Anyone else have the vague idea that all this bitching about Studio 60 from writer types is just the same as Doctors who complain about how inaccurate medical shows are, and cops who complain about cop shows? The difference, of course, being that we don't have anywhere more important to be. Writers complaining that writing is not interesting and that behind the scenes of a TV show is not interesting belies the fact that our entire celebrity-culture is focused on just such showbiz insidery crap. I think we passed through the looking glass the day I found myself talking to my 68 -year old father about one of the making of extras on the ROME DVD.
Talking with my Dad about production is kind of like talking about sex with my Grade One teacher. I just don't want to be there.
Anyway, amidst all this, Ken Levine's struggling with the conflicting feelings that Studio 60 isn't his cup of tea, or it bothers him, but he still wants to keep watching. This latest post gives the full flavor.
To my mind, I never wanted to see the Crazy Christians sketch. That is so not the point. Everything I needed to know about that sketch is in the title, and the reality couldn't help but be a let down after that. Like the thing that's in the briefcase of Pulp Fiction, I just don't need to know. Any more than when Josh on West Wing said, "this bill will hurt 40 million Americans living below the poverty line," I needed a Family Guy-style CUT TO: little girl eating paella with a ditch-water chaser.
But Ken's right about one very, very important thing. We need to see, pronto, "the big 3" and especially Paulson's Harriet Hayes, be very funny in a sketch. We just can't keep hearing about how great she is. That actually IS cheating.
DL and Nate Corddry? I've seen them be funny. Paulson? Good actress, but not so much.
I'm hoping that Sorkin leans on the manic comic talents of Mark McKinney to pump out some of those funny sketches -- because Ken's also right about another thing: I doubt many people in the SNL crowd are big Gilbert & Sullivan fans.
Until then, man, there's always Steven Weber. That guy is the shit. Wings? Who knew?
5 comments:
i'm totally with you on this denis. i didn't get the complaint about not seeing the sketches, or about it being too inside.
in sports night, i didn't need to see the show they were doing, the glimpses were enough... and when it mattered, then we got more.
during the west wing we didn't need to read the policies they were creating for the most part we just needed to know why whatever it was was important.
so we could get to the good stuff...
i'm there to watch clever people who care a lot about something getting into conflicts with other clever people who care just as deeply about something else.
i'm interested in the emotional journey of these characters through the episode. and usually if i believe they care... then i'll care.
which brings me to the minefield that'll be the third season of LOST.
But I think the problem most people are having is that we aren't getting the glimpses behind-the-scenes that lead to the curtain rising...
We didn't see the cast screwing up lines in rehearsal, or seeing the wardrobe choices, or the set designers bitching because of a last minute change, or someone having an allergic reaction to new makeup...
We haven't seen "the good stuff" yet, and that's what this show has promised and not yet delivered - "the inticacies" involved in putting on a show every week.
I think we'll get there, but to be honest, Sorkin is laying an awful lot of pipe. I think it will be episode five where we settle in, buckle our seatbelts and start the uphill climb on the rollercoaster he's built. Right now we're standing in line, and it looks awful long...and I don't even have a slushie in hand to keep cool.
And shouldn't we have a 'guest star' every week? The outsider who learns the players and the rules of the game as we learn them? Someone who has a POV that's perpendicular or tangent to our main cast?
Give the show a break. It's enjoyable, end of story.
And only two eps in. Lots of fun story lines to be had.
I understand what you're saying Bill. But isn't that what we are getting... We're not going to start with the messed up lines, and the production troubles because... our heroes haven't got there yet. They are our way in.
But I think your right about "around ep. five".
Ep one is Against all odds the Heroes Get the Job... ep two is Against all Odds the Heroes Get their first show on the Air... Ep three... my prediction... Our Heroes have to Deal with the problem of the Old Team....against many odds.
What I'm missing from the show, that I'm sure is on the way is "the republicans". I enjoy it when Sorkin gives his heroes a Worthy Opponent... No offence to Steve Weber and the publishers of The Rapture... but I'm talking about a character that forces our heroes to raise their game.
I gotta say ep two didn't get me as excited as ep one... but i'll be there for ep three.
Writers complaining that writing is not interesting and that behind the scenes of a TV show is not interesting belies the fact that our entire celebrity-culture is focused on just such showbiz insidery crap.
The various comments about writing not being as high-stakes as, say, politics, are really interesting to me, cause it's got this vague tinge of self-loathing to it. "Who wants to watch writers write, our job sucks!" How come non-writers aren't having the same issue?
I wouldn't even want the stakes of every tv show to be life-and-death, my heart couldn't take it.
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