Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

NBC....Monday night 10pm


Wes Mendel is having a rotten evening. He's the executive producer of a late-night sketch comedy show called Studio 60. Just like Saturday Night Live! (ridiculously called "Friday Night Live"). After a controversial sketch gets cut by the network, Wes crashes the opening segment to deliver a hilarious speech about television in general, and of Fear Factor and The Apprentice in particular. Jordan McDeere (Amanda Peet) is having a stressful evening as well. It's her first day as president of the "NBS" network (rip off of NBC), she's got to deal with the shit Wes just kicked up, and the chairman of the network, Jack Rudolph, is breathing down her neck. Fortunately, she's got a bright idea to bring back the show's old writer/director team to bring the show back to prominence. Matt Albie (Matt Perry) and Danny Tripp (Bradley Whitford), the writer/director team, are having a pretty good evening, all things considered. Matt's just won a Writer's Guild award for some hotshot movie they made, and they're already gearing up to shoot another one. Unfortunately, Danny's just flunked a drug test and can't get bonded to shoot in Mexico. Through an awfully convenient coincidence, Jordan knows this -- even though Danny hasn't even told Matt yet -- and uses the info to convince Danny to convince Matt that they should take up the reins of the show, while she convinces Jack that it's not actually an awful idea to hire back two guys you fired four years ago (are you following all of this?). Basically, Jordan does a lot of convincing in one night and ends up with her new job riding on a cokehead and a pill popper. Just like Aaron Sorkin! Matt's ex-girlfriend Harriet, who's a Studio 60 senior cast member and also a Christian entertainer adds to the mix. Hopefully every episode will stay as good as the first. You pretty much can't go wrong with these cast of characters. It WILL win the Emmy this year....