Studio 60

So, my favorite television show of the fall season is Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. I love literate shows, and there seem to be so few of them. I am enjoying the way the characters are being developed (slowly). I enjoy the way that interesting facts are worked into the scripts. Case in point--information about the blacklist and the Hollywood 10, in a script featuring Eli Wallach. (One of my favorite bits of The West Wing was the episode with the mapmakers....) I enjoy the enormous number of characters, and the way the episodes are production designed and shot (go Thomas Schlamme). (By the way, if you like this show, don't read "Television Without Pity" on-line. It hates this show.)

There is a recurring storyline featuring a writer from Vanity Fair (played by Christine Lahti) doing an in-depth artlicle on the show. I loved her line (which I'm paraphrasing a bit, since I don't memorize lines well):

"The article is going to be 10,000 words. Not all of them will be winners."

I thought that was hilarious. I think every writer will. Because, let's face it, Aaron Sorkin is one of the most prolific writers around, and, in my opinion, one of the most brilliant. (Argue if you want, but wouldn't it be fascinating to sit next to him at a dinner party?) And if his words aren't all winners (and he writes autobiographically, to a certain extent), do I need to worry that not all of mine are?

And let's face it: another reason I love this show is that it features two men I drool over--Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford. Yum.