Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
| Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip | |
|---|---|
| Studio 60 Logo Studio 60 Logo | |
| Created by | Aaron Sorkin |
| Starring | Matthew Perry Amanda Peet Bradley Whitford Steven Weber D. L. Hughley Sarah Paulson Nathan Corddry Timothy Busfield |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 11 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Thomas Schlamme Aaron Sorkin |
| Running time | 42 Minutes (Approx) Timeslot: 60 Minutes including commercials |
| Production company | Warner Bros. Television |
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | September 18, 2006 – present |
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is an American dramatic television series that takes place behind the scenes of a fictional live sketch comedy show (which is called Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip), whose format is similar to NBC's Saturday Night Live. The fictional show-within-a-show is run by head writer Matt Albie (Matthew Perry) and producer/director Danny Tripp (Bradley Whitford).
The show was created by Aaron Sorkin and is produced by Thomas Schlamme and began airing on NBC on September 18, 2006. It typically airs in the United States on Mondays at 10 p.m. (ET/PT) and one day earlier in Canada on Sundays at 10 p.m. (ET/PT) on CTV. Studio 60 costs upwards of $2.5 million to $3 million per episode to produce.[1] As of November 9, 2006, NBC had ordered a full season (22 episodes), though there were reports they had negotiated a lower license fee with Warner Brothers for the final nine episodes.[2]
Characters
Major roles
Studio 60 employs a broad ensemble cast that portrays the rotating personnel involved in the production of a late-night comedy show.
- Danny Tripp (Bradley Whitford) is a producer who takes over show-running duties with Matt Albie, his longtime friend.
- Matt Albie (Matthew Perry) is a former head writer for Studio 60 who is asked to return when executive producer Wes Mendell is fired.
- Jordan McDeere (Amanda Peet) is the recently hired president of fictional network NBS (National Broadcasting System) of which Studio 60 is the flagship show.
- Harriet Hayes (Sarah Paulson) is an "effortlessly sexy", "multi-talented"[3] performer, a devout born-again Christian, and one of the "Big Three" main stars of Studio 60.
- Tom Jeter (Nate Corddry) is another of the show's "Big Three". He is from the Midwest and his brother is serving as an engineer on a very dangerous assignment in Afghanistan.
- Simon Stiles (D. L. Hughley) is the final member of the "Big Three". He reached his current status despite growing up in a poor black community. His original intention was to become a dramatic actor, rather than a comedian.
- Jack Rudolph (Steven Weber) is the chairman of the fictional network NBS and Jordan's boss.
- Cal Shanley (Timothy Busfield) is the control-room director of Studio 60.
Secondary roles
- Jeannie Whatley (Ayda Field) is a member of the show's ensemble. She has close personal friendships with both Matt and Harriet and is a bit of a gossip on the set.
- Alex Dwyer (Simon Helberg) is a member of the show's ensemble, and the most noteworthy impressionist.
- Dylan Killington (Nate Torrence) is a rookie member of the show's ensemble.
- Samantha Li (Camille Chen) is a member of the show's ensemble.
- Ricky Tahoe (Evan Handler) is a former co-executive producer of the show and former head of the writers' room. In "The Option Period", he and Ron left Studio 60 to pursue a "Peripheral Vision Man" pilot for Fox; Ricky's departure was marked by a hostile shouting match with Matt.
- Ron Oswald (Carlos Jacott) is a former co-executive producer of the show and former head of the writers' room. In "The Option Period", he left the show with Ricky to pursue a "Peripheral Vision Man" pilot for Fox.
- Wilson White (Edward Asner) is the head of TMG, the conglomerate that owns the NBS network.
- Lucy Kenwright (Lucy Davis) is a junior writer on the show and the only pre-Matt and Danny writer to remain after Ricky and Ron's departure. Lucy and Darius were supposed to get their first sketch on the air in "B-12." The sketch was about a bungling hostage taker, but was cancelled when a real-life hostage-taker killed his entire family and then himself just after the show started.
- Darius Hawthorne (Columbus Short) is Matt's assistant writer. Matt and Simon hired Darius after seeing his stand-up act in "The Wrap Party".
- Andy Mackinaw (Mark McKinney) was introduced in "B-12" after Ricky and Ron's departure when Matt needed an extra writer's help. Andy was previously a writer on Studio 60 years before, while Matt and Danny were still there. After Matt and Danny's initial departure from the show, Andy's wife and daughter died in tragic circumstances.
- Martha O'Dell (Christine Lahti) is a column writer for the New York Times[citation needed] who is assigned to write a story about the new leadership of Studio 60, and who ends up easily uncovering almost every detail of the cast and crew's personal lives.
Guest Appearances
Guest hosts
- Felicity Huffman played herself in "Pilot".
- Mark Wahlberg, mentioned but never seen, in "The Cold Open".
- Rob Reiner played himself in "The Focus Group".
- Lauren Graham played herself in "The Long Lead Story" and "The Wrap Party".
- Jessica Simpson was mentioned but never seen as hosting the show which ends at the beginning of "The Option Period". Simpson is asked to ad-lib to stretch for time and pleas for "peace in the Midwest".
- Howie Mandel played himself in "B-12".
Guest Musicians
- Three 6 Mafia appeared as themselves, performing "Side 2 Side" in "Pilot".
- The White Stripes – did not appear (written into the plot as having cancelled due to Jack White's acute tonsilitis) in "The Cold Open".
- Gwen Stefani was mentioned, but did not appear, in "The Focus Group".
- Sting appeared in "The Long Lead Story" and in the first scene of "The Wrap Party" (with Edin Karamazov).
- Jessica Simpson was mentioned as the special musical guest and host in "Nevada Day Part 1", "Nevada Day Part 2" and "The Option Period", though she appeared in none of these episodes.
- Corinne Bailey Rae appeared and performed two songs ("Like a Star" and "Trouble Sleeping") in "B-12".
- THe entire city of New Orleans
Other Appearances
- Judd Hirsch as Wes Mendell, the creator of Studio 60 who is fired by Jack Rudolph after going on a long on-air rant against the current state of television.
- Fred Stoller as Comedian Lenny Gold in "West Coast Delay".
- Eli Wallach appears in "The Wrap Party" as an old mischievous man with an interesting - and familiar - past.
- John Goodman as a Pahrump, Nevada judge in "Nevada Day Part 1" and "Nevada Day Part 2".
- Kevin Eubanks appears as himself in "The Christmas Show."
Episodes
Scheduling
On December 2, 2006 NBC announced that Studio 60 would be sharing the Monday at 10PM timeslot with The Black Donnellys and that they would not air repeats of the show. To accommodate this NBC has scheduled Studio 60 to take a 4 week hiatus between the December 4, 2006 episode and the January 8, 2007 episode [1]. It will then run non-stop until February 26, 2007 when it will take another hiatus (the length of which has yet to be determined) [2]
Critical and public reaction
Studio 60, known as Studio 7 on the Sunset Strip during its development stage (and likely renamed because of Studio 7, a game show which aired on The WB in 2004), was already the subject of much discussion before its first episode had aired. NBC and CBS had staged an intense bidding war for the rights to the show in October 2005, with NBC agreeing to a "near-record license fee" in order to obtain the rights.[4] It was the show most anticipated by media buyers prior to the network upfront presentations, according to MediaLife.[5] Among the online public the show was also highly anticipated, receiving the most online "mentions" and the most positive sentiment of any new 2006 show.[6] The positive reception extended to television critics, who named it their "Best Overall New Program" in a poll conducted by Broadcasting and Cable,[7] based on the pilot episode.
The pilot was seen by an average of 13.4 million total viewers in its initial airing on NBC, although it experienced significant viewer falloff from the first half-hour to the second half-hour,[8] and the second episode's Nielsen ratings were down by 12% from the pilot.[9] The erosion continued through episode 5, with a 43% viewer drop off from its premiere, but has since leveled off. (See U.S. television ratings below.)
On October 27, 2006 NBC gave a conditional "vote of confidence" by ordering three additional scripts on top of the initial order of 13.[10] Despite the order, Studio 60 has performed poorly in the ratings, which led to speculation that the network was seriously considering cancelling the show.
Roger Friedman of Fox News reported on October 30, 2006 that cancellation of the show was imminent.[11] This was denied the next day by an NBC representative who stated that the show "is profitable at this point" and that rather than a cancellation, it is more likely that the show's time slot will change.[12]
On November 9, 2006, NBC announced that the show had been picked up for a full season, citing its favorable demographics as the reason.[13] According to NBC's press release: "Studio 60 has consistently delivered some of the highest audience concentrations among all primetime network series in such key upscale categories as adults 18-49 living in homes with $75,000-plus and $100,000-plus incomes and in homes where the head of household has four or more years of college." Interestingly, this very concept was explored in the third episode of the series as the theory of the "alpha consumer," who Jordan McDeere describes as "the first to know, the first to try and the first to buy," and who are said to be worth five regular viewers.
Influences
The pilot both alludes heavily and refers directly to the film Network. In early development, Studio 60's fictional network NBS was called UBS, as was the corporation in Network.
As is typical for Aaron Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme, the crew contains a number of people linked to their previous shows (Sports Night and The West Wing). Bradley Whitford, Timothy Busfield, Evan Handler and Matthew Perry all have a history with The West Wing. Busfield directed two episodes of Sports Night as well. The show's first guest host (appearing as herself) is Felicity Huffman, who starred in Sports Night and did a guest spot on The West Wing.
Sorkin draws from his own experience as a writer in creating the characters. In "The Focus Group", Ron mentions, "Nobody can write 90 minutes of television every week by themselves. They'd be dead by the sixth show." Sorkin is known for having singlehandedly written a majority of the episodes during the first four seasons of The West Wing.
The show also uses the now familiar "Walk and Talks" (also called "pedeconferencing" in fan circles) used so frequently in both previous shows as well.
The Harriet/Matt relationship is based on Sorkin's relationship with Kristin Chenoweth, who played Annabeth Schott on The West Wing.[14] In Studio 60's pilot, one of the reasons that Matt and Harriet broke up was Harriet's decision to appear on The 700 Club to support her Christian music album. In 2005, Chenoweth made a similar appearance on The 700 Club, sparking a negative reaction from some of her gay fans because of the views of 700 Club host Pat Robertson.[15] Unlike Matt and Harriet, Sorkin and Chenoweth did not work together on The West Wing. Sorkin left after The West Wing's fourth season and Chenoweth joined the cast during season six.
The Jordan McDeere character is loosely based on former ABC Entertainment President Jamie Tarses, who is a consultant on the show. [3]
The opening sketch of "The Cold Open" was similar to one from Saturday Night Live. Both were reworkings of The Major General's Song by Gilbert and Sullivan. Mark McKinney, a former actor and writer on Saturday Night Live, worked as a story editor for this episode.[16]
Similarities to earlier work
Certain dialogue and situations in Studio 60 seems remarkably close to that featured in Sorkin's earlier shows, Sports Night and The West Wing.
Both Sports Night and Studio 60 feature professional writers who enjoy making dangling modifier jokes (Casey McCall and Martha O'Dell, respectively). CJ Cregg in The West Wing's "Dead Irish Writers" and Josh Lyman in The West Wing's "The Stackhouse Filibuster" also make the same jokes. In addition, Sports Night and Studio 60 feature lines from an aggravated female (Dana Whitaker and Harriet Hayes, respectively) who call a male co-worker an "adolescent, oversexed, overpaid blowhole."
In Sports Night and Studio 60, cast and crew members address each other with "good show" before and during their time on the air.
Instances of specific similarities within episodes include:
- "The Cold Open" - Danny tells the show's current writers, "This isn't TV camp. It's not important to us that everybody gets to play." In Season 2, Episode 12 of The West Wing, Toby says, "This isn't government camp. It's not like...it's not important that everybody gets to play." The line "This is not TV camp" is also spoken by the character Sam Donovan in Sports Night.
- "The West Coast Delay" - The writers mention the current score of a cricket match in Bangalore. This detail is also featured in an episode of Sports Night as the center of a running joke.
SNL references
The show makes several references to Saturday Night Live:
- Recurring elements of the show-within-the-show include News 60, similar to SNL's Weekend Update, and cartoons.
- In the second episode Tom Jeter reads an Internet review saying Studio 60 "seldom approached SNL at its best".
- In the same episode, Matt and Danny are fighting over an office and Matt says he would rather have Lorne Michaels' office, to which Danny replies that Lorne's office is in New York, and Lorne is still using it.
- Matt Albie frequently brandishes a baseball bat, a habit of former SNL Executive Producer and NBC Executive Dick Ebersol. This is also a habit of Daniel Kaffee, the Naval Attorney in A Few Good Men (1992), also written by Sorkin, played in the movie by Tom Cruise, and on Broadway by both Bradley Whitford[17] and Timothy Busfield[18]. On The West Wing, White House Counsel Lionel Tribbey brandishes a cricket bat.
- In the third episode, responding to needling from Danny that he's burying a political sketch in the 12:55 "dump the garbage" slot, Matt counters by saying that's where Wayne's World started.
- In the fourth episode, Danny points out to Jordan that drug usage is common in late-night comedy television; as supporting evidence he references the Coneheads and Toonces the Driving Cat. He also mentions the drug-related deaths of John Belushi and Chris Farley, noted SNL players. The writers room at Studio 60 also note that, along with the late-night talk show hosts, SNL cracked jokes about Jordan's DUI arrest.
Easter eggs
References to other Aaron Sorkin shows:
- In "The Option Period", when Tom and Simon are talking to Harriet in the cast dressing room, a "Bartlet For America" poster can be seen on the wall.
- In Matt's office, there is a "Removing All Doubt" poster on the wall, which is the name of the fictional film by Matt and Danny, as well as the title of Sorkin's first play.[19]
- In the "Pilot" episode of Studio 60, after Matt is announced as the winner of the Best Original Screenplay award at the 2006 Writer's Guild Awards, there is a very brief glimpse at a graphic of all the nominees. The photo of the nominee in the middle of the graphic bears a striking resemblance to Kim Jong-il, Dictator of North Korea.[citation needed]
U.S. television ratings
Weekly rankings based on Fast National ratings [20] [21] [22].
| # | Episode | Air Date | Timeslot (EST) | Season | Rating | Share | 18–49 | Viewers | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Pilot" | September 18, 2006 | Monday 10:00PM | 2006–2007 | 8.6 | 14 | 5.0 | 13.14 | # 22 |
| 2 | "The Cold Open" | September 25, 2006 | Monday 10:00PM | 2006–2007 | 7.5 | 12 | 4.4 | 10.82 | # 33 |
| 3 | "The Focus Group" | October 2, 2006 | Monday 10:00PM | 2006–2007 | 6.0 | 10 | 3.5 | 8.85 | # 47 |
| 4 | "The West Coast Delay" | October 9, 2006 | Monday 10:00PM | 2006–2007 | 5.8 | 9 | 3.8 | 8.66 | # 51 |
| 5 | "The Long Lead Story" | October 16, 2006 | Monday 10:00PM | 2006–2007 | 5.3 | 8 | 3.1 | 7.74 | # 55 |
| 6 | "The Wrap Party" | October 23, 2006 | Monday 10:00PM | 2006–2007 | 5.1 | 8 | 3.2 | 7.72 | # 60 |
| 7 | "Nevada Day (1)" | November 6, 2006 | Monday 10:00PM | 2006–2007 | 4.8 | 8 | 3.3 | 7.67 | # 56 |
| 8 | "Nevada Day (2)" | November 13, 2006 | Monday 10:00PM | 2006–2007 | 5.0 | 8 | 3.2 | 7.58 | # 58 |
| 9 | "The Option Period" | November 20, 2006 | Monday 10:00PM | 2006–2007 | 4.7 | 8 | 3.1 | 7.17 | # 60 |
| 10 | "B-12" | November 27, 2006 | Monday 10:00PM | 2006–2007 | 4.8 | 8 | 3.3 | 7.4 | n/a |
Key: Rating is the estimated percentage of all TVs tuned to the show, share is the percentage of all TVs in use that are tuned in. Viewers is the estimated number of actual people watching, in millions, while ranking is the approximate ranking of the show against all prime-time TV shows for the week (Monday through the following Sunday).
Airdates
Alternate Availability
Studio 60 is one of a group of NBC shows this season, some new and some returning, which have been available on one or both of NBC's online forums for alternative distribution of television: free with commercials on NBC.com, and for download without commercials at Amazon.com and the iTunes Store. There is no published record of its popularity at the NBC website, but several Studio 60 episodes have been among the ten most popular on iTunes. The Studio 60 season pass has also steadily remained in the Top 20 since it was made available. The first nine episodes of Studio 60 were also made available on the launch of Xbox Live Media Downloads.
Early release
NBC made the pilot episode of Studio 60 available on DVD to Netflix subscribers on August 5, 2006. The DVD also includes the pilot episode for Kidnapped, another show scheduled to debut on NBC in the fall. AOL also premiered the first episode of Studio 60 in its entirety on its online television channel [4].
The pilot episode was screened to the general public for the first time at the 31st MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival, a British industry and media event held annually over the August bank holiday weekend (25-27 August 2006). The pilot episode was screened outdoors on a "giant billboard style screen" in Conference Square, next to the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.[23]
International Broadcasters
| Country | TV Network(s) | Series Premiere | Weekly Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States
|
NBC | September 18 2006 | Mondays at 10:00pm ET |
 Canada
|
CTV television network | September 17 2006 | Sundays at 10:00pm ET |
 Australia
|
Nine Network[24] | 2007 | TBC |
 Ireland
|
TV3[citation needed] | TBC | TBC |
 Hong Kong
|
TVB Pearl[citation needed] | TBC | TBC |
 United Kingdom
|
More 4 (first run)[citation needed] Channel 4 (re-runs) |
2007 2007 |
TBC TBC |
 Brazil
|
Warner Channel[citation needed] | January 2007 | TBC |
U.S. Broadcast History
- September 2006 - present -- Mondays 10:00pm/9:00pm
Notes
- Schlamme, Thomas (director); Sorkin, Aaron (writer) (2006). Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Pilot (television). NBC.
- NBC reacts to ratings slide
- ^ Barnes, Brooks (2006-05-15). "Can 'Studio 60' Save NBC?". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2006-09-01.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Andreeva, Nellie (2006-11-09). "NBC orders full season of ailing "Studio 60"". Reuters. Retrieved 2006-11-12.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Sorkin, Aaron. "Studio 7 on the Sunset Strip" Retrieved on 2006-10-12.
- ^ Adalian, Josef (2005-10-14). "Peacock on 'Studio' beat". Daily Variety. Retrieved 2006-09-03.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Downey, Kevin (2006-03-31). "The hot pre-upfront buzz: 'Studio 60'". Media Life Magazine. Retrieved 2006-09-03.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Consoli, John (2006-07-10). "NBC Best On Buzzmeter Web Study". MediaWeek. Retrieved 2006-09-03.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Grossman, Ben (2006-09-04). "Fall Harvest". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved 2006-09-03.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Collins, Scott (2006-09-25). "Falloff: The numbers could spell trouble for NBC's 'Studio 60'". Relish Now!. Retrieved 2006-09-26.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Lisotta, Christopher (2006-09-26). "NBC Wins Monday in Adults 18 to 49; 'Heroes' Soars". TV Week. Retrieved 2006-09-26.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Mitovich, Matt Webb (2006-10-27). "Good-ish news for Studio 60, The Nine, Two Others". TV Guide. Retrieved 2006-11-09.
- ^ Friedman, Roger (2006-11-03). "'Studio 60' Cancellation Imminent". Fox News. Retrieved 2006-11-09.
- ^ Goetzl, David (2006-10-31). "FoxNews.com Columnist Gets It Wrong, NBC Says 'Studio 60' Stays Onboard". MediaDailyNews. Retrieved 2006-11-09.
- ^ "NBC Gives Full Season Order To Critically Acclaimed New Drama 'Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip' For 2006-07" (Press release). NBC. 2006-11-09. Retrieved 2006-11-09.
- ^ Carter, Bill (2006-09-11). "'West Wing' to West Coast: TV's Auteur Portrays TV". New York Times. Retrieved 2006-10-25.
- ^ Rosenblum, Emma (2006-09-11). "The Not Ready for Prime Time Playoff". New York Magazine. Retrieved 2006-10-30.
- ^ defamer.com
- ^ "Internet Broadway Database - Bradley Whitford". Retrieved 2006-11-22.
- ^ "Internet Broadway Database - Timothy Busfield". Retrieved 2006-11-22.
- ^ "In The Spotlight - Aaron Sorkin '83". Syracuse University Magazine. Summer 2001. Retrieved 2006-11-27.
- ^ Zap2It Ratings: Rating and Share.
- ^ Calendar Live Ratings: Viewers and Rankings.
- ^ NY Post: Unfavourable New York Post Article.
- ^ "Screening: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip". mediaguardian. Retrieved 2006-09-01.
- ^ Australia's Channel Ninepicks up Studio 60 (meanwhile, the Seven Networks ratings fast approach)
External links
- Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip at Wikia
- Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip on BuddyTV
- Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip on TVGuide.com
- Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip at IMDb
- Template:Tunefind
- Review from the New Yorker
Official Sites
- United States: NBC