter.

[wurmwyd.livejournal.com]

Hi there!

Yes, exactly!!

I used to worship Sorkin. Absolutely loved him. Voted for him in the 2000 election. But I just can't get into Studio 60. I just can't.

I watched the first two episodes, and I felt that they were pretty well written compared to most of the crap on TV, but just pale and sickly compared to Sorkin's other stuff. I really don't care that he's taking a lot of stuff from his life, because I didn't really follow the tabloids all that much. I just don't find any of the storylines on this show even slightly interesting. I mean, Aaron Sorkin made politics look interesting! He couldn't make a show about a sketch comedy show look like fun?

He's definitely not back on the blow. I wish he was. He did Sports Night and the 1st 3 seasons of the West Wing on coke. Once he got off the nose-candy he did ... the later seasons of West Wing, and now this show.

I love the man, but he's really got to do something to get out of this slump. [shakes head sadly]

[shelly007.livejournal.com]

I haven't watched the show, but your entry and comments made me laugh! I wanna watch the show just to make fun of it.

I agree.

[r3dqu33n.livejournal.com]

I tried watching this show. His characters act as if every television moment is as important as every political detente of the West Wing. It's only television, not politics or medicine!

I wonder if he takes perverse pleasure in casting a famous Broadway lesbian to play his ex?

[kai-ta-loipa.livejournal.com]

my mom is from michigan and is a southern baptist.

[ariedana.livejournal.com]

I've already done my weekly Defense of Harriet in reannon's journal, so check there, since I'm too lazy to rehash. But on the other stuff...

- Blow is a HUGE part of the LA culture. Admittedly, I wasn't there long, but I didn't know a single person that didn't have a serious blow problem or was at least claiming to be recovering from a serious blow problem. And yes, most of them think it's safer than drinking. Being high and awake at all times is a valued commodity in the showbiz world, and coke doesn't wreck your looks like meth.
- Sorkin might have hid it well on "West Wing," but his ego was in full bloom on "Sports Night". And if TV producers and writers quit ripping off their own lives, no one would ever write another thing in LA. Hell, 90 percent of "Friends" was fact-based, and it lasted 10 years!
- Writers of scripted TV always make fun of reality TV. This is just one of those things that happens. It's always hypocritical. That's the biz.
- And yes, I still love this show. It's so LA that it gives me flashbacks on a weekly basis, and it's obnoxious as hell, and I realize 4/5 of America has never spent any time with broadcast media types and think it's either boring as hell or completely pretentious. I still love it, and I'll cry when it's cancelled after this year.

[squiddna.livejournal.com]

I am thoroughly enjoying this show. If the distinction between witty and funny is lost on me, I am nonetheless immensely entertained. I know nothing about Sorkin's life and don't particularly care, anyway I don't see drawing heavily from personal experience as some kind of disqualification for entertainment or artistic values. I'm not watching a show so I can worship its producer as a genius, I'm watching it to have fun.