This week’s episode was another jumble of time frames.  Unlike the Nevada Day episode, it didn’t start with a large culmination of events and then backtracked to give us an understanding of what happened.  Rather it was more like Pulp Fiction in that it moved backwards and forwards within one week.

Honestly, I spent the first 2/3rds of the episode cursing that it was yet again using an odd time sequence, and yet in the last third the payoff was so good that I am now praising the technique.

The episode begins with the opening monologue of the show within the show.  Howie Mandell is the guest host and he declares that he’s looking forward to leaving behind Deal or No Deal for the night and getting back to his improvisational comedy roots.  Danny Tripp then comes on the stage, critiquing his monologue and bringing with him two ladies carrying numbered briefcases.  The gag is Howie has to choose one case like on his game show.  Tripp even pretends to get a call from the banker.

It reminded me a lot of most Saturday Night Live opening monologues in that it was really silly and not very funny at all.

During this bit, the camera moves backstage and we see that most of the cast has contracted a nasty little virus.  They are all being injected with a B-12 booster shot to allow them to make it through the night.

Once Tripp is off stage he is handed a note from Matt stating “5 dead in Grosse Point.”

The reporter, Martha O’Dell is back, and Tripp tries to have it out with her over the story she wrote.  It seems she wrote that Tom’s latest movie was a failure and cites the anonymous Aint It News commenter, Dilbert27 as her source.  This infuriates Tripp as it doesn’t seem professional to him.  Despite Tripp’s protest, Martha has complete access to the show and remains unphased by his harassment.

Matt gives Lucy and Darius the chance to write a single sketch for the show involving a bumbled robbery/hostage attempt.  The two are completely unprepared and nervous so Matt brings in an old show writer, one described by Tripp as “very serious.”  He is, in fact, very serious and stoic, but he turns into a great mentor for the two freshman writers.

He abuses them and scolds them and ultimately talks Matt into letting them see if performed during the Friday rehearsal.  It bombs, as he knew it would but figures this in the only way to instill the fear of god into them and make them write a good sketch.  It does and it is slated to run on Saturday.

Through various flashbacks we see everyone engrossed in an ongoing news story about a man holding his family hostage.

Harriett has been inducted into the Falstaff society and at her ceremony she is required to tell a joke.  Turns out she can’t tell a joke worth crap.  In several hilarious scenes, we see Matt giving her a joke only to have her butcher it completely with her faulty memory and terrible timing.

Jack and Jordan have it out over her personal life getting in the way and she finally agrees to do a Time interview to try to smooth things out.  It goes extremely poorly as she first tries to make jokes for answers and ultimately rails against him for making assumptions about how the industry is working against her.

Matt tries to rile Tripp up over a bad joke concerning the B-12 and how it cannot be taken by someone pregnant.

Dylan collapses just after the completely unfunny Bachelor in Rome skit in which he is dressed as a woman.

Unfortunately, the freshman skit about the bumbling criminal cannot be performed due to the sad news about the 5 dead in Grosse Pointe.

Jordan breaks down in Tripp’s office but refuses to take the B-12 and the night’s bombshell comes out that she is pregnant.  This was a little sleight of hand by the marketing department as all the previews made this look like she was indeed fired.

Both instances completed the off-kilter time use and created a very moving couple of moments.

Review:  ****

The queer timelines ultimately paid off.  In retrospect, I like this episode more and more as it really demonstrated Sorkin’s ability to write a good story and interweave all the various lines.  The show moved back into serious drama territory but managed to score some very nice comedy with Harriett bumbling her joke.

The Plot:  The episode begins with the closing of last week’s Studio 60 show.  Well, actually, since last week I was down and out, let’s talk about that episode too.  My recap of that will be short since I didn’t take notes and my memory is faulty.

Though he suffers a few more small-town shenanigans, Tom is released from jail when the judge finds out that Tom’s brother is serving multiple tours in Iraq.  The Chinese girl discovers a tabloid that gossips about what Jordan’s ex-husband has been blathering about.  She shows her dad and then misinterprets him as saying that Jordan has brought shame unto herself and NBS.  Jack then goes into a furious rant about how Jordan and the entire crew have a great deal of character for going through the mess they just went through and that the Chinese man can basically shove it.  It was a great feel-good, stand-up, and cheer moment.

There is then a realization that the interpretation was wrong and that what was actually said was that the ex-husband was disgraceful and brought shame upon himself.

This week is another continuation of the plot, beginning as last week’s Studio 60 show ends.

The show actually ended 36 seconds short causing guest host Jessica Simpson to ask for prayers for the “mid-west” as opposed to the Middle East where the war is happening.  Many jokes about the poor people from Indiana were made.

The show ended early due to Ron and Ricky printing the script on the wrong paper, or font.  That’s some pretty deep insider stuff there but apparently longer shows are printed differently than shorter half-hour shows.  The number of pages a script comes in indicates precisely how long the show will run.  Ron and Ricky are writing a half-hour show, entitled “Peripheral View Man” for another network in an attempt to leave Studio 60.

The only problem is that NBS holds the rights to “Peripheral View Man” until the day ends.  As Matt discovers all of this he threatens to option the show again just to screw with Ron and Ricky.  Some pretty bitter stuff comes out of this as Ron lays all of his frustrations of being essentially made a lame duck out to Matt and then leaves.  Matt eventually agrees to let them have it and to let the two men go.  As they leave they indicate they’ll be taking all of the writing staff save the new guy and the Australian chick (I know I should know their names, but darned if I can find them.)

Harriett is thinking of doing a magazine spread in nothing but her skivvies.  She’s doing this because she was turned down for a starring movie role due to people not thinking she is sexy enough.  Simon and Tom try to talk her out of it because they feel it will hurt her image as a good Christian woman.  Matt also tries to talk her out of it, but he claims that she would only be doing it out of revenge, and that’s not the type of person she is.  In doing so he seems to talk himself out of optioning “Peripheral View Man,” too.

Jordan tells Danny that he either has to fire 15 people or start using product placement.  This all stems from the fact that the Chinese man is doing his deal with NBS.  Here it again gets pretty insider, but the basics of the financial mumbo jumbo is that the investment takes a great deal of money which makes them have to cut back elsewhere.

Much wrangling ensues, but Cal finally finds a solution in changing the main set to look like Sunset Strip.  Since Sunset is full of its own giant billboards, it can mimic them and sell its own advertising.

Review:  ****

This was the funniest episode I have seen to date.  Generally, there are a few good jokes scattered throughout, but the concentration remains on the drama.  Tonight, while still staying within character and the drama, they were throwing down some beautiful jokes.

I especially enjoyed Simon and Tom trying to talk Harriet out of the photo shoot, while still insisting they are pro-naked girls.

The drama played itself out nicely.  It was a little less melodramatic than previous episodes sticking mostly to the lingerie shoot and having product placements.  To me, this is where the show should stay.  Good drama doesn’t have to be so serious.  More humor balances it out and makes a better show.

It doesn’t look like they will be following my advice though, since the episode ended with Danny telling Jordan that she will probably be fired.  The preview for next week indicates that’s exactly what will happen.

Originally written on November 08, 2006.

With declining ratings, there is much talk of Studio 60 being canceled.  Being the best show on television right now, I for one hope it isn’t so.  Before I get into this week’s episode I am going to rant for 446 words.

The Rant:

In the article I just linked to and all across the internet there is quite a bit of heated discussion about this show and Aaron Sorkin in general.  As is typical for internet discussion the talk quickly turns nasty and we get a fine bit of banter consisting of “this show is too smart for the stupid, slovenly masses” and “Actually I’m a genius and this show has terrible writing.”

All of this has made me ponder why I like the show so much, and as my captive audience, you get to follow me through it.

I’ve always dug behind-the-scenes looks at whatever and especially dig behind-the-scenes looks at movies.  I’ve never seen a movie about making movies I didn’t like, and it is fascinating to me to watch these guys struggle to make TV every week.

The fact is I haven’t watched Saturday Night Live in years, but I don’t care.  This show isn’t SNL.  It isn’t even a behind-the-scenes look at SNL.  It’s fiction.  The argument that SNL isn’t relative anymore doesn’t make sense to me.  This isn’t a show about how awesome sketch comedy is, it’s about making a sketch comedy show.  Are the characters passionate about making their show?  Certainly, but why is this a negative?  Should they just throw the slop together?  In its prime SNL was top-notch comedy, and you can bet it took a lot of work to make it.  That’s what these guys are trying to do.

I also love the ensemble and that we get to follow multiple storylines.  If the show lasts, this will make for better TV as we have so many characters’ lives to take part in.  Though the show is taking hits for taking shots at Christianity I find that it is carrying on some of the most thoughtful debate on religion in the media.  Harriet is the kind of Christian that I find in real life, not the ones you see on TV.   She’s not Catholic nor the die-hard fundamentalist that runs from everything liberal.  She’s a normal sort of person trying to live her life right but is still kind to those who don’t believe.

Sure, the non-Christians get the better lines, but there is a real dialogue going on which is more than you can say for most outlets.

I like the writing, I like the dialogue, I like the actors.  Geez, I even like Matthew Perry and he’s usually as annoying as crap.  I don’t care if others don’t like it or think the dialogue is crap.  I’m not better than them.  But I do hope enough people watch to keep the show going.

The plot:  This is the first part of a two-parter which will conclude next week.  It was also an experimental episode chronologically, meaning that the opening scene actually takes place at the end of this episode and most likely in the middle of the action of the two parts.  From the opener, the rest of the episode jumps around in time explaining the peculiar events that we see as the show opens.

The peculiar event is Tom (who is dressed as Jesus) who has been arrested and put into a Pahrump, Nevada jail.  There to rescue him are Simon (who is there because Tom was wearing his jacket, which contained a marijuana joint), Danny, an NBS lawyer, Jack, and two unknown Chinese people.

Tom is dressed as Jesus because he was rehearsing for a skit when the LA police arrested him.  He was arrested because he assaulted a gay man.  He assaulted a gay man because the man and his buddies were harassing Harriet.  They were harassing Harriet because she was quoted in a tabloid as having said that the Bible condemns homosexuality.  She was actually misquoted and her real speech spoke more towards tolerance than condemnation.  He is in a Nevada jail because there was a warrant out for his arrest.  He has a warrant against him because he got a speeding ticket there and never showed up to pay it.

Jack is at the jail because the older Chinese man (who could be responsible for a very lucrative NBC deal) is there.  He is there because his daughter (and translator) is there.  She is there because she wanted to meet Tom, and was willing to take a detour from her flight to New York.  And Tom is there because…well you know why Tom is there.
The review:  ***1/2

Another very good episode.  The whole Pulp Fiction time blender was both interesting and annoying.  Interesting because it is fun to see the weird ending and see how they got there piecemeal.  It is annoying for basically the same reason.  That maneuver kind of ruins the impact of the events.  When the dog finds the pot in the jacket, we already know there is pot in the jacket and that the cops will find it.  We only don’t know how they find it, but when they do it isn’t a surprise, and thus not emotionally impacting.  This type of thing has also been done plenty of times before, but every time it is done they act like it is innovative.

It isn’t.   Stop doing it.  Show the events in order.  It’s better that way.

Otherwise, I liked it.  I really do like the Harriet character.  I really do like that everyone mocks her beliefs but she hangs tight with them.

I still say the skits are funny.  Everybody else disagrees.  But Jesus as the head of Standards and Practices is funny.  The skit a few episodes ago with Simon in the rain was funny.  Sure, not all of them are killer (at least what we are allowed to see) and Harriet isn’t brilliant with impressions, but what I’ve seen here is much funnier than the last skits I saw from SNL.

Oh, and I loved John Goodman as the judge.

Best Lines:

Harriet: I said the Bible says it’s a sin. It also says judge not lest ye be judged, and that it was something for smarter people than me to decide.
Matt: “Ye” is a word you don’t hear a lot.
Harriet: I manage to see every piece of my press.
Matt: We have a press department, I get a daily press packet. They highlight what they want me to see – this one has a highlight, an arrow, and a sticker!
Harriet: Well, as I said, they left out the second sentence.
Matt: Yeah, can I ask you something? Does your ass hurt from straddling the fence like that all the time?

Matt: It’s one thing to be asked to respect someone else’s religion, it’s another to be asked to respect their taboos. In my religion, it’s disrespectful to God not to keep your head covered. You don’t see me insisting that the cast of CSI: Miami wear yarmulkes.
Danny: That’d be an unusual creative direction for CSI: Miami

Matt: You don’t like kids and dogs?
Jordan: Yeah. Or orphans. Why? Is that bad?
Matt: Half the shows in prime time start with two strippers getting strangled after a lap dance, and that’s fine with me but if it’s also fine with Jesus then I don’t see the need to tiptoe around his name