Serious Topics in Calamity Programming

The only new show I've committed to watching this season is Aaron Sorkin's new baby, "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip." As I've said elsewhere, put Bradley Whitford on a box of cereal and I'd watch that, so this was a no-brainer. We're two episodes in to the series, and I still can't shake the specter of "The West Wing" as I'm watching it. First of all, every time you round a corner there's another WW regular or semi-regular: it's like Sorkin took all the extras and one-line speaking parts from WW and hired them for Studio 60. Why couldn't he have just spun off the West Wing? That way we could have had Donna back, too. This just in: I think I dreamt about Toby Zeigler last night.

Secondly, I love Sorkin's dialogue, but it is a bit annoying that we're talking about, um, television instead of the political future of our country. I realize that most of the good drama settings have been taken (courtrooms, hospitals, police stations, morgues), but I just can't drum up that much concern for whether a pseudo-Saturday Night Live is boycotted by the Christian right. Maybe this will change. Maybe not.

Matthew Perry is great -- this is an excellent role for him. But, despite the freshly whitened teeth, slightly more subdued hair and black-on-black wardrobe, Bradley Whitford is still Josh Lyman to me.

Also, whatever happened to opening credits? And a decent theme song?