I did not hate Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. In fact, I kind of liked it. This is shocking news. I do not generally appreciate Aaron Sorkin's writing. I think it's self-satisfied, pompous and showy. I did not like Sports Night and I never watched The West Wing. Somehow, Studio 60 works, though. There's an irony built into the premise: as wealthy, witty and (self-)important as these people are, they're working on something that's clearly Saturday Night Live, possibly the least essential thing you can do. I think it's this irony that makes the whole enterprise palatable. You almost feel like Sorkin is laughing at the same things you are.
One thing that makes watching the show difficult or confusing is just how meta it is. Everything seems to be a stand-in for something else: Matthew Perry is playing some guy whose name I've already forgotten, who's maybe really Sorkin. Likewise, Bradley Whitford is Thomas Schlamme; Amanda Peet Jamie Tarses, Judd Hirsch Lorne Michaels . . . I almost wish someone had written a book about this already, something like Julie Salomon's The Devil's Candy, because I feel hopelessly unqualified to watch this show. I can't tell what is pure fiction and what is meta-fiction: Do deals really get made in the middle of the night? Is it really bad etiquette to praise the caterer? Does Kristin Chenoweth really drink martinis on the rocks?
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