"Studio 60" is one of the lynchpins of NBC in its upcoming fall schedule. It's created by Aaron "The West Wing/Sports Night" Sorkin; who will be the showrunner alongside his directing partner Tommy Schlamme. Now some of you might not know this but Aaron Sorkin is actually God (not a God, but THE God), and anything with his name attached is enough to warrant more attention than anything else that's currently going on in the world. But there are other reasons why this show is going to be fcuking huge come the Autumn.

It's about the behind the scenes drama of a Saturday Night Live type weekly comedy/variety show. As the pilot episode opens (the script to which has been leaked, not to mention NBC's 7-minute upfronts promo for the advertisers), the creator/executive producer of the show goes berserk live on air, and goes off on an anti-TV speech. Before you can say Paddy Chayefsky, he is fired from the show, and the new head of NBS, the fictional network within the show, decides to hire two previous hot shots who were themselves sacked from the-show-within-the-show a couple of years ago (Holy Sentence Structure, Batman!). It just happens that one of the new showrunners is a recivering coke head, and the other one has a very messy on again/off again relationship with one of the main cast members of the show. If you know your Sorkin and his history with The West Wing and NBC (not to mention your SNL), you'll know how beautifully meta this whole premise is.

The show will mark Matthew Perry's return to network telly as the new head writer of the show, and Bradley Whitford of the West Wing will play his directing partner, the recovering druggie. The cast also includes Amanda Peet, Steven Weber, Sarah "Future Mrs Arikan" Paulson, DL Hughley and Nate Cordry.

This is going to be fcuking unbelievable.

Amanda Peet rocks! Besides being gorgeous, she has amazing timing.

Indeed she does. Not only that but she has brilliant chemistry with both Perry and Paulson. Peet, Perry and Paulson: sounds like a 60's folk band.

The pilot's out on YouTube in five parts. It does not compare with the West Wing's pilot, but it's glorious nonetheless. fcuking glorious!

Good thing you got to watch it - it's been taken off Youtube cause Warner Bros. asked them nicely. *sigh* So is it coming to Digiturk?

I don't know, but I would think so. Either Digiturk, or CNBC-E. Mainly because of the Matthew Perry factor.

At long last, by the way, a new channel called "The Business Channel" have started showing The West Wing here in Turkey. Alas - Digiturk does not have it. Insult; meet my dear friend: Injury.

It's also showing some decent films; las t night's offering was "Full Metal Jacket"

CNBC-E will be showing Studio 60 in the new year. It's been sucking ass, both critically and in the ratings, but it still.

And, albeit not even in the same league as The West Wing's trifecta of Christmas perfection that was In Excelsis Deo, Noel and Bartlet For America, last week's Christmas episode was pretty fcuking awesome.

Hmm quick comment on the WW.

My friend Philly bought me the first series on DVD and I bought myself the second series on a recent trip to London. I watched the episode called Noel last night and thought that it was the first truly impressive episode that I have seen.

That's not to say that the WW is not impressive. There is very fast-paced, clever, witty dialogue and plotting but the show slightly let's itself down by agressive posturing (I went to an Ivy league university and beat you in my SAT scores), speed over substance (true television for the caffinated generation), and schmaltzy emotion (the president giving his aide a set of Turkey knives that has been handed down through his family for generations).

Despite the agressive posturing in Noel (conversation about the paper boy), this was a beautifully constructed episode about the delusions associated with post traumatic stress disorder, against a menacing christmas backdrop. It also features some beautiful cello-playing by Yo-Yo Ma.

PS if anyone wants to borrow the first series, let me know. Good sleep-inducing TV.

It might take getting used to, but Sorkin's writing is brilliant: it's fast paced, but never devoid of charm, verve and inventiveness. Posturing? Yes. Pretentious, and self-righteous? Oh, fcuk yeah. But I think you're missing the point when it comes to "speed over substance," which I don't think it suffers from, when the substance is so deeply ingratiated itself with the delivery (the walk-and-talk style has become a staple of all Sorkin's shows, and it's, at its most basic, fun). It does get operatic at times (wait till you see "The Two Cathedrals"), but I would never say it was schmaltzy. It does tug at the heartstrings, but, like Yo Yo Ma's cello in Noel, it earns it; it earns it fine.

You didn't like Shibboleth? fcuk. That's a fcuking awesome episode, and that scene where Jed gives Charlie the carving knife, made by Paul "The British are coming; the British are coming" Revere always gets me.

When people look back in a hudred years time at famous television moments, they will remember how Edward R Murrow brought down McCarthy. They will remember 9/11, and Neil Armostrong's first steps on the moon, and they will remember Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. They will remember Charles and Diana's wedding, and Basil Fawlty, and the fall of the Berlin Wall.

And they will remember those first four glorious seasons of The West Wing.

PS. If anyone wants to borrow the first five seasons (Sorkin left the show after the fourth season, and it quickly went to shit), tough fcuking titties. Those babies ain't leaving my apartment.

I'm up to about episode nine on the series and while there is no way this is brilliant television (in a ground breaking sort of way) I'm still enjoying it very much. My point has nothing to do with the show itself though but one of the characters (don't worry.. no spoilers). What has pissed me off is the English girl who is from "the room", the bunch of writers. She is the same women that played the secretary in "The Office", the one who was in love with Tim. The thing that pisses me off is the accent. In The Office she has a typical southern England working class accent, in Studio 60 she has a parody of an English working class accent. In many ways her accent reminds me of the girlfriend of Niels in Frasier (forgive me if the name is wrong).

My question is... Do Americans really need the accent to be so accentuated (and therefore not real) to understand that the actress is English? I don't seem to notice it when English men act in US TV series', or in the movies for that matter. To me it just sounds contrived and horrible. Thoughts anyone?

You are talking about Lucy Davis, who played Dawn in The Office, and plays a writer in Studio 60. I haven't seen her in the latter so I can't comment on her accent, but she definitely did not have a typical Southern accent in The Office. She spoke with her usual Northern accent.

[quote user="Arikan" post="76475"]You are talking about Lucy Davis, who played Dawn in The Office, and plays a writer in Studio 60. I haven't seen her in the latter so I can't comment on her accent, but she definitely did not have a typical Southern accent in The Office. She spoke with her usual Northern accent.[/quote]

She's Jasper Carrot's daughter so her usual accent is most probably Midlands (Brummie) with a tinge of posh. Excuse the geographical pedantry but I have come over all Mercian after going home for Crimbo and finding out that Ashby de la Zouch has finally produced a band to be proud about!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Young_Knives

Yes, that's it. She has a Brummie twang, but she also spent sometime in the North apparently. I tried searching for clips of her work in Studio 60, but to no avail. We'll find out soon enough, when CNBC-E starts airing it in the next few months.

With regards to Jane Leeves's accent in Frasier, she actually developed a mid-Atlantic twang during her earlier years in the US, so her erstwhile accent in the earlier episodes of Frasier (as well as her Prunella Scales-like voice) was actually a put-on. She found a more natural voice later on in the show (mid-Season 2 onwards).

Americans usually find it difficult to distinguish between different English vernacular patterns (just as the English can have difficulty differentiating between various American accents). It's understandable that English actors try to make their accents more accessible to the general American audience.

Having said that, don't get me started on accent discrepancies on my beloved Frasier.

Brummie twang. I'll take your word for it. It is just the way the accent was clearly put on for the show, just sounded horrible to my Aussie ears. Having said that she doesn't play a major role and I'm enjoying the show very much.