Studio 60 (Now with less Cancellation!)
Monday, October 30th, 2006 - 9:22pm
Please cough if this was posted elsewhere, but I couldn't find it...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,226092,00.html
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Here we go: despite receiving an order for three more episodes on Friday, the Aaron Sorkin NBC drama "Studio 60 on Sunset Strip" is about to be put out of its misery.
Cast members are already confiding in friends that the end is near. It's likely NBC will pull the plug shortly I am told by insiders.
Last week, Studio 60 had 7.7 million viewers. Compare that with competing "CSI: Miami," with 17.5 million. That gap cannot be closed.
But 'Studio 60' has trouble internally at NBC, forget its intramural rivals. According to ratings stats, the "Saturday Night Live" behind the scenes soap opera loses almost half the viewers delivered to it a few minutes earlier by another new show, "Heroes," which has become a surprise cult hit.
On Monday, 'Heroes' had 14.3 million viewers. The substantial drop off with 'Studio 60' is probably the last nail in its coffin. The order of the three extra episodes is considered by insiders to be a contractual move, and not one based on faith that they will ever be made or aired. The all important demo situation didn't help: 'Heroes' had 15 percent of viewers aged 18-49. Studio 60 had 8 percent. The notion that 'Studio 60' is a big draw for NBC among desirables is, sadly, blown on those stats.
Sorkin and friends will argue that NBC has done something wrong, or that the audience isn't smart enough. Alas, in this case, neither is true. 'Studio 60'"”as I wrote on August 7th after viewing the pilot"”is just a bad show. There's nothing wrong with the acting, directing, or dialogue writing. But the premise is faulty. No one cares whether a bunch of over caffeinated, well off yuppies, some with expensive drug habits, put on a weekly comedy sketch show from Los Angeles.
Sad, but definitely predictable. The show just really isn't that good. I agree, the acting, timing, dialogue, was all very good, I'm just not all that upset that a young comedian who makes a crapload of money on a tv show can't connect with his parents, or that talented actors/writers who also make craploads of money can't find love.
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Sorta saddened, but not shocked. Heroes simply stole the thunder in the monday night slot. Can't wait to catch it when I get home tonight
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What's sad is that Studio 60 is a good show, that has a lousy lead in. Heroes is not bad, but I doubt a sci-fi show about superheroes is going lure viewers to a show for adults. I see no reason for Heroes fans to stick around for Studio 60.
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Of the couple episodes I saw, the sum was less than the parts. Which is sad, because I really WANT to love it.
Ah well, now everone can go watch The Wire instead
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I love all three shows.
Now that Sorkin is free, what should he do next?
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That's too bad. Though I must admit the whole Harriet and Matt romance drama is getting tiresome.
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Ah bugger. I really liked that show. Excellent acting all around with an intelligent script. Unfortunately I'm not all that suprised by the news.
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It's a shame that its facing cancellation but I always though Studio60 was given a pretty crappy timeslot to try and compete in. Facing off against CSI:Miami and Monday Night Football was probably not a great idea. Of course this doesn't speak well for Friday Night Lights which is languishly as well and moved into the same timeslot this week.
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Yeah... the kind of nerds who watch HEROES definitely don't want to see a drama about high school football stars... hell, they most likely spent their HS years being BEATEN UP by high school football stars
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I'm disappointed, and don't really understand the disappointment with the show, but I can't begin to fault NBC on this one. They delivered in hype and advertising, and the viewership was there on the first night. They just chose not to continue watching. Not NBC's fault if people decided to move on.
Dear Internet,
Please don't bother me with a lot of Save Studio 60 campaigns. I already donated at the office (of Joss Whedon).
Thanks,
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So freaking sad.
Put Studio 60 opposite something like The Nine or something, when people are flipping after Lost. Hell, even Las Vegas would be a better lead-in than Heroes (not that Heroes isn't freaking amazing in its own right, but I am of the small majority who actually keeps NBC on after it, apparently.
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I am of the camp that just couldn't get into 60. I still think Sports Night was one of the best shows to ever be on TV, and dug the early years of the West Wing, but while I liked the acting and dialogue, Studio just never grabbed me.
I do think the lead in definetly hurt, I just don't think supsensful shows like Heroes (and Lost) are good lead ins for anything else. A viewer's brain gets all wrapped up in the mystery of the lead in show, and this viewer at least is a little distracted afterwards.
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The kicker of this story is that if this show was on HBO, everyone would be loving it to death. Sorkin even hinted that he knows this by using a plot point in the last ep. It's pretty sad that no one watches this when it really is the best written show on tv. How can people not be tired of CSI?
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Must've been that Parcells joke that made people turn off the TV.
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I'm a total Aaron Sorkin fanboy and I'm also saddened to see his latest project facing its doom, especially when you consider that NBC put a lot of investment in it. I remember reading that this show has the most expensive set ever built for a television program in the history of the industry. That said however, my girlfriend, our roommate and I just couldn't get into the show after the first couple of episodes.
They introduced the tired romantic sub-plot too early (I personally think that was NBC's influence as Sorkin doesn't tend to push that stuff in early) and started in on the conflicts between the main characters before we ever really got to know them and what they're like. I also found that they focused too much on the character's personal lives and not on the actual show they were working on, which is how Studio 60 was marketed -- as a show about the behind the scenes antics of another show. What made Sports Night great was that there was as much time devoted to what was happening with the show and CSC as what happened with the characters personally.
They also should have found someone else for Jordan's character. I like Amanda Peet, but her performance was just flat and emotionless. Watching the half-assed attempts to cover up her pregnency (like when she went through the party in the last episode constantly holding her jacket up in front of her stomach) didn't help either.
It saddens me to see another smart comedy die off in this era of trash reality shows and CSI (could there possibly be a worse written and acted show?), but I think the way Studio 60 was structured is what killed it. If they focused more on the show and gave us more time before introducing us to the backstory of the character's social lives, I think it could've done better. Hopefully Aaron will learn from this for what will hopefully be his next project.
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Guilty as charged. I actually edited out that because I thought I was wrong to narrow it down that much. I still think Heroes skews young (18-49 is a pretty large group), but the sci-fi show featuring teenage and twenty-something superheroes is still a pretty horrible lead-in for Studio 60. I actually watched Heroes tonight with my wife, as one of her friends has urged her to check it out. Definitely not for me. Looks like the cast of Real World vs. Road Rules (at about that quality of acting) doing a cheesy superhero soap opera. I'm not surprised it gets numbers, but I am surprised at who they are getting numbers from.
Friday Night Lights looked like a much better show to follow, and I bet it gets better numbers than they have been getting. It would just be nice to see Studio 60 get a shot somewhere else.
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I think Aaron could be doing some good things with the show and he just isn't. Instead, he seems to be falling back into familiar roles. Last episode, we got to hear how the WWII soldiers were the greatest generation, black culture needs to stop embracing the things that holds it back, and the Red Scare blacklistings were awful. Great, but do these things make for great television in a show about what goes on backstage at SNL? This isn't West Wing, Aaron.
Fedaykin98 wrote:
wordsmythe wrote:
I tend to agree with the comments about Heroes being a poor lead-in for a show like Studio 60--watching Studio 60 after a show like Heroes was just jarring. I tried watching Studio a few times, but I was always too hyped up after Heroes to really concentrate on Studio 60.
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Err, I think the acting in Heroes is fine (much better than say Jericho), and the cast is no more Real World than Lost. If you are judging Heroes only by last night's episode, you missed pudgy cop, older brother politician and Mystery Man. And Hiro is really the star of the show for me, I love the actor's portrayal of a budding super hero, and he is about as anti-Real World as you can get.
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Curses!
Oh well, I needed to be going to bed earlier on Mondays anyway.
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Well it is kind of sad that a show (or a writer) can be accused of (and cancelled for) being too "smart" for TV, but hey ... it's just a TV show. Those get cancelled all the time ...
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Dude, the local theater troupe doing "To Kill a Mockingbird" for the 37th year in a row can act better than the cast of Jericho. My wife and I are now just watching and laughing, which still doesn't say much for our taste. I'm waiting for Heroes to go to reruns before picking it up (forgot to record the marathon last week). Does anyone have an inkling of when that will be?
My wife and I tried Studio too. For many of the reasons cited above, we just couldn't get into it. You may ask, "How can you continue to watch a schlocky, post apocalyptic, emergency of the week, pseudo-teen-drama, but show Sorkin the hand?" Two words. Bradley Whitford. Can't stand him. Don't know why, but his very presence on the screen makes me angry.
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That's pretty insensitive, Fletch. Think of all the poor, starving actors who are out of a job now. Where will they find the money to pay for their massive pools and stretch limousines?
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Telemarketing call centers also seem to be excellent employers.
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Man, I haven't even gotten around to watching the episodes of this show that I downloaded (nor those of Heroes), and they're cancelling it already. Jeez.
How about Sorkin teams up with Joss Whedon to resurrect Firefly on Sci-Fi or, as long as I'm dreaming, HBO?
(secretly, Sorkin and Whedon are probably not two great tastes that go great together, I know)
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