Studio 60 last night

I thought tonight's episode was fantastic...probably the best since the
pilot. I'm completely hooked on this show and I really hope that NBC
commits to it, even if there aren't blockbuster ratings at the moment.
Danny's diatribe about the pitcher's terrible stats was classic and the
debacle about the stolen material was great. Good stuff all around
tonight.

bklyntv...

That's funny this was the first ep where I was left feeling cold on it.

Obveeus...

I agree. This was the weakest of the episodes so far.

If Aaron's gonnna show the sketches (and I recommend he not) can he get
someone who's funny to write them? That "plagerized" editorial was just

Brett A. Pasternack...

hehe

Obveeus...

The Juliette Lewis bit was the closest thing to funny we have seen yet,
which says a lot.

bklyntv...

I agree, but even so... Juliette Lewis??? How long were you in rehab
Aaron? Since the 80s? Pop culture has moved on and Juliette Lewis is
hardly a cutting edge figure to lampoon.

Pat...

I think Jessica Simpson would have been a better choice, IMHO.

Anim8rFSK...

LOL, yeah; even JS is old news at this point, but at least she's from
the 21st Century.

I wondered if that was some running sketch they've been doing for a
decade, like Peripheral Vision Man.

Obveeus...

To be fair, even the show was making fun of the fact that someone would
spend time trying to perfect a Juliette Lewis impersonation.

chicagofan...

I guess I should have put my laptop away earlier, because I apparently
missed something. I thought someone was doing a *great* impersonation of
Holly Hunter. Was there more than one?
bj

Barry Margolin...

Wasn't the Holly Hunter impersonation last week, or is my memory going?

jayembee...

Your memory isn't going.

chicagofan...

The problem is with me. My inattention, plus the fact I am not familiar
with "Juliette Lewis"... resulted in my belief that what she was doing this
week [to my southern ear] sounded a lot like Holly Hunter. I do remember
she said, "Do you want me to do Holly Hunter *again*", and I thought she was
trying to annoy him... and did. ;) My mistake...
bj

Anim8rFSK...

HH was last week (as the witch), although that doesn't guarantee
anything about your mind. :-)

Pumpkin Escobar...

You're limited by the abilities of the actress. If she can't do, or
doesn't look like, Jessica Simpson, then she portrays someone that she
can mimic.

sadly tired and ordinary, completely the opposite of the fresh, edgy
vibe we're supposed to believe the show has. Call Dave Chappelle, I
hear he's not doing anything.

And what was the business of insisting they had to read a sports score
to prove it was live? No, just say, "Live" maybe put a bug in the
corner that says "live." That's what they do in TV.

JacquesZMonkey...

Yes, but people are so used to seeing "live" in repeat broadcasts that
it doesn't prove much.

Brett A. Pasternack...

But so what? Who cares whether people believe them?

JacquesZMonkey...

They did apparently. I don't fully understand their reasons either, but
the score would prove it. "Live" wouldn't.

karl...

It's similar to the premiere where the audience didn't realize the
producer's rant wasn't part of the skit.

Brett A. Pasternack...

I guess my prior point wasn't clear. I was asking what their reasons
were. I understand why the score ploy would work; I don't understand why
they'd bother.

karl...

Recall the premiere when the audience at first didn't realize old
producer's rant was really off-script. I assume that was the motivation.

Brett A. Pasternack...

Well, it was off-script, but it was really live, so I'm not sure I see
the connection.

But ya, it seemed a little pointless in a couple repsects; notably that,
who in North America would know that a reported Central Asian cricket score
was accurate or not, and secondly the delivery was awful.

kopp...

A reference to Chauncey St. John would have made it worthwhile.

Brett A. Pasternack...

Now you're talking! Seems the snatch was lower than it ordinarily is...

DAVE

Brett A. Pasternack...

I appreciate your trying to come up with something that works, but this

Brett A. Pasternack...

I don't see why the cricket thing will make anyone who thinks it's a
joke take it more seriously.

really doesn't. They could just have easily done a joke sketch live as a
serious apology (and if you're thinking it's a joke, the mention of a
cricket score probably doesn't help). Taking immediate measures probably
doesn't have anything to do with actually being live.

Brett A. Pasternack...

They wouldn't want to do a joke sketch. You were saying that they put
the live cricket score in so no one would think it was a joke. But they
easily could have done a joke sketch live and inserted the cricket
score, so I don't see why anyone who thinks it is a joke would be swayed
by the cricket score. If anything, mentioning a cricket score, which has
nothing to do with anything, would make it seem like more of a joke.

Brett A. Pasternack...

After this week, I probably would have gone with 1). It might have been
interesting to have him turn it into a sketch about selling a romantic

Brett A. Pasternack...

That's true. Although they could have shown him coming up with the idea,
not wanting to use it because it might hurt her, and then somehow she
finds out about it and encourages him to use it. It wouldn't have to be
anything negative toward her, really, just him using the situation as a
springboard to an idea. (Of course, now that Darren tried the same thing
with Jordan, it would be harder to have Harriet think of it as harmless.)

gift on eBay.

Obveeus...

Who cares if it is live? Seriously, everyone in CA is already used to
watching a taped rebroadcast with the dirty words bleeped out, etc... so why
not just tape a new 90 second segment and splice it into the show? I didn't
understand the need for it to be 'live' at all.

Danny and his ex-gf going round and round is kind of dull, although the

JacquesZMonkey...

Sam and Diane they aint.

bat was funny. Couldn't figure out why he didn't insist on returning

Dawnie...

Matt and Harriet "going round and round" was just annoying--they were
so darned whiny IMHO. I don't know what about the bat was supposed to
be funny, at least not Sorkin-style funny. And I couldn't help

David...

She thought his uniform number was 300 million-something. I thought
that was the funniest thing in the episode.

thinking that Matt's retaliation boot-pickup scenes were added simply
for eye-candy--something Sorkin never needed to resort to before.

Does it seem like Sorkin-fans are more disappointed by this episode
because we have certain expectations of his work, and those with no
expectations liked it more?

Anim8rFSK...

The bat *might* have been funny had it not been the scene they showed in
the ads all week. Guess I'll never know.

Anim8rFSK...

LOL - yeah, the ebay bit would have worked.

the bat, apart from having it handy for the site gag of breaking the
window.

Obveeus...

Metaphor...she handed him his bat?
In any case, as long as he has the bat, he knows how to get a hold of her if
he wants to call late at night. ;-)

It felt like they were more interested in the mundane aspects of the
business (seven seconds late or early?) than more interesting aspects
(did they even mention who the host or the musical guest was?).

Obveeus...

I don't think they mentioned the musical guest this week, but the preview
shows they will have a real one for next week.