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RSSNetworks will now need to hire "vice presidents of illiterate programming" to make their staffs complete -- that, or better comedy writers.
That's what Jordan McDeere, president of entertainment for NBS on "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," called her recent hire -- a woman who is actually vice president of alternative programming.
Alternative programming executives, as most of us know, are in charge of -- among other things -- reality shows. No doubt that illiterate swipe comes from how "Studio 60" creator Aaron Sorkin probably feels about reality shows these days. At the last Television Critics Association meeting in the summer he expressed some angst against networks' ill-advised direction -- especially in the mean-spirited reality show genre.
On this week's episode, NBS, the network that runs "Studio 60," doesn't have much to run in the May sweeps. But Jordan gets pitched a reality show idea from an aggressive and cheeky alternative-programming executive -- one where bad people confront their victims and say they're sorry.
Looks like illiterate programming wins out, anyway -- which seems to be a cute wink and a nod from Sorkin, the master of TV language and prose.
Sorkin also seems to be angry at some daily city newspapers. For example, The Los Angeles Times has written a few stories questioning whether "Studio 60" really has a funny bone. Some on-the-record writers, and others on background, said they don't think the show-within-a-show on "Studio 60" is funny. They said that as a late-night sketch comedy show, it should be funny, since it's modeled on "Saturday Night Live."
Yes, at times, the comedy sketches on "Studio 60" don't seem to offer up any real guffaws. But the truth is, "SNL" isn't all that funny either, sometimes.
Perhaps feeling they'd been too harsh and one-sided, the editors at Los Angeles Times came back with another story touting writers who like the show. One TV writer, Dan Hindmarch, who has written for "The Unit," wrote in an email to the Times that "It should be understood: 'Studio 60' does not represent television reality any more than 'The West Wing' represented political (reality)."
Reality and non-reality. It's still hard to turn away from Sorkin's stuff. Don't expect him to be banished from the NBC island just yet.
RSS FEEDS
Bobbi Cowan
1. THE THEME MUSIC COMES OFF A BIT POMPOUS (HOW CAN MUSIC DO THAT? - NOT SURE, BUT IT DOES)
2. ALL OF SORKINS CHARACTERS TALK, ACT, AND FINNALLY, ARE THE SAME (NOTE TO A.S.: STOP WATCHING "THE FRONT PAGE").
3. LIKE THE THEME MUSIC, THE WRITTING IS OVER DONE, POMPOUS, AND IN THE END, KIND OF ANNOYING.
4. THE SKIT PREMISES (YOU NEVER SEE A FULL SKIT) ARE FUNNIER THAN THE ONES CURRENTLY SEEN ON THE ABYSMAL "SNL". PERHAPS THEY'RE TOO SMART AT "60" TO SHOW AN ENTIRE SKIT. BUT I'D LIKE TO SEE ONE.
5. GOOD SHOWS FILL YOU UP, EVEN IF IT'S TV JUNK FOOD, YOU FEEL FULL. I FEEL RATHER EMPTY AFTER "STUDIO 60".
6. "STUDIO 60" ON A WHOLE, IS NOT FUNNY.
7. "STUDIO 60" ON A WHOLE, IS STILL BETTER THAN MOST (99%) OF REALITY TV (SHOWS).
8. SORKIN NEEDS TO TURN OVER MOST OF THE CHARACTERS TO OTHER WRITERS, AND THEN BACK OFF. NOT EVERYONE AT WORK HAS A "SPEED MONLOGUE" AT-THE-READY THAT IS SO ARTIFICIALLY CRAFTED WE WANT TO IMMEDIATELY GO OUT AND MAKE AN INSPRATIONAL POSTER OUT OF IT. OKAY, IT'S TV, I GET IT - NEW RULE FOR SORKIN - YOU ONLY GET ONE "POWER SPEECH-MONOLGUE" PER EPISODE. HE CAN WRITE SOME REAL GOOD ONES ( I MENTIONED HE IS A REAL TALENT) - BUT JUST ONE AT A TIME PLEASE.
9. THIS IS A WATERED DOWN DRAMA WITH A MISLEADING BACKDROP - A COMEDY SHOW. THIS IS THE WRONG SETTING FOR SERIOUSNESS. LESS CHESS CLUB - MORE ANIMAL HOUSE, OR AT LEAST SOME ANIMAL HOUSE - REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED TO "SPORTS NIGHT" (IT TOOK ITSELF TOO SERIOUSLY AND...)?
10. TAKE HEART, WE STILL HAVE: "THE OFFICE", "SCRUBS", AND "30 ROCK" TO FILL UP ON.
TOM LONG BEACH, CA
Jordan needs a visit from HR. So, how real is that? The passion and pace of Big Time Media sometimes leaves niceties in the dust while deadlines, boards of directors and Wall Street pressures dominate what in other circumstances might be or should be more civilized interaction. But who better than Sorkin to tell the world, in a way that only Sorkin can, that we are once again on the outskirts of the ?vast wasteland?? Alternative Programming indeed. And by the way, you refer to the new VP as Jordan?s hire. Nope. Jordan?s boss Jack hired her. Is that real enough for you?
Who cares if the show-within-a-show sketches aren?t funny they?re only props, business?so much scenery. I stopped watching Saturday Night Live years ago but I watch each episode of Studio 60 four or five times. Jordan does Aaron?s bidding. The dream media executive fighting for quality programming and the content guys. Sorkin loves Jordan and so do I. Watch out Danny, I?m coming for her.
Ken Kohl Acquaint Media San Francisco