Interesting piece over at The New York Times about the highly-anticipated new NBC show Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. There's been a lot of talk about how this is creator/writer Aaron Sorkin's most personal work yet, because it features a writer who had a relapse into cocaine use (Bradley Whitford), a former flame of Perry's character who is a devout Christian (Sorkin dated The West Wing's Kristin Chenoweth), and even features a powerful female network exec played by Amanda Peet (Jamie Tarses was an exec at both ABC and NBC at one point).
And Sorkin says...it's true! But he goes on to say that the truth is only in the basic setup of the show and some of the characters, not the actual episodes that follow. Hmmm...
The article also explains how Sorkin and his staff write each show, what the set is like (it's bigger than the West Wing set), how the fictional show-within-a-show comedy sketches will be incorporated into the plots, and what Sorkin is working on next.
(By the way, AOL has the exclusive premiere of Studio 60 and other NBC shows on its web site this week, and we'll have full coverage of the show, including an early review, coming soon. The show premieres Monday, September 18 at 10pm.)
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-11-2006 @ 3:27PM
Michael said...
Bradley Whitford's character is the cocaine user in the show!
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9-11-2006 @ 3:45PM
RLJ said...
I'm about 5 paragraphs in and the inaccuracy is getting to me. Amanda Peet's first televsion role? I realize that Jack & Jill is barely a blip on anyone's radar, but I think it still is on Ms. Peet's resume.
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9-11-2006 @ 3:52PM
Bob Sassone said...
Yeah, he is, but I think it's clear that Perry's character has some drug issues too.
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9-11-2006 @ 5:33PM
Kate said...
I just posted my thoughts on the blurring of Sorkin's realities:
http://www.marketmymonkey.com/2006/09/11/is-studio-60-on-the-sunset-strip-really-the-west-wing-on-the-warner-brothers-lot/
As for the characters' drug problems, Matthew Perry's character is only on prescription drugs in the pilot because of back surgery.
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9-11-2006 @ 4:35PM
David said...
Bob, there's not enough information for you to come to that conclusion.
They explicitly state in the pilot that Whitford's character has a cocaine relapse and that Perry's character is on medication from a surgery.
Why state something as fact when its really just your opinion?
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9-11-2006 @ 4:53PM
Bob Sassone said...
Yeah, I misread the NYT story and also probably mixed up Perry's real-life battle with pain meds. I'll change it to Whitford's character.
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9-11-2006 @ 4:56PM
bumpershine said...
In press pieces, Bradley Whitford has stated that Sorkin gave "Tommy" [aka Thomas Schlamme, which is Whitford's character on the show] the drug problem.
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9-11-2006 @ 5:59PM
Gig said...
How can they say AOL has the exclusive premiere when the thing was out on Netflix weeks ago?
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9-12-2006 @ 12:39PM
Sonya said...
I just watched the AOL premiere. I wasn't planning on watching this because I thought the hype was over the top but I'm a believer now! This is really, really good. Now I can't wait to see the rest of the season.
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