To add on to all of the "these shows are going to be canceled" talk going around the web for the past week, a quote from NBC chief Kevin Reilly about Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Friday Night Lights, and 30 Rock:"I'm sitting here right now with some very good television shows that I think have a lot of promise that need to be nurtured a little bit...I'm pulling for these shows and I'm trying to figure out what's the midseason schedule that can give them a chance, because I really believe some of these can really grow into bigger commercial assets."
So, that's good news for fans of these shows. At the same time, here's a wonderfully stupid article from today's NY Post, that says Studio 60 is in trouble because Friday Night Lights did so well the other night. As we mentioned the other day, CSI: Miami was a repeat, that's wny FNL did better in the time slot.
I swear the right wing media orgs like the NY Post and FOX News want this show to fail because it's too "blue state" for them, too Hollywood, too New York. Or something. Frustrating, but expected.















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
11-01-2006 @ 4:34PM
jeff smith said...
The N.Y. Post might be less liberal at times then most other newspapers in this country but in no way is it anti "blue state" NY is a predominately blue state... The mainstream media is more than a majority slanted to the left so dont cry because an article that didn't have all the facts. Pull up the NY Times and you'll find many articles with their own twist as well.
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11-01-2006 @ 4:25PM
Christian H. said...
I like all three shows and am happy that a network executive is talking about something called "perspective". It's sad to see many, many great shows not make it to a second season (or a full first season even) because they are not an instant hit. That some shows may need to grow an audience is rarely considered. And the constand swapping of time-slots does not really help either, it may even be counter-productive since some people do have a life and don't plan their lives around TV. So sticking with a time-slot may get you more viewers than shuffeling all the shows so that noone knows anymore what is on on what day. As someone who is working at a TV station (although not in an administrative position, unfortunately ;) ) this is something that really frustrates me. And as I said in the beginning: It's nice to see someone fight for something he/she believes in... Here in Germany "Ally McBeal" was a flop for 2 years(!!!) until it became a huge hit, even the repeats of the two years before. And the profits from there on were so high they outweighed the loss in commercial income from the two previous years by far...
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11-01-2006 @ 4:30PM
Craig said...
Or maybe it is because Studio 60 is an overrated show. It is preachy to the point of annoyance. It wants to do a Sam-and-Diane with Albie and Harriet when there is no reason for viewers to root for them to be together. Danny Tripp is warmed-over Josh Lyman. The sketches aren't funny. Do I need to go on?
The West Wing, no matter your political affliation, was objectively good television. S60 is not.
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11-01-2006 @ 5:53PM
Carl LeGrice said...
If network management is "pulling" for Studio 60 then why did they dick around with the schedule and sub Friday Night Lights in its time slot this this week? I can't see the core audience for Studio 60 being the slightest bit interested in the "drama" surrounding a football team so like millions of others I changed the channel. It defies logic putting one struggling show in place of another and pleasing nobody.
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11-01-2006 @ 4:49PM
J-Sim said...
Sounds more like posturing by Kevin Reilly than an actual vote of confidence. The linked article refers to ordering 3 new scripts but no production order for S60. It didn't take long for NBC to change its mind about playing out the season of Kidnapped on Saturday nights.
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11-01-2006 @ 4:49PM
Tracy said...
I really, really want to like - no, love - Studio 60. But it is so preachy and full of self-importance that I just can't. And since they barely have Matt and Danny speaking together, it's lost most of it's sparkle - instead I just get the painfully akward and boring relationship of Matt/Harriet which I just don't care about, no matter how many times I'm told that I - and the entire fictional Studio 60 world - am supposed to be obsessed with it.
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11-01-2006 @ 6:29PM
BGDC said...
I just hope 30 Rock survives. It's not perfect but Baldwin has some of the best line readings on TV:
"Those shoes are definitely bi-curious."
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11-01-2006 @ 5:08PM
mike said...
uck, again with the slander of anything non-liberal.
Seems to me that this all comes down to what people prefer:
-Ratings for S60 are very low and declining each week
-The New York Post now has the 5th highest circulation
So, do we believe what the people have choosen or what "cultural elites" want us to. Give it up Bob!
Looks like you and your ilk are in the minority.
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11-01-2006 @ 5:20PM
Met said...
If its a blog post about how great Studio 60 is, or how its trying to be saved, it must be a Bob Sassone post.
Yup, the same guys who hates Friday Night Lights, because its about football.
Ah, the liberal media, gotta love 'em.
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11-01-2006 @ 5:23PM
Jeff N. said...
I love Friday Night Lights. There is nothing like it on Network TV right now. I'm growing tired of Procedural Crime Dramas. I still watch some, but I've dropped a few because you can only watch but so many murders on TV. I also like 30 Rock. A comedy that actually makes me laugh. Alex Baldwin is so perfect as the Boss from hell.
Studio 60 is interesting. I watch it. I don't love it for some reason. But I do watch it. And it's slowly growing on me. I think.
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11-01-2006 @ 5:43PM
bobinnv said...
S60 isn't "blue state", its just isn't very interesting unless you are completely enamored with show business. I loved Sports Night, and watched West Wing.. but S60 just doesn't hold my interest.
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11-01-2006 @ 5:28PM
shakinInMyboobs said...
sassoney is a looney
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11-02-2006 @ 4:29PM
Joe W. said...
That's sweet Bob, but your little brother is standing in the middle of Afghanistan!
I agree with the commenters, I really wanted to like S60 and enjoyed the first two episodes, but it started out a little preachy and now I want to vomit whenever a character not from NYC starts talking.
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11-01-2006 @ 6:08PM
jeff smith said...
haha love the sassoney is a looney comment...just a liberal who watches day time T.V. all day and writes the wackiest articles on here
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11-01-2006 @ 6:49PM
Bob Jones said...
Anti-blue-state? Any excuse to think this crap will stay on-air.
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11-01-2006 @ 6:54PM
David Gallo said...
Bob,
Ignore these other wackjobs on here. Studio 60 is a good show, but it hasn't found it's footing yet. In my opinion, 30 Rock is the dog. It's not funny, I don't have any reason to like the characters no matter how much I like the actors. The scripts are bad and the performances are just playing what is on the page.
Studio 60 needs more of what Sports Night had: workplace drama. The last episode had that with the wrap party. Sorkin needs to concentrate more on what happens leading up to and after the show than with the show itself. That's what made Sports Night so great, and West Wing got a little bit of it as well. We didn't get to see all the speeches and TV spots, but we got to see the fallout or the build-up.
All these people that think Studio 60 is too preachy need to get out of nostalgia land and go back and re-watch Sports Night or West Wing. It was just as bad - I actually think Studio 60 is tame in comparison to either of those.
And can you idiots stop droning on about how Sorkin is slamming the midwest? He wrote Nate Cordry's lines the same as he wrote DL Hughley's line about not being an ass. Any tension that was there was not because of the Liberals vs. the Midwest - it was Father/Son drama and that goes back quite a ways.
Oh, and I watched Friday Night Lights. It's a good show - I can do without the ShakeCam all the time, but it's a decent show. There's no gimmicks - it's a good school-centered drama. Don't know if I would have gone out of my way to watch it otherwise, but it got my attention. There's a good cast and some decent writing.
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11-01-2006 @ 10:14PM
James Gribble said...
Friday Night Lights is amazing, as you'd expect from the creator of the movie. Its the only one of the three worthy of keeping.
Studio 60 is interesting, but Sorkin has made a show that is just too similar to The West Wing. Others are right to note the show business isn't as exciting as politics and I doubt the ratings will ever grow much at all.
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11-01-2006 @ 7:40PM
Dean said...
Trying to blame this on a "red" state vs. "blue" state thing is crap. It comes down to whether people like the show and the characters or not. I don't particularly like Tina Fey or Alec Baldwin, but 30 Rock is a very funny show.
Studio 60 on the other hand is painful to watch because it's preachy. If you don't think so, then you've bought into the mindset of the show. Not everyone has.
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11-01-2006 @ 7:43PM
Dean said...
One more thing...
I always have to laugh when people blame this sort of thing on "right wing nutjobs", because they never stop to consider that other people think the shows are just crap.
The "right wing nutjob" thing is just a cop-out name-calling technique when there's not an argument that can be made.
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11-01-2006 @ 8:40PM
Karen said...
There is nothing blue state about Studio 60, because blue-staters have great senses of humor, and Studio 60 is a bloated, preachy mess. And I say that as an unabashed liberal and a [former] fan of Aaron Sorkin.
But to say that the NY Post isn't right wing? I think even the NY Post would be insulted by that. They are proudly, extravagantly, in-your-facedly right wing. And just because NY is a predominantly blue state, and NYC is an overwhelmingly blue city, doesn't mean one of our three major newspapers can't be right wing. I mean, c'mon. All those people who elected Giuliani twice need to have SOME paper to read.
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