Same coin, different sides...

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip/30 Rock - So, Studio 60. It is well-written, it is intelligent, the characters relate. I find myself following the various threads in the show's plots and sub-plots. So why am I indifferent to it's inevitable cancellation? Because the way producer Aaron Sorkin portrays the behind-the-scenes at a fictional popular comedy show rings false every step of the way. In the latest episode, network owner Ed Asner reassures network exec Steven Weber that he, himself is willing to fight the FCC on a recent controversy involving their news division. (A soldier being interviewed by a imbedded newsman uttered an expletive on broadcast camera when their position was hit by an RPG. The FCC got complaints, the network is facing a hefty fine.) Steven Weber's character, Jack Rudolph, has offered his resignation as a sacrifice for the network. Ed's character, Wilson White, turns him down, pointing out, "Jack, This is the fight I've waited my whole life for!"

Now. You and I and everyone we know that the people who run a televison network are the most pusillaminous types that ever existed. Why the hell else has television been such a vast, retarded wasteland all these years? In the real world, Jack would be out before the FCC's first phone call was done. The most frustrating thing in watching 'Studio 60' is the way you know all the threads will work themselves out. I've seen enough of 'the West Wing' and 'Sportsnight' to know how producer Sorkin thinks. Let's see, the network bravely fends off the FCC, 'Studio 60' show producer Danny Tripp (Bradley Whitford) professes his love for newly pregnant studio president Jordan McDeere,(Amanda Peet) who,after some initial resistance, returns it,(during a live broadcast, no less) and visiting comic writing legend Andy Makinaw (Mark McKinney) stays on full-time after coming to grips with the death of his wife and daughter. Hell, that last part writes itself:

Matt (Danny's writing partner, played by Matthew Perry): C'mon, Andy. If it wasn't for you, the show wouldn't be knocking itself out of the park these last few episodes.

Andy: I-I dunno, Matt. That fire I had back in the day..It's getting harder and harder to light- Y'know...(he monologues) Sometimes I-I wake up in the middle of the night, and for a split second I think, Oh, thank God. Losing Kate and Andrea was just a bad dream. Then I'll look over at the empty side of the bed, and-and it'll all come back to me, y'know? How can I write about dumb jokes like Nicolas Cage's next job when my life keeps intruding? It all seems so..so..irrelevant.

Matt: Hey, man. (he reaches out to Andy, and rubs Andy's sholder in a friendly manner) This is where you belong. The show needs you. I need you. And you-(he points all around)-you need this.

Andy: I-I just...(his eyes moisten) I miss them, Matt. I miss them so much..(Matt pulls Andy to him, Andy softly weeping on Matt's shoulder. Matt looks a little uncomfortable, but soon comes back to that smug expression we all know and love...)

I wouldn't say I hated it. It's just that the characters in Sorkin's 'dramedies' function the same whether they're behind the scenes at a sports show, the White House, a sketch comedy, a Wells Fargo in nineteenth-century Wyoming, or a space station on the outskirts of Progtron 11x in the year 3030.

As for Tina Fey's show, '30 Rock', it's simply a standard sitcom. However, it's Fey's eye for detail and mood, as well as the aforementioned 'ring of truth' that makes it work. Plus, Fey's character, Liz Lemon, a nerotic single 30-something with no time for a personal life, is a nice antidote to the cute uber-women that you see all the time on T.V. these days. (including Amanda Peet.) I particularly like the dig '30 Rock' took at that standard trope in Sorkin's work, the characters following the camera around the set while they hash out their dillemas:

Liz: (after her and Kenneth, another writer, have been hashing out their problem with Tracy Jordan, their show's star) Um, where are you going? We've been walking in a circle?

Ken: Um, I was following you?

Liz: Well, I was following you!

Ken: Oh. Well, I was going that way. I'll see you later.