(S01E09) OK, now this is getting a little strange. This is the fourth episode of an NBC show (the others were two episodes of 30 Rock and an episode of The Office) where product placement was mentioned. In this, because of a blow the company is going to take on the Macau deal, Jordan says that 15 people are going to have to be let go from the show. Jokingly, Matt and Danny bring up product placement, but Jordan thinks it's something they should seriously consider.
The hell? Is NBC trying to convince us that product placement is here, it's good, and we should get used to it?
Ricky and Ron screw up the format of the night's script, putting it in 30 minute format instead of 40 seconds a page (wow, now there's insider stuff for ya), and that leaves the show short by 30 or 40 seconds (funny stuff about host Jessica Simpson being a nice girl but not someone you want to have think on her feet - she asked the audience to pray for peace in the Midwest). Matt and Danny wonder why they were working in 30 minute format in the first place, and figure it out: they're shopping a pilot. Jordan's assistant checks their contract and confirms they are under an exclusive contract, except for one thing: "Peripheral Vision Man." (Nice reference to a subplot in the first episode.). They are shopping that script on their own.
Matt decides to let them go, but not before Ricky gives him a nasty farewell speech. Ron is more sympathetic, and Matt actually gives him some ideas for how to make "Peripheral Vision Man" work as a show, even though he implores them not to leave because the show will be canceled after 6 episodes (this rings true - maybe they're going to FOX?).
Meanwhile, Harriet wants to do a sexy spread in a men's magazine, but Tom and Simon tell her that it's not just about showing a different side to her, the magazine wants to exploit her because she's pious, the "church girl." I wonder when she found out about the magazine deal, since this is the same day as last week's episode (which is something I actually like about this show, it's "to be continued" without being "to be continued"), and it wasn't mentioned then, and she admits that she is doing it because of the Women United Through Faith cancelled her appearances, which was about two or three hours ago. That's a quick deal.
Danny tells Jordan about what Jack said on the plane, but she doesn't want to change. (Side note: Amanda Peet is clearly pregnant in this episode!)
Harriet doesn't understand why her being devout makes her sexy, but look (and listen) to the Sorkin dialogue and tell me if there's anyone better at doing this stuff. I would print the scene here, but my DVR screwed up again and didn't record it - check out the scene on nbc.com later this week.
Back to product placement. I think it's fascinating, insider-ish stuff. I love stuff like this. But to have the show's subplot be about it, especially in the wake of all the other shows on NBC actually doing it? That's kinda odd to me. Danny gives an impassioned plea for her not to make them start doing product placement (talk about iPod and Samsung and Pennzoil), and it's Cal who comes up with a possible solution, using the Sunset Strip itself. But are they actually going to do this? Did they write this solution in because there's going to be product placement on the show and they had to justify it somehow? Hmmm...
Another good episode, one of the best ones yet. Everything seemed to click. Very West Wing in it's dialogue, structure, and setting (one building the whole night, various groups of characters talking in different parts of the building about different things, and a game on the TV to keep people interested throughout the night). I wish Ricky and Ron would stick around, because they are good foils for Matt and Danny, but maybe this was the plan all along, to get rid of the "dead weight" writers on the show and see how things evolve and change from there.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
11-20-2006 @ 11:58PM
Josue Salazar said...
FYI: They are going to FOX. It was mentioned, twice I think.
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11-21-2006 @ 12:12AM
Scott Stowell said...
Just like the "Jesus Christ, head of Standards and Practices" business (in which they were able to say things in the real Studio 60 for the same reason they said they could do so in the fictional "Studio 60"), I thought the whole product-placement angle of this episode was brilliantly executed.
Danny complains about talking about iPods, and Jordan counters with "everybody loves iPods!" And we've just heard the word "iPod" several times. Then they talk about placing Nokia phones and Apple laptops, just before we see one character on her (Nokia?) phone and two more using an Apple laptop.
I was wondering if maybe NBC asked Studio 60 to cut their budget, which resulted in the storyline about NBS asking "Studio 60" to cut their budget, which resulted in a bunch of "writers" leaving "Studio 60", which resulted in a bunch of actors leaving Studio 60, thus cutting their budget.
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11-21-2006 @ 12:13AM
mike m said...
this was the best episode yet. I watched it last night and laughed the entire time. Classic Sorkin. The best part was the Matt and Danny banter with the cell phone ringing. absolutely hilarious!
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11-21-2006 @ 12:18AM
SJ said...
What the hell? How do you write a sketch show with just three writers? The black guy has little to no experience, and the British Pam seems like she can't really write either.
Nice episode, though the product placement subplot was a bit jarring. It is kinda eerie since NBC has been firing employees, and product placement has increased on 30 Rock and Scrubs. I don't like it.
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11-21-2006 @ 12:27AM
Steve said...
Scott's speculation may not be too far off. There's been a lot of talk about how NBC is in the ratings tank, and I'm sure that there've been a lot of discussions on cutting costs (particularly with all these single camera comedies and hour long serialized dramas). The call has probably gone out to either reduce the budget or increase the revenue. The "insidery" shows and the shows that can get away with some absurdity have been able to address it directly... otherwise, I guess it's been relatively subtle.
For example, Claire on Heroes busted out what looked like a Sidekick III. They paused for a long, loving look at the menu interface in action before they moved on with the plot (the hallmark of product placement).
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11-21-2006 @ 12:43AM
CA said...
Are you kidding? How arrogant are these people? Not only do they not even attempt to hide the fact that Peet (in reality) is very pregnant in this episode, but they teased a "bombshell" for the Jordan character which will obviously end up being that the character is pregnant (as reported on this website and others ov er a month ago). They should have kept Peet sitting down this entire episode or bumped up the pregnancy storyline. Tough circumstances yes, but that's why they're paid the big bucks. Nothing pisses me off about a TV show more than writers who treat the audience as if it's stupid.
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11-21-2006 @ 1:18AM
Dom said...
Did anyone catch a poster of "Bartlet For America" on the wall of Harriet's dressing room?
An homage?
I agree with Bob on this episode as a classic Sorkin one.
I know it's not West Wing yet, but I definitely believe the show's goint to grow if we all give it a bit of time.
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11-21-2006 @ 1:29AM
robert said...
how many times did we see that life magazine cover poster on the wall while they were talking about product placement? how about that bottle of water in jordans hands? at one point as jordan says product placement matt is seen typing on a computer with the dell monitor placed center screen (and it's dead center in focus less than two minutes later)
as they mention in the show, product placement on television is done all the time.
the only time we notice it is when it's done badly or when it's pointed out to us like nbc has been doing lately. i'm thinking that product placement is being pushed at nbc right now to increase profits and the writers, producers, creators or whatever of these shows are pointing it out to us as they do it in order to preserve some level of their respectability.
they're basically telling us "hey look, i'm selling you this product but i'm not going to pretend like you aren't smart enough to notice the big dell logo in the middle of the screen when there's really no reason for it to be there."
really makes me miss the old days of movies and television when they would mask product names with tape or made up labels (which i always thought was strange)... but i guess that's what we have to deal with now that an increasingly larger segment of the television audience is able to skip commercials thanks to dvr boxes. now they just place the commercials within the scenes of the shows sitting on someones desk, hanging on the wall, or held in their hands label out to the camera.
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11-21-2006 @ 1:36AM
Danny Cohen said...
I didn't notice that Peet was pregnant at all, but the fun friendly banter was kind of annoying.
This was the first episode where the promise of BEHIND THE SCENES came to fruition in full, they even mentioned Final Draft :) .
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11-21-2006 @ 1:52AM
robert said...
just finished the episode... got a game for you.
count the heinekens.
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11-21-2006 @ 2:17AM
wilber said...
how much of it is product recognition appose to product placement. I agree that product placement is a big part of TV and movies(as i work for both and see it first hand) but it is not as bad as people think. well it is bad. But it is not always there just because you reorganize a product doesn't always mean it was placement it might just be that is what they bought as set dressing or props.
and as for claiming this is west wing like any body see Sports Night this is more or less just an hour long version of that with it's insider jargon and "buzz" words. although i thought that it was brilliant also.
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11-21-2006 @ 10:53AM
Greg said...
I thought it was just blah. I kept waiting for it to get interesting, or even for a realistic conversation to take place. Then one finally did take place, and the guys who delivered it summarily left the show. Wonderful.
I also wonder if there's been a Studio 60 that aired so far that Bob hasn't said was "the best one yet."
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11-21-2006 @ 5:16AM
Jean Prouvaire said...
By my count in-dialogue product mentions this episode:
Nokia (twice). Adidas. Universal Pictures (part of the NBC Group). Apple (thrice, twice via the iPod brand). Gibson Guitars (thrice). Final Draft. Sony (twice). Samsung (twice).
Not counting Fox, which I'll accept for reasons of verisimilitude, seeing it's a competitor of NBC. Not counting Pennzoil either, as I've never heard of this brand.
I thought it was a decent episode, though most of the reactions I've read have proclaimed it to be very good indeed:
http://www.worldinprogress.org/wip/archives/2006/11/studio_60_on_th_5.html
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11-21-2006 @ 7:00AM
Jim said...
Loved the main storyline (for a change). Thought the subplot with Harriet was a little too much -- especially the constant hounding from Tom and Simon.
I agree the build-up to Amanda Peet's departure is heavy-handed.
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12-26-2006 @ 10:38AM
tim said...
While you're adding up the product placements in the past week, don't forget the most recent episode of My Name is Earl, which was a pretty blatant plug for the DVD release of An Inconvenient Truth.
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11-21-2006 @ 12:21PM
David said...
No one noticed they talked about iPod as Product placement and they had Apple laptops?
This was the first good episode of the show! Not too much preaching, plot lines that people might care about and Methrew Perry and what's his name were together a lot. I also like how the writers left and hope that they mension them again during the season after the show starts.
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11-21-2006 @ 8:09AM
Lizbeth said...
This has become the show "I love to hate."
I know you all will tell me "stop watching if you hate it so," but I can't. This is America, and I can watch and hate what I want.
I now understand why people love "Showgirls." The earnestness and seriousness of it all is just so damn hilarious.
Thank you Aaron for providing me with hours and hours of unintentional laughing.
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11-21-2006 @ 8:20AM
gail said...
Whoever commented here previously about how West Wing could get away with serious preachiness because the show dealt with the White House instead of a tv show was so right on! I laughed at Tim Busfield so seriouly complaining about the screw-ups at the beginning of the show like he was in the White House talking about nuclear arms.
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11-21-2006 @ 8:58AM
John Howard said...
"really makes me miss the old days of movies and television when they would mask product names with tape or made up labels "
Why? That's so much more annoying than using actual products. I don't want to see someone on TV drinking "COLA" that is still obviously in a Coke can. Just leave the Coke in there, it's better for everyone. I don't know why people get upset with product placement, it's much more realistic, unless it's done poorly.
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11-21-2006 @ 11:39PM
wew said...
Wow. A episode that deals not with religion or any controversial topic, has very little Harriet and Matt romance and still the anti sorkin ppl deride the show.
For god's sakes, give up the ghost. You know he's a good writer.
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