Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip: The Complete Series
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By Cyril Pearl -- Video Business, 10/8/2007
WARNER
Street: Oct. 16
Prebook: now
> Aaron Sorkin’s latest TV series about the making of a TV series features his trademark eclectic characters and snappy dialog.
In Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, producer Aaron Sorkin turns to the ins and outs of creating a popular TV comedy sketch show à la Saturday Night Live. Featuring Sorkin’s trademark chatty characters, crackling dialog and walk-and-talk exposition, it’s an intelligent, witty show featuring a stellar cast, which includes Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford as the sketch show’s creative gurus, Amanda Peet and Steven Webber as network execs, and Sarah Paulson, Tom Jeter and D.L. Hughley as performers. Not surprisingly, Studio 60 is as romantic and hopeful a look at network TV as Sorkin’s The West Wing is at politics—some of its ideas about quality, responsibility and honor in broadcasting are quite sanctimonious. It’s unfortunate that Studio 60 barely squeaked through its debut season before getting shut down, but as the show went off into strange directions during the latter half of the season and the ratings just weren’t there, it’s not a huge surprise. Studio 60 shone during its brief run and was certainly more effective and entertaining than the reality shows and by-the-numbers sitcoms that it frequently mocked.
Shelf Talk: The West Wing and Sorkin’s other show, Sports Night, both went on to very healthy DVD post-mortem after they finished their network runs, and it’s safe to assume that Sorkin’s latest effort also will fair well, though it only ran one season. Studio 60 also got the kind of star power that clicks on DVD—Perry and Peet’s records speak for themselves. Of the set’s supplements, the pilot episode commentary by Sorkin and producer/director Thomas Schlamme is quite invigorating, while the featurette is more of a mutual backslapper that finds everyone praising everyone. As the show was canceled many months ago, it would have been fascinating to have a supplement that examined how and why a show with this much talent could—and did!—fail.
Comedy, color, NR (mature themes), 660 min., six-disc set $59.98
Extras: creator/producer’s commentary on pilot episode, featurette
Directors: various
First Run: NBC, 2006
