Why You Should Have Been Watching NBC's Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (There's Still Time)

In response to “Why You Should Watch NBC’s Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” by Jessica Peter. Read it here…

One could hardly ignore the rush up to “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip”, be it Aaron Sorkin’s return to television, the chance to see Matthew ‘Chandler’ Perry stretch his wings or just the amusement factor of it being NBC’s other show behind the scenes at a sketch comedy show… with a number in the title. Yeah.

Jessica Peter’s rather bubbly article came out only in time to discuss the pilot; since then, the show has come a bit further plot-wise, although it has slipped a bit ratings-wise, and the whispers of cancellation run up and down the halls of the Peacock. Here, then, is a response to Peter’s points with a few more episodes under our collective belt. Read it quickly in case the show’s gone before you finish.

Peter’s first specific discussion is of Amanda Peet’s performance as Jordan McDeere, the network president. While good eye candy, Peet doesn’t bring much to the party, and Peter is in the minority of those who find her up to snuff, though it must be said that she gets a little better with each passing episode; Sorkinesque dialogue needs some warming-up to, perhaps. She functions best when the scene is not entirely about her, and early episodes, focusing largely on the studio politics at the fictional NBS network, threw too much too quickly on her unready shoulders. Even Peter admits she was prepared to dislike Peet: "I usually detest any one of her movies and find her mildly annoying." A brief glance over Peet's filmography will reveal why.

“[T]he show needs to get its funny back and that’s what Matt and Danny are supposed to do,” is Peter’s summary of the pilot of "Studio 60". Make no mistake, it’s Matt, not Danny, at the forefront of things, and as it stands, Bradley Whitford, the more talented actor of the pair, has been left in the quieter part for the time being. The show is carried not by he and Perry, but Matthew Perry and Sarah Paulson.