Have you ever encountered someone so mind-numbingly earnest that it makes your heart implode? I mean the kind of guy who is always so right and so smug about his important place in the universe that it just tears your soul to shreds? And it makes it all the worse knowing that the sanctimonious hellion is actually right? That's Aaron Sorkin to me. I am all for good old fashioned American liberalism at work, but Sorkin manages to put a sheen on American politics and culture that makes Norman Rockwell look positively sinister by comparison. Because of that, I could never get into the West Wing, which was an admittedly brilliant show. It was just too elevated for me. I've felt the same about Sorkin's movie work too. The good guys are just too good, and the situations they become embroiled are easily sided--black and white.
Sorkin was also responsible for the short lived Sports Night. Another exceptional show, and as you might say, this one was not about the President, military or America in general. But let's be blunt here. What's more American than sports these days? Freedom to tackle has replaced freedom of speech in this country, and more Americans are interested in the games, than the real issues. But for the sake of argument, let's just say that Sports Night has other issues. You see, this is another one of those things where Sorkin really works to get under my skin. It's his oh-so-clever dialog and it's rapid fire delivery. No I wasn't being sarcastic with the clever crack. It really is clever, thought provoking, and amusing amongst a host of other positive adjectives. So amusing that it almost comes across as too cute and therefore it nearly undermines itself. But it never does. The dialog is great, but the pitter-patt of well oiled acting machines ensconcing themselves in that dialogue can be so frustrating and... cloying.
With Sorkin, for every sinister cynic he writes, he offsets that with some cute day-glo dreamer. If it wasn't all so frustratingly and perfectly realized, I would want to reach through the screen and strangle the actor, the archetype and the predictability right out off the schedule.
I have one more beef with Sorkin, and that has to do with his newest show Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. You see, I got to catch the show early, and what really irks me is that despite the fact that the show has some real rough spots, it's actually really good. Damn you, Sorkin.
There has been some contraversy about the quality of the show, which follows the exploits of a Saturday Night Live style variety show. Studio 60 opens with Lorne Michaels-type Producer Wes Mandell arguing with a network suit about a contraversial sketch the network insists must be cut. Wes, as played by the fabulous Judd Hirsch, becomes so depressed and enraged by the last minute bit of censorship, that he throws his career to the wind, halts an on-air skit, and begins an explosive rant about the stupidity that network television is forcing down our collective throats.
News reporters immediately compare the blow up to the most famous bits from Network, but what impressed me most was not Hirsch's performance, which was spectacular, or his words, which were insightful, but instead what really got to me was how Hirsch could almost have been a stand in for Aaron Sorkin himself. Sorkin, for his brief time in the television universe has managed to amass a resume of considerable quality. Shows that not only manage to present serious issues in a new way, but doing it in ways that never pander to the audience, even if they are so thick with maple that you might rot your teeth.
Hirsch's exciting tirade is preceded by his eventual firing, and his replacement by two former writers of the show and the behest of the new, spunky, idealistic and oh-so-clever network president. Amanda Peet plays they new president of the network with a quirky intensity and skin that is two sizes to small for her bone structure. She's not bad in the role, but Peet excels at playing mean and damaged (or just plain kooky) girls, and her character here is so aces that it doesn't necessarily jibe with the Peet we have seen before. Fortunately for the shows producers, audiences won't make such a comparision. Plus this was a pilot and Peet has plenty of time to grow into the character as long as she doesn't go the way of Moira Kelly.
Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford play the two writers who were forced to leave Studio 60 four years earlier. Perry and clever writer, and Whitford a rising star director, are both climbing the Hollywood ladder when Studio 60 begins it's freefall due to Hirsch's ravings. A personal misfortune for one of the two leads the characters back to Studio 60 to help Amanda Peet get the show back up to snuff. Whitford is fantastic in his role. He brings a dry and sweet world weariness to the role that is a nice break from his manic character from West Wing. Perry on the other hand is a bit of a problem. When he's delivering his more comic lines, and even more conversational ones, he does a very good job. Years on Friends have honed his comic ability to a fine edge, but during one disasterously played scene with one of the Big Three comics on the show, Perry shows he is still lacking in the drama department. Like Peet, his costar from those gritty slice of life Whole Nine Yard movies, Perry has time to grow into his role, and early indicators seem to give him a fair chance at doing something interesting.
Speaking of the Big Three, the rest of the cast will have a lot to do in coming weeks, I am sure, but Sarah Paulson, DL Hughly and Mathan Corddry offer little to the pilot other than some histrionics from Paulson. Tim Busfield, another Sorkin vet, manages to get just enough angsty screen time to remind my why I still hate him from thirtysomething. The cast is rounded out by the one dimensional Studio head played by Steven Weber. Weber's character is a bit of a departure for both the actor and Sorkin. Weber doesn't do a bad job, but his turn as the heavy is unoriginal.
The production of the show is incredibly beautiful. Think of Sports Night's set ratcheted up to 1000, and the direction from Tommy Schlamme is as professional as always, and thankfully 100% Christina Lahti free. I predict the show will be a huge dramatic success if Perry can step up to the job and Sorkin can bring the large cast to life like he did with his previous TV ventures.
