Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

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Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Studio 60 Logo
Format	Comedy-drama
Created by	Aaron Sorkin
Starring	Matthew Perry Bradley Whitford Amanda Peet Sarah Paulson Steven Weber D. L. Hughley Nate Corddry Timothy Busfield
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	22 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Thomas Schlamme Aaron Sorkin
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	approx. 43 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	NBC
Original run	September 18, 2006 – June 28, 2007
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was an American comedy-drama television series created and written by Aaron Sorkin.

It takes place behind the scenes of a fictional live sketch comedy show (also called Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip or Studio 60) on the fictional television network NBS (National Broadcasting System), whose format is similar to NBC's Saturday Night Live. The fictional show-within-a-show is run by head writer and executive producer Matt Albie (Matthew Perry) and executive producer Danny Tripp (Bradley Whitford).

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip aired on NBC from September 18, 2006 to June 28, 2007.

Contents 1 Characters 1.1 Major roles 1.2 Secondary roles 1.2.1 Other appearances 2 History of the show-within-the-show 3 U.S. scheduling 3.1 Hiatus 3.2 Cancellation 4 Critical and public reaction 5 Influences on the show 5.1 References to other Sorkin works 5.2 Similarities and Differences from Saturday Night Live 5.3 Similarities and references to other television shows 6 U.S. television ratings 6.1 Standard ratings 6.2 Seasonal ratings 6.3 DVR ratings 7 Awards 7.1 Wins 7.2 Nominations 8 Alternative availability 8.1 Early release 9 DVD release 10 See also 11 References 12 External links 12.1 Unofficial sites 12.2 Podcasts 12.3 Media 12.4 Script

[edit] Characters

Main article: List of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip characters

[edit] Major roles

Studio 60 employed a broad ensemble cast that portrayed the rotating personnel involved in the production of a late-night comedy show.

• Danny Tripp (Bradley Whitford) is a former segment producer for Studio 60 who is asked to return as Executive Producer when Executive Producer Wes Mendell is fired. He works closely with Matt Albie, his longtime friend. He is a recovering drug addict.
• Matt Albie (Matthew Perry) is a former writer for Studio 60 who takes over production along with longtime friend, Danny Tripp, as Executive Producer and Head Writer. He is also Harriet's on-again-off-again boyfriend.
• 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"^[1] performer, a devout Christian, and one of the "Big Three" main stars of Studio 60. She is also Matt Albie's on-again-off-again girlfriend. She also dated Luke Scott, a former writer at Studio 60 and Matt's rival, now a big-time director. The character of Harriet is partially based on Kristin Chenoweth, whom Sorkin previously dated before she worked on The West Wing.
• Tom Jeter (Nate Corddry) is another of the show's "Big Three." He is from the Midwest and his brother is serving as an Airman in the USAF deployed in Afghanistan. During the course of the show, he begins dating Lucy, one of the staff writers.
• Simon Stiles (D. L. Hughley) is the final member of the "Big Three." An alumnus of the Yale School of Drama, his original intention was to become a dramatic actor, rather than a comedian.
• Jack Rudolph (Steven Weber) is the chairman of the fictional National Broadcasting System, and Jordan's boss. During the course of the show, he and his wife separate.
• Cal Shanley (Timothy Busfield) is the director of the fictional Studio 60. He has two children and is a military history buff. Busfield has also directed several episodes of the series, as he did for Sports Night.

[edit] 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, he is recognized as the complement to Harriet Hayes, being the premiere male impressionist in the cast. He has at least one recurring sketch, The Nicolas Cage Show, in which he plays the title character, and has also portrayed Tom Cruise and Ben Stiller.
• 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 pilot show for Fox called "Peripheral Vision Man" – based on a character from an old Studio 60 sketch ; 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 pilot show for Fox called "Peripheral Vision Man" – based on a character from an old Studio 60 sketch.
• 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. During the course of the show, Lucy begins dating Tom Jeter.
• 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 a writer on Studio 60 prior to Matt and Danny's initial departure from the show. Since that time, Andy's wife and daughter died in a car accident.
• Martha O'Dell (Christine Lahti) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist working on a story for Vanity Fair about the new leadership of Studio 60. She ends up easily uncovering almost every detail of the cast and crew's personal lives. Martha's character is based on the columnist Maureen Dowd, who once dated Sorkin.^[2]
• Suzanne (Merritt Wever) is a former PA on the show who becomes Matt's assistant in the episode "B-12." She confronts Matt about his drug use in the episode "Breaking News."
• Hallie Galloway (Stephanie Childers) is the Vice President of Alternative Programming (a.k.a. Reality TV) for NBS and has developed an adversarial relationship with Jordan. She first appeared in the episode "Monday." McDeere has expressed her fear that Galloway is being groomed to take her place after the rocky start to McDeere's tenure as President of the network.
• Mary Tate (Kari Matchett) is a lawyer from fictional law firm Gage Whitney Pace who is hired by NBS and has a love interest in Matt.

[edit] 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."
• Kim Tao (Julia Ling) guest stars in five episodes (Nevada Day Part 1, Nevada Day Part 2, Monday, Harriet Dinner Part 1, Harriet Dinner Part 2) as the viola prodigy who speaks five languages. She is the official translator for her father during the Macau deal.
• Eli Wallach appears in "The Wrap Party" as an old mischievous man with an interesting – and familiar – past. Wallach was nominated for an Emmy for this role.
• John Goodman as a Pahrump, Nevada, judge Robert "Bobby" Bebe in "Nevada Day Part 1" and "Nevada Day Part 2." Goodman was nominated for and won an Emmy for this role.
• Kevin Eubanks appears as himself in "The Christmas Show."
• Lauren Graham appears as herself in "The Long Lead Story" and "The Wrap Party."

[edit] History of the show-within-the-show

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip premiered in 1986, created by veteran comedy writer Wes Mendell, who had written for such comedy greats as the Smothers Brothers, Bill Cosby, and Richard Pryor.

By 1996, Wes had set up a system where he, as head writer, wrote most of his material solo, while assistant head writer Joe was left in charge of the writers’ room, where the rest of the writers would brainstorm and submit ideas they had come up with individually. This was the year in which Wes hired two unknowns who would eventually become members of the “Big Three,” the three most popular and powerful cast members: Yale School of Drama graduate Simon Stiles, and improv veteran Harriet Hayes. Harriet’s addition to the cast was especially important, since it attracted the attention of two freshman writers, Luke Scott and Matthew “Matt” Albie, neither of whom had yet been able to get a sketch on the air. Luke and Matt quickly developed a rivalry for Harriet’s affections, which they expressed partially by writing material specifically for her. Although Luke was the one who succeeded in writing Harriet’s debut sketch, it was Matt Albie whose writing made her a star. Harriet alternately dated both writers, until Luke left, having fallen into Matt’s shadow; Luke soon became a success as a director and writer for motion pictures.

By 2001, Studio 60 had become the flagship show of NBS, impressionist Tom Jeter rounded out the Big Three, and Matt had become enough of a success that he had replaced Joe as asst. head writer. When Wes was temporarily taken out of the picture by a cigarette-related heart attack, he left the show in the hands of Matt and his favorite segment producer, Daniel “Danny” Tripp. Matt & Danny strenuously objected to having to produce a season premiere in the immediate wake of September 11th, but their objections were overruled by network chairman Jack Rudolph. Jack gave them strict instructions to stay away from "anti-American" political satire and to focus on Hollywood. Matt wrote an opening sketch satirizing a meeting between Karl Rove and movie executives. Jack objected to the sketch, while Matt defended it because it made fun of Hollywood. Making a deal with Jack, Danny and Matt agreed to pull the sketch if the representatives of their sponsors objected after seeing the dress rehearsal. None of the sponsors objected, the sketch made it onto the show, and there was an immediate conservative backlash. As a result, Jack threatened to fire Matt and Danny unless they apologized for the sketch. They refused to apologize and expected Wes to stand up for their decision. Instead, Wes decided to issue an apology on the show's behalf. Realizing Wes had buckled under perceived pressure from the network, Matt and Danny quit the show.

These decisions caused Wes to begin doubting himself, and by 2006, he had more or less unofficially handed artistic control of the show over to assistant head writers Ricky & Ron, best known for their unfunny recurring sketch “Peripheral Vision Man.” Prolific but untalented, Ricky & Ron led the show into an artistic slump. When Wes tried to shake things up by opening the new season with “Crazy Christians,” a sketch that was written by Matt before he quit, he was overruled by Standards & Practices. Wes responded by interrupting the opening sketch with a live, on-air rant about network sensibilities and how they had sapped the quality out of Studio 60 and television in general. The network, under the leadership of newly appointed president Jordan McDeere, responded by firing Wes and bringing back Danny Tripp as executive producer and Matt Albie as co-executive producer and head writer.

During their time away from Studio 60 Matt & Danny found success as a writer/director filmmaking team, a success culminating with a WGA award for Matt. Still stung by the betrayal of Wes and angry at Jack for refusing to side with their artistic integrity five years earlier, Matt & Danny nevertheless accepted the job as show runners when Danny failed a drug test and thus could not get insured for their next movie.

Matt’s return to the show reunited him with Harriet, with whom he had recently broken up. This reunion, coupled with Harriet’s casting in Luke’s latest movie, reignited Luke and Matt’s rivalry for Harriet’s affections. Meanwhile, Danny began to develop a romance with Jordan McDeere, who continued to rile Jack with her distaste for unscripted television and commitment to cerebral programming.

In the writing room, Matt benched Ricky & Ron, partially in retaliation for a post-9/11 snub, but mostly because Matt held the nearly-universally shared view that Ricky & Ron were hack writers. Bitter, Ricky & Ron walked out to write for the FOX network production of their optioned Peripheral Vision Man, taking with them all but two of the writing staff. The only writers remaining included Matt as the head writer; the inexperienced Lucy Kenwright, who had never had a sketch on air; and the unsuccessful stand-up comedian Darius Hawthorne, whom Matt had only recently hired in response to Simon’s request for more black writers on the show. Realizing that they desperately needed help, Matt hired veteran Studio 60 writer Andy Mackinaw as a writing advisor. Andy, who had retired from comedy after his family was killed in a car accident, then decided to remain on staff as asst. head writer.

[edit] U.S. scheduling

On December 2, 2006, NBC announced that Studio 60 would be sharing the Monday at 10 p.m. timeslot with The Black Donnellys. To accommodate this NBC scheduled Studio 60 to take a 7 week hiatus between December 4, 2006 and January 22, 2007.^[3] It was then scheduled to run non-stop until February 26, 2007 when it would take another hiatus.^[4]

[edit] Hiatus

On February 13, 2007, NBC announced that Studio 60 would go on hiatus one week early and that the last episode would air on February 19, 2007. This is at least partially due to the show delivering its lowest ratings to date on the Monday preceding the announcement.^[5]

During the hiatus on NBC, The Black Donnellys (premiered February 26), Thank God You're Here (premiered April 9), The Real Wedding Crashers (premiered April 23, after Thank God You're Here moved to Wednesdays^[6][7]), and Law and Order: Criminal Intent (aired its last two episodes of the season starting May 14) occupied the Monday 10 p.m. time period.

On April 2, 2007, NBC announced that Studio 60 would not reclaim its Monday at 10 p.m. time slot at the conclusion of The Black Donnellys run and that The Real Wedding Crashers, a reality show based on the popular movie, would occupy the timeslot from April 23, 2007 through the end of the TV season. However, on April 26, NBC announced that Studio 60 would return from its hiatus on Thursday, May 24 at 10:00 p.m.

[edit] Cancellation

Many rumors circled for months regarding the cancellation of the show, and as of October 30, 2008, the official show website ceased to exist.^[8]

[edit] Critical and public reaction

Studio 60, previously 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.^[9] It was the show most anticipated by media buyers prior to the network upfront presentations, according to MediaLife.^[10] 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.^[11] The positive reception extended to television critics, who named it their "Best Overall New Program" in a poll conducted by Broadcasting and Cable,^[12] based on the pilot episode. In their 2006 year end issue, NY Daily News listed Studio 60 as number 6 on their best "Series of the Year" list, and was also listed in best standout performances as number 9 for Matthew Perry.^[13] Glenn Garvin of the Miami Herald named Studio 60 as number 2 on his list of best "Series of the Year."^[14] Studio 60 earned a collective rating of 75 out of 100 based on 33 reviews by TV critics and received 8.2 out of 10 from 276 votes by users on Metacritic.^[15]

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,^[16] and the second episode's Nielsen ratings were down by 12% from the pilot.^[17] The errosion continued through episode 5, with a 43% viewer drop off from its premiere, but subsequently 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.^[18] Despite the order, Studio 60 performed poorly in the ratings, which led to speculation that the network was seriously considering canceling the show.

Roger Friedman of Fox News reported on October 30, 2006, that cancellation of the show was imminent.^[19] 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.^[20]

On November 9, 2006, NBC announced that the show had been picked up for a full season, citing its favorable demographics as the reason.^[21] 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."

In its December 17, 2006, issue, Time listed Studio 60 as one of "5 Things That Went From Buzz to Bust", sharing the distinction with other "phenomena that captivated the media for a spell, then turned out to be less than huge."^[22] Entertainment Weekly named Studio 60 the worst TV show of 2006.^[23] Comedy writers have been largely disdainful of Studio 60, with comments like "People in television, trust me, are not that smart", "(Sorkin) wants to get big ideas across and change people's minds. No comedians work that way. They go for the laughs first and the lesson second", and "(Saturday Night Live) is so dark, they could never show what actually happens there."^[24]

On July 19, 2007, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced their nominations for the 2007 Primetime Emmy awards. Studio 60 was nominated in five categories. The pilot episode earned three nominations: Outstanding Directing (Thomas Schlamme), Outstanding Cinematography For A Single-camera Series, and Outstanding Casting in Dramatic Series. Both John Goodman and Eli Wallach were nominated Outstanding Guest actor in Dramatic Series. Even with some criticism, Studio 60 nominations surpassed critics' darlings such as Friday Night Lights and Dexter, which got two and three respectively. The show also tied with hits like CSI and 24.

[edit] Influences on the show

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, John Goodman, 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.^[25] 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.^[26] 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 characters of Ricky Tahoe and Ron Oswald are based, at least in name, on former Sorkin/Schlamme colleagues Jeff Reno and Ron Osborn.

The Jordan McDeere character is loosely based on former ABC Entertainment President Jamie Tarses, who is a consultant on the show.^[27]

The conflict between NBS and the Federal Communications Commission regarding uncensored language of American soldiers in the Middle East parallels the decision by a small number of PBS affiliates to air the documentary "Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience" in full, despite potentially hefty FCC fines for unedited obscenities used by American soldiers describing their experiences in Iraq.^[28]

[edit] References to other Sorkin works

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (February 2008)

This section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (December 2007)

• In the pilot episode, it's stated that prior to his relapse, Danny Tripp had been sober for 11 years. In episode 2 of Sports Night, Dan Rydell claims to have smoked his last joint 11 years ago.
• In Matt's Office, there is a Pirates of Penzance poster. It is similar to a poster given to Ainsley Hayes in the West Wing episode, "And It's Surely to Their Credit." In Matt and Danny's first show they also use a song from "Pirates": "I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General" becomes "We'll be the Very Model of a Modern Network TV Show."
• In "The Cold Open", when Danny and Matt are talking near the start of the episode, Danny says "I made a decision for you. You'll find I'll be making a lot of them." This is very similar to something Leo McGarry says to Josiah Bartlet on The West Wing, near the start of the campaign.
• In "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 ("The Drop-In"), Toby says, "This isn't government camp. It's not like… it's not important that everybody gets to play." The line "This isn't TV camp" is also spoken by the character Sam Donovan in season 2 episode 4 of Sports Night, "Louise Revisited."
• In "The Option Period", when Tom and Simon are talking to Harriet in the cast dressing room (about halfway into the episode), a "Bartlet For America" poster can be seen on the wall.
• "Removing All Doubt" is the name of the fictional film by Matt and Danny, as well as the title of Sorkin's first play.
• In "4AM Miracle," Matt encourages his assistant Suzanne to go home. She replies, "I leave when you leave." This is a verbatim copy of a conversation Leo McGarry had with his assistant (Margaret) on The West Wing.
• The law firm Gage Whitney Pace is referred to in "4AM Miracle" as well as the "K&R" series of episodes. Corporate attorney Mary Tate works for this firm. On The West Wing, before working for Jed Bartlet, Sam Seaborn worked at a firm of the same name, as evidenced by flashbacks in the West Wing's second season premiere.
• In "The Friday Night Slaughter," when Danny and Jordan list the troubles Jordan has had with her office, Danny says, "the ceiling is falling down," (though the ceiling does not appear to have fallen in Jordan's office). In The West Wing, the ceiling collapsed on Bradley Whitford's character Josh Lyman's desk.
• In the end credits, Sorkin's production company, "Shoe Money" appears. This references an episode of Sports Night in which Dana plays poker for "shoe money."
• In the episode "4AM Miracle," the single celled paramecium is talked about. It is also mentioned in The West Wing episode College Kids.
• The West Wing evidently exists in the Studio 60 universe, despite several actors having appeared on both shows. Allison Janney appears as guest host in "The Disaster Show" and several characters reference her role on The West Wing.
• At the top of "The Disaster Show," the camera follows a PA holding a flower arrangement with a flamingo centerpiece. Later, a large lawn flamingo can be seen in Allison Janney's dressing room, and during the commercial breaks a graphic of Janney and two flamingos appears on the screens. On The West Wing, Janney's character's Secret Service code name was "Flamingo."
• The chemistry between Allison Janney and Timothy Busfield is exhibited during "The Disaster Show." Busfield played Danny on The West Wing, Janney's character's boyfriend. As they do on The West Wing, they banter and argue, and at one point, he kisses her on the cheek.
• In a flashback on "K&R," Matt has difficulty tying his bow tie when they are going to the Emmy Awards, and Harriet questions why he does not just get a clip-on. Josh Lyman has a similar exchange with his assistant/love interest Donna Moss in The West Wing episode "On the Day Before"; he tells Donna, "The end of the night, you want to be able to pull it open like Tony Bennett."
• In "The Wrap Party", Harriet tells Jeannie about how she almost kissed Matt. When Jeannie asks, "Where?", Harriet responds, "On the mouth." Jeannie replies, "Where in the Studio." Harriet- "Outside his office." This mirrors, quite closely, though not quite word for word, a conversation between Sydney Ellen Wade and her sister in "The American President", regarding a scene where Sydney was just about to kiss President Shepherd in "the dish room" (China room), when they were interrupted by Secret Service, and he was called away to deal with an urgent issue.
• In K&R, Part III, Jack plays a right wing radio show to demonstrate to Matt and Danny the criticism that the network has received since airing the alleged unpatriotic sketch after 9/11. The announcer's voice is Martin Sheen who played Jed Bartlet on The West Wing.
• In K&R, Part III, Jack is encouraging Simon to apologize. Simon firmly states, "Jack, fire me or shut the hell up." Dana Whitaker, played by Felicity Huffman, made the exact same statement in a second-season episode of Sports Night. CJ Cregg, played by Allison Janney said the same thing before entering the press briefing room in an episode of The West Wing.
• Still in K&R, Part III, as part of his effort to wear Simon down into apologizing for his statement to the press in Part II, network chairman Jack mentions that, in 1993, the American Congress issued an apology to native Hawaiians on behalf of the U.S. for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii 100 years earlier. "All was forgiven," says Jack, "and I have a house in Kauai." "Enough," says Simon. "I'll apologize. To the people of Hawaii." In episode 2 of Sports Night ("The Apology"), the main story line involves the network forcing an on-air apology out of Dan Rydell for a statement he had made in a magazine interview. He ends up addressing his apology to someone completely unexpected.
• The final episode of the first and only season of Studio 60 is titled "What Kind of Day Has It Been." Likewise, the first season finale episodes of both The West Wing and Sports Night are also titled "What Kind of Day Has It Been."
• In "Breaking News", Matt calls Harriet "Norma Rae" in reference to the potential legal problems she caused by referring to the Studio 60 writers' room as a "tough place for women". This is similar to a scene in [The West Wing] in which Josh calls Donna "Norma Rae" in reference to the protest she arranged which caused inconvenience to the Chief of Staff.
• In the episode "The Harriet Dinner Part I" Harriet is told a joke by Matt that she cannot repeat without messing up. The same joke is told in The West Wing episode "Constituency of One" by Amy Gardener to Josh Lyman (although this was in season 5 of the West Wing, after Sorkin left the show).
• Both The West Wing and Studio 60 feature story lines involving the capture of three members of the US armed forces and in each series one of the servicemen is named Herman.
• In both The West Wing and Studio 60 Bradley Whitford's character refers to men he thinks below contempt as being a "fraction of a man" (in TWW referencing a congressman attacking Leo; in Studio 60 Danny refers to the man who gets Jordan pregnant and Jack refers to Jordan's ex-husband who is trying to sell a book about Jordan at the time). The line is from a Shawn Mullins song and is also used in the movie "Far and Away".

[edit] Similarities and Differences from Saturday Night Live

Similarities:

• While the show's ratings may fall from time to time, and it may even be bad for a period of time, it remains iconic.
• The formats of SNL and the show-within-a-show of Studio 60 are almost identical, with guest hosts, musical guests, similar segue music, and a satirical news program considered to be the highlight of the show.
• The end-credits sequence is identical, with the cast gathering on stage as the guest says his/her goodbyes and thank yous.
• During the host's monologue, the host finishes the same way as on SNL: "(musical guest) is here. So, stick around. We'll be right back!"
• The musical guest's introduction is the same on SNL and Studio 60 in that the first time is always "Ladies and gentlemen, (artist's name)," and the second is "Once again, (artist's name)."
• Both shows' executive producers scout for talent at comedy clubs. Like the featured character of Darius on Studio 60, SNL calls upon many stand-up comics who might not have had any writing experience to write first, including Dave Attell, Jason Sudeikis, and Adam Sandler.
• A staff writer is never guaranteed that his material will make it on the air so there is usually a lot of pressure for them to perform at their best.
• The show has seven cast members with the same black/non-black ratio and man/woman ratio as the original SNL cast.
• Tom Jeter helps write for the satirical news segment "News 60," much as (for example) Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers has done for SNL's "Weekend Update" in recent years.
• Both shows have live dress rehearsals before the show and more skits are presented during dress rehearsal than the actual show, with some being cut in between.
• Both shows have an in-house band in addition to the musical guest.
• The shows' creative processes both begin every new week with the introduction of the guest host.
• The shows' formats are both largely based on historic precedent where things have largely been done the same way since the beginning.
• The backstory behind Studio 60 resembles a turbulent period in SNL's history between 1980 and 1985 where Lorne Michaels left the show and creative control was ceded over to Dick Ebersol with writers Al Franken and Tom Davis eventually becoming nominal producers and head of the writing room. Ebersol and Michael had some creative differences and Ebersol needed Michaels' blessing to retain the cooperation of the people working there.^[29]

Differences:

• Studio 60 is broadcast from Los Angeles, while SNL is broadcast from New York.
• The "Cold Open" episode shows only staff writers being in on the pitch session, whereas in SNL, both cast members and writers are involved in the weekly pitch sessions.

[edit] Similarities and references to other television shows

• In "K&R" Jordan, who became Danny's fiance moments earlier, is diagnosed with Pre-eclampsia. Bradley Whitford also played the husband of a woman who had that same condition in the episode "Love's Labor Lost" in the first season of ER.
• In "The Cold Open", Jack Rudolph tells Jordan, "You've got spunk. I hate spunk!" This is a reference to one of the first and most famous lines uttered by Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Ed Asner, the actor who played Grant on MTM and later on the show Lou Grant, appears as Jack's boss, chairman of the NBS board, in Studio 60.
• In "Breaking News," Jenna Fischer appeared as the guest host. She plays Pam in The Office (US TV series), whose character is based on Dawn Tinsley from The Office (UK TV series). Lucy Davis, who plays Lucy in Studio 60, played Dawn Tinsley in The Office (UK TV series).

[edit] U.S. television ratings

[edit] Standard ratings

Ratings are a mechanism for advertisers to see how many people may have see their commercial. They only measure viewership of the initial airing of an episode. They do not reflect the shows quality, or any repeat viewings on alternate media. Weekly rankings based on Fast National ratings.^{[30][31][32][33]}

Season One (2006-2007)

#	Episode	Air Date	Rating	Share	18–49	Viewers	Rank
1	"Pilot""Pilot"	01September 18, 2006	8.6	14	5.0	13.14	# 22
2	"Cold Open, The""The Cold Open"	02September 25, 2006	7.5	12	4.4	10.82	# 33
3	"Focus Group, The""The Focus Group"	03October 2, 2006	6.0	10	3.5	8.85	# 47
4	"West Coast Delay, The""The West Coast Delay"	04October 9, 2006	5.8	9	3.8	8.66	# 51
5	"Long Lead Story, The""The Long Lead Story"	05October 16, 2006	5.3	8	3.1	7.74	# 55
6	"Wrap Party, The""The Wrap Party"	06October 23, 2006	5.1	8	3.2	7.72	# 60
7	"Nevada Day (1)""Nevada Day (1)"	07November 6, 2006	4.8	8	3.3	7.67	# 56
8	"Nevada Day (2)""Nevada Day (2)"	08November 13, 2006	5.0	8	3.2	7.58	# 58
9	"Option Period, The""The Option Period"	09November 20, 2006	4.7	8	3.1	7.17	# 60
10	"B-12""B-12"	10November 27, 2006	4.8	8	3.3	7.27	# 60
11	"Christmas Show, The""The Christmas Show"	11December 4, 2006	4.9	8	3.0	7.33	# 52
12	"Monday""Monday"	12January 22, 2007	5.3	8	3.2	7.25	# 48
13	"Harriet Dinner – Part I, The""The Harriet Dinner – Part I"	13January 29, 2007	4.8	7	3.0	6.86	# 53
14	"Harriet Dinner – Part II, The""The Harriet Dinner – Part II"	14February 5, 2007	4.6	7	3.2	7.00	# 59
15	"Friday Night Slaughter,The""The Friday Night Slaughter"	15February 12, 2007	4.3	7	2.8	6.39	# 68
16	"4AM Miracle""4AM Miracle"	16February 19, 2007	4.1	7	2.6	6.10	# 63
17	"Disaster Show, The""The Disaster Show"	17May 24, 2007	2.7	5	1.7	3.90	# 76
18	"Breaking News""Breaking News"	18May 31, 2007	2.9	5	1.6	4.08	n/a
19	"K&R - Part 1""K&R"	19June 7, 2007	3.1	5	1.7	4.35	# 66
20	"K&R - Part 2""K&R - Part II"	20June 14, 2007	3.0	6	1.7	4.25	n/a
21	"K&R - Part 3""K&R - Part III"	21June 21, 2007	3.0	5	1.8	4.42	# 53
22	"What Kind of Day Has It Been""What Kind of Day Has It Been"	22June 28, 2007	2.7	5	2.0	4.20	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).

While the show premiered with high ratings, there was a large drop during the second half. This trend has continued through nearly every episode of the show.

[edit] Seasonal ratings

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip on NBC:^[34]

Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.

Season	Timeslot (EDT)	Series Premiere	Series Finale	TV Season	Rank	Viewers (in millions)	18-49 Rating/Share (rank)
1	Monday 10:00 P.M. (September 18, 2006 - February 19, 2007) Thursday 10:00 P.M. (May 24, 2007 - June 28, 2007)[35]	September 18, 2006	June 28, 2007	2006-2007	#61	8.5	3.6/9 (#41)

[edit] DVR ratings

On December 29, 2006, Nielsen Media Research reported the results of having, for the first time, monitored viewers who use a Digital Video Recorder to pre-record shows for later viewing. According to the Nielsen numbers, adding these viewers increased Studio 60's ratings the most in percentage terms of all network shows. These ratings, called "live plus seven", include all viewers who use a DVR to record the show and then watch it within a week of its initial airing.

According to Nielsen, Studio 60 adds nearly 11%, or almost a million viewers, to its total every week as a result of these "live plus seven" viewers.^[36]

According to Medialife Magazine, "The live-plus-seven-day rating for NBC’s “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” is 136% higher than its live rating in DVR homes."^[37]

[edit] Awards

[edit] Wins

2006

• Broadcasting and Cable pool — Best Overall New Program.

2007

• Banff World Television Festival — Continuing Series – for the episode "Pilot."
• Emmy Award — Outstanding Guest Actor in Dramatic Series – John Goodman

[edit] Nominations

2006

• Satellite Awards — Outstanding Actor in a Series, Drama – Matthew Perry
• Satellite Awards — Outstanding Actor in a Series, Drama – Bradley Whitford
• Satellite Awards — Outstanding Actress in a Series, Drama – Amanda Peet
• Satellite Awards — Outstanding Actress in a Series, Drama – Sarah Paulson

2007

• Emmy Award — Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series: for the episode “Pilot”, directed by Thomas Schlamme;
• Emmy Award — Outstanding Cinematography For A Single-Camera Series: for the episode “Pilot”
• Emmy Award — Outstanding Casting in Dramatic Series;
• Emmy Award — Outstanding Guest Actor in Dramatic Series – Eli Wallach;
• Writers Guild of America Award — Best Overall New Program
• Writers Guild of America Award — Episodic Drama – for the episode “Pilot”, written by Aaron Sorkin
• Directors Guild of America Awards — Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series, Night: for the episode “Pilot”, directed by Thomas Schlamme
• Golden Globe — Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television – Sarah Paulson
• Art Directors Guild — Excellence in production design single camera television series – for the episode “Pilot”, Production Design by Carlos Barbosa
• American Society of Cinematographers — episodic television – Thomas Del Ruth
• ICG Publicists Awards — Outstanding Television Series

[edit] Alternative availability

Studio 60 was one of a group of NBC shows during its season, some new and some returning, which was available on one or both of NBC's online forums for alternative distribution of television: free with commercials on NBC.com and hulu.com, and for pay download without commercials at Amazon.com and the iTunes Store. Studio 60 was also added as a download option via the Xbox 360 video download service. There is no published record of its popularity at the NBC website or on the Xbox, 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 in fall of 2006, and the service continues to offer the new episodes weekly (3-4 days after the airdate). All episodes of the program have also been made available on CTV's online broadband network. Episodes are currently being added to the Channel 4's 4oD, a broadband on-demand service, in the UK, as the episodes are broadcast on More 4.

[edit] 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 which aired on NBC in the fall and also got canceled. AOL also premiered the first episode of Studio 60 in its entirety on its online television channel.

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.^[38]

[edit] DVD release

On June 27, 2007, the day before the airing of the show's final episode, Warner Home Video announced an October 16 release date for the Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip: Complete Series DVD set.^[39]

[edit] See also

• Sports Night
• The West Wing

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

[edit] Unofficial sites

• Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip at the Internet Movie Database
• Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip on TVGuide.com
• Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip on BuddyTV
• New Yorker review
• NBC Studio 60 Message Board

[edit] Podcasts

• Aaron Barnhart. Aaron Sorkin, in his own words TV Barn

[edit] Media

• NBC trailer on YouTube
• Video on TVGuide.com
• The CTV Broadband Network

[edit] Script

• Aaron Sorkin. "Early draft of the Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip pilot script". http://www.geocities.com/seekergurl/studio60.html. Retrieved on 2007-02-01. 

STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP
EPISODES   |   CHARACTERS
Primary Characters	Matt Albie | Danny Tripp | Jordan McDeere | Harriet Hayes Tom Jeter | Simon Stiles | Jack Rudolph | Cal Shanley
Secondary Characters	Ricky Tahoe | Ron Oswald | Wes Mendell | Martha O'Dell Jeannie Whatley | Samantha Li | Alex Dwyer | Dylan Killington Darius Hawthorne | Lucy Kenwright | Andy Mackinaw | Wilson White
Key Creators	Aaron Sorkin | Thomas Schlamme | W. G. Snuffy Walden
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