Friday Night Lights is getting Studio 60‘s time slot temporarily. Good news for the former, worrying news for the latter.
Studio 60
News
Studio 60’s ratings falling ever further
It might be from Aaron Sorkin. It might have a star-studded cast. It might have characters constantly going on about how, if you write a quality show, the US public will watch it. But Studio 60 really isn’t doing at all well in the ratings. Currently, it’s about third or fourth in its time slot, with ratings dropping 15% from last week’s episode to 7.8 million (or in ratings talk, 3.1/8 in 18-49, 7.8 million viewers overall).
It’s up against the jaw-droppingly stupid CSI: Miami (is it possible for David Caruso to have had Botox for his acting muscles?) so it’s undergoing a real-world empirical test of its own philosophy. Unfortunately, its theories are wrong: when the US public are presented with glossy, sexy, exciting but stupid versus well-written, wordy, intelligent but preachy drama, they’ll plump for the Caruso-bot every time, it seems.
No word from NBC about what’s going to happen to Studio 60, although there are various words being muttered about the quality of the viewers being just as important as the quantity: Studio 60 is delivering the same kind of people as The West Wing, who are generally smarter, richer, etc than the CSI: Miami crowd (ie everyone else). All the same, keep your fingers crossed and don’t be surprised if Studio 60 becomes Studio 13 episodes only.
US TV
Review: 30 Rock 1×1 (US: NBC)
In the US: NBC, Wednesdays, 8/7c
In the UK: Nowhere yet. But it will.
So here’s weird. On Monday night on NBC, we have a show, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, that looks behind the scenes of a fictitious comedy sketch show. Meanwhile, on Wednesdays, over on… well, still on NBC, we have 30 Rock, which, erm, looks behind the scenes of a fictitious comedy sketch show.
The first is by award-winning writer Aaron Sorkin, creator of The West Wing. The second is by Saturday Night Live alumnus, Tina Fey. Which one’s going to be better? Go on, go on. Which one, which one?
Other TV news from last week
Other interesting nuggets of news that popped up last week that weren’t about Doctor Who.
- Thanks to overwhelmingly fantastic critical reaction, The Wire‘s been picked up for a fifth season, despite getting less than 2 million viewers for its first episode. This final season will look at the mass media; given The Wire‘s co-creator used to be a journalist on the Baltimore Sun, it should at least be authentic.
- Psych has been picked up for a second season and The Dead Zone‘s back for a sixth
- Windfall has been cancelled
- James Cromwell, the ‘dad’ of that adorable pig called Babe, is to be killing-machine Jack Bauer’s dad in 24. There’s versatility for you.
- FX in the UK has picked up Showtime’s Brotherhood. To counteract people forward-winding through ads, the network plans to create commercials for the show that feature the same image for 30 seconds. Silly plan or not, I do recommend watching Brotherhood if you can. Despite my luke-warm first and third episode reviews, Brotherhood is now firmly on my weekly viewing schedule, thanks to a compelling cast and its look into the shady world of local politics.
- Thank God CSI doesn’t feature on-screen episode titles, or there are going to be a few raised eyebrows in Britain when Fannysmackin’ airs
- My prediction that alternative DVD commentaries were going to be a growing market appears to be bearing fruit, judging by the arrival of Quick Stop’s additions to the range.
- Aaron Sorkin answers critics who suggest that Studio 60 is based on his life by saying they’re right – up to a point. Interestingly, he used to date Kristin Chenoweth, who played the squeaky deputy press secretary in The West Wing and is a devoted Christian.
And finally, just in case you wanted to know what The Hanso Foundation is and what all those numbers mean in Lost, someone’s assembled all the video clips from The Lost Experience (which, my street urchins tell me, is some kind of online game thing). Press the Play button to find out what’s up.
US TV
Preview: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
In the US: Mondays, 10/9c, NBC. Starting September 18th.
In the UK: Acquired by Channel 4, with possible More4 first screening. No date yet.
For a lot of people, this has been the preview we’ve all been waiting for – for roughly three years. Ever since Aaron Sorkin got thrown off The West Wing, addiction to the unique skills of one of America’s finest writers has had millions around the world craving even the slightest piece of new dialogue or characterisation.
Now comes a complete series, 13 episodes commissioned so far, with a cast to die for and a budget to match.
Has it been worth the wait? Erm, maybe.