Studio 60 Deserves Another Look

What with it being created and written by Aaron Sorkin and starring Bradley Whitford, who was wonderful as Josh Lyman in Sorkin's The West Wing, as well as Matthew Perry, Steven Weber, Amanda Peet, Timothy Busfield and Ed Asner, I really wanted to like Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip. And I do. Most weeks.

However, the quality of the show varies from episode to episode, from great to mediocre with one show last month that simply sucked.

Last night's episode was one of the very good ones, full of the wit and sparkling dialogue that distinguished earlier Sorkin efforts such as West Wing and Sports Night. One thing that several of the shows critics have said, and that I agree with, is that the show within the show--the late night sketch comedy revue which serves as the series' McGuffin--isn't funny. The sketches we've seen so far have been pretty lame. But last night, part of a sketch featuring Santa Claus being caught in Dateline NBC's "To Catch A Predator" sting was quite funny and such a good premise that I'm surprised the real Saturday Night Live hasn't used it. (Wait..No, I'm not surprised. I did say it was a good idea, and nobody on SNL's writing staff has had one of those since the mid-80's.)

Studio 60 is getting better, but unfortunately had a slow start which has probably contributed to its low ratings (60 managed to lose half of the audience of its lead-in, Heroes.), and unless audiences give it a second look, maybe in a new time slot, the show might not last out the season.