5/5 For fans of "The West Wing"
  by Carol L. Marsh (Missoula, Montana)
For fans of The West Wing

If you've been wishing Jeff Bartlett could run for a third term, check out "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip." Aaron Sorkin, creator of "The West Wing," is also responsible for this one-season series about life backstage at the West Coast competitor to "Saturday Night Live." I couldn't help suspecting the show lasted only one season because it bit too close to the bone for television.

Bradley Whitford, Bartlett's deputy chief of staff on "The West Wing," plays Danny Tripp, Studio 60's producer. He is teamed with Matthew Perry as Matt Albie, the show's chief comedy writer (and possibly Aaron Sorkin's alter ego). Allison Janney, Bartlett's press secretary and ultimately chief of staff, appears in one segment as herself and the week's host for "Studio 60."

The tension of being funny every Friday night is no less gripping than, say, 500 well-armed Haitian troops invading the U.S. Embassy in Port au Prince. Politics enters into the plot almost exclusively in nonstop conflict with television industry censors. Romance is the main plot-turner here. Matt Albie has a conflict-riddled on-again, off-again love affair with one of his stars, comedienne Harriet Hayes, played by Sarah Paulson. He also has a drug problem. And Danny Tripp (spoiler alert!) falls reluctantly in love with the network boss, Jordan McDeere, played by Amanda Peet.

I was sorry to reach the end of the last disk.


5/5 Smart, Witty, Fantastic
  by P. Stewart (USA)
I'm so sad that this show did not make it longer than one season. The whole premise of the show is to get behind the camera and focus on the people who do whatever it takes to make a network and show work smoothly and stay in the game. I loved that about this show, it's the main reason why it intrigued me to watch. The cast is exceptional; Bradley Whitford, Matthew Perry, Amanda Peet, Steven Weber, D. L. Hughley, Sarah Paulson, and so many others. The wit and chemistry between every member of the cast is amazing, I've never been more convinced that actors in a show could actually be great friends in real life. The actors all played off of one another with such ease that it seemed they almost did not have to act. The guest stars were great too; Allison Janey, Howie Mandel, Lauren Graham, John Goodman - FANTASTIC!

If you are looking for a smart, witty, fantastic show to watch; I am very confident in saying you will not be disappointed!

5/5 Best Prime-Time Show
  by M. Kasper (Atlanta, GA)
Its not a vain boast to say that this is the best prime-time show ever. It was very satisfying to watch. Very tragic that NBC didn't allow it to go on for more seasons. You will enjoy the witty dialog and the plots.

5/5 Way ahead of his time
  by Alan Berman (Tilton, NH United States)
Sometimes it feels empowering to be a little smarter then the "Norm". That the time and hard work spent improving one's mind, one's perspectives and one's talents, was well spent. Most of the time, though, it's just plain frustrating, that nobody seems to "get" you. That your ideas and concepts are a long way from being heard or understood by the folks around you. On days like that, and there must be lots of them for him, it must be pretty hard to be Aaron Sorkin.

Aaron crafts characters 'out of plain words' that build people, about whom we think "I wish I could be more like him...or her." Characters who make honorable choices, about life, love, career, ethics, relationships...and who stick around to deal with the fallout and consequences of those choices, rather than hitting and running away to hide.

Studio 60 is nearly as filled with these types of characters as was The West Wing. Sadly, it was just a bit too far ahead of it's time and was cancelled just as it was hitting full stride.

I've only watched the first eight of the 22 episodes in this "Complete Series", six-disk, boxed-set, because, like sipping a fine wine, I prefer to savor the experience, a small taste at a time.

If you're a person who'd like to believe that there is intelligent life on this planet...that it's not just "A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury (like Fox News) signifying nothing." then this is, in fact, MUST SEE TV.

Television creates templates of possible realities. We watch it, learn a set of values and style choices, and work toward being a little more like the characters we identify with. These characters we can ill afford to miss.

Aaron, I think you're casting your pearls before swine, most of the time, but thanks for making the effort, from someone who does "get" you!

5/5 It's even better than I'd remembered, and shame on CBS for letting it go
  by Tracy Wolff
First, a disclaimer: I am an unrepentant Aaron Sorkin addict. Even though I shall NEVER forgive him for killing off Mrs. Landingsham.

The only thing that kept me from joining the Taliban when West Wing went off the air leaving W in the Oval Office was the thought that Aaron Sorkin had a new pilot and I didn't think Afghanistan had broadband yet. I loved West Wing so much that I memorized every line and made my elderly parents addicts. But I think I might love Studio 60 more, despite the occasional unevenness. Because "Nevada Day" alone -- and it's not -- is enough to cover a multitude of sins.

Only if you've ever tried to produce really good television can you comprehend how unbelievably ambitious this project was. Because it's about love -- love of the truth, love for your work, love for your co-conspirators, love for your family, love for life, love for the love of your life, and love for what could be if only you had the courage to out-grip death.

I hadn't seen Studio 60 since it went off the air, and I suddenly was desperate to see it again. Watching it again, I was reminded that television is not about nothing -- television can actually be about everything that is most important to us. And then I laughed until my brain fell out; and then I wept because CBS, where I used to work, didn't know what it had, and carelessly let go. And we'll never see its like again. Thank God for DVD technology -- otherwise, I'd have to behead myself.