660 replies to this topic

[Joe R]

It's nice to see Lauren Graham returning to her showkiller roots.

[GBL85]

Your comedy is terrible! But you look vaguely like a jaded hipster! Welcome aboard!

Just what the show needs… more unfunny writers.

I found this episode kind of clunky and annoying.

[Jayelle]

Is this another game of Block!That!Fetus! ?

It was pretty obvious tonight, that jacket was pretty tight on Jordon.

[OptimisticCynic]

It's nice to see Lauren Graham returning to her showkiller roots

Hilarious!

The whole "skit" vs "sketch" speech really didn't make sense. No way can any of the 'sketches' on the show within Studio 60 would live up to that extreme and inappropriate amount of hyperbole.

Rest of the episode? Meh. Hire some comedy writers people.

[Alan Swann]

Okay, I don’t scream “shoutout” at the drop of a hat, but someone at S60 is reading these boards. I can just see Aaron: “You want weighty issues? How ‘bout the racial divide and successful blacks lifting others up, war then and now, respecting your parents and elders, and the important things about friendships and relationships, all in one hour? How ya like them apples?”

Well, it made for a very uneven hour, but one with a lot of good moments. Cal finally got a story all his own, which made me happy, plus he had one of the best lines of the night, upon seeing a drunken Jack: “Suzanne, tarps over everything!” I also liked how the black comic who Matt and Simon hired couldn’t get any words out the first time Simon told him “All right?”

A lot of the humor, especially the negative-IQ party girls, was kinda weak, but overall not bad.

[Eric54]

I loved it. But now I'm afraid that America, like Jordan said in an earlier episode, wont' get it. All drama tonight which I fear will drive the ratings down even more. But as I said - I loved it.

Edited by Eric54, Oct 23, 2006 @ 10:06 PM.

[Melvis]

Exposition, exposition, boring. Exposition, exposition, touching. Exposition, exposition, boring. Exposition, exposition, touching.

I see an unfortunate pattern forming here. It's sad that even the actors seem bored by all the unnecessary backstory they have to recite.

On the plus side, Eli Wallach was adorable!

[GreenPhoenix]

That was a disappointment.
The various plots were a mess, and they all ended in cliches.

The saving grace? Nate Corddry. He was good enough to overshadow the problems with everything else. He's also convinced me that Tom could give a better White House tour than Sam.

[immaf]

I liked it. Still not really feeling Harriet and Matt, but we got some more character development for Simon and Tom. Also, multiple subplots with vaguely similar themes -- Sorkin does that sort of thing very well.

[CoreyFeldman]

I've thought each episode was weaker than the previous week's. This one was no exception; the line at the end with the alzheimer guy saying he just wanted to impress the girl was nearly vomit-inducing.

side note: the alzheimer episode of TWW (which has my vote for worst episode) took place in Columbus, Ohio, which was mentioned in this episode.

[Alise]

This was my favourite episode so far. I love TV comedy history, and this hour had it in spades.

[Charlie Baker]

Uh-oh.

Well, it was nice to see Eli Wallach. DL and Nate did their best. Matthew Perry continues to be really impressive, and I never was a Friends fan.

But we have writing straining really hard to convince and not making it. The bimbos, the other black comics, Jordan's efforts at making friends, Harriet's asshat ball player, the stereotyped middle American, chronically unhip parents who played the war card--pretty much misfires, all.

Hopefully it was just an off week, because I like a lot about this show and want it to go on.

[mrsdalgleish]

It was uneven, but there were scenes that I *loved* in tonight's episode, and there haven't been any of those since the pilot. I didn't like the clunkiness of the black comic set-up, but I loved Simon's talk with Matt at the bar (MP being wonderful while not saying a word). I didn't like the horrible exposition of the theater's history, but I loved Jack's drunk rant about the new show. I loved *everything* about the Eli Wallach SL.

Wallach is astonishing. One of the things you see in people with later stage Alzheimer's disease is that, as their receptive language skills decrease, they mimic your facial expressions and other non-verbal cues -- so that it appears that they might understand more than they do. Wallach was doing that constantly in the early scenes. Great, great stuff.

Edited by mrsdalgleish, Oct 23, 2006 @ 10:09 PM.

[Chorusgirl]

OK, Mr. Sorkin - why can't you do that every week. No crappy skits (yes, by their own definition, they're skits) very little Harriett and a joke that was actually funny! (Excellent product at such low prices)

[TaliaKero]

Is this another game of Block!That!Fetus! ?

It was pretty obvious tonight, that jacket was pretty tight on Jordon.

I read somewhere (new TV Guide, maybe?) that Sorkin's going to incorporate her pregnancy into the show (there was also something about how Jordan and Danny are going to have a "relationship" or something).

I just really didn't get into this episode tonight at all. And hello? You have Lauren Graham for two episodes and you totally waste her?!? She's the perfect person to spout off some of those long-winded expositions/ramblings that Sorkin loves to write.

[Eric54]

This didn't even make any sense. "How long ago did they take the SATs?" "Don't be a snob". Matt was refering to their age, not their intelligence, so what does saying that they're very young have to do with being a snob. This one line was run endlessly in the promos and it drove me crazy every time.

[jeremy goodwin]

I'm boycotting this show until Joshua Malina shows up. Long live Sports Night.

[cwoods]

I liked Tom and his family- but then again I like the charater development type stuff. Stupid Snuffy and his music caused a few tears in those scenes.

More Cal!!!! TB is just fantastic.

Edited by cwoods, Oct 23, 2006 @ 10:07 PM.

[kikidee]

Your comedy is terrible! But you look vaguely like a jaded hipster! Welcome aboard!

Heh. So I guess they liked the 2nd guy because he was irreverant, but it felt like the rest of the show was all over the place.

Now what would have made it great was if they had actually *played* Whos on First because like Tom said, it's funny every time.

Edited by kikidee, Oct 23, 2006 @ 10:17 PM.

[gimmepasta]

We're getting to know the characters. The more I see of each character I honestly like. The actors are getting to know the characters. It's a workplace dramedy. I was very entertained.

[BackstreetGirl]

Oh I liked this sooooo much better! Leave out the skits, excuse me, sketches, or parts thereof, and give us a lot more of that.
Loved Cal, loved Simon, really loved Tom. Please, please blow off Matt/Harry! Matt & Simon have that great, intense conversation about having a black writer in the room, then we switch to Harry fretting about almost kissing Matt and you swear you could hear an audible splat.
Hated the scene in the beginning with Matt, Danny and the three bimbos. They should have just been in a car cruising the block for all that was worth.
Loved the Eli Weinraub story, mostly because I love Eli Wallach.
Did anyone else squirm for a moment when Sim called the guy "boy"?

[Irlandesa]

The whole "skit" vs "sketch" speech really didn't make sense. No way can any of the 'sketches' on the show within Studio 60 would live up to that extreme and inappropriate amount of hyperbole.

I found Tom to be a real asshole for most of this episode. I also rolled my eyes at the depiction of his parents as not knowing the "Who's on first?" bit. It would have made a lot more sense with a younger group of people. Don't even get me started on that whole "Halle Berry" bit. I know there are people that ignorant out there but they always seem to come from the mid-west on Sorkin's shows. Or the South. Been there, done that.

"Look who's in the Hizz-zay!"

Why must I be Weber's bitch? That entrance, his hilarious rant about "Nations" and surprisingly (for me) Lauren's two minutes made the eppie for me tonight.

Edited by Irlandesa, Oct 23, 2006 @ 10:12 PM.

[dxaoadd]

That should have been the pilot. The Eli storyline was remarkable. I was going to say I could have had less of the Studio Tour but just flipped and realized more of it stuck than I thought. I think I wasn't buying it because of the parents' reactions. It would have played better off an interested audience - what parents don't learn as much as possible about what their kids love and embrace?

[CoreyFeldman]

I noticed the "boy" comment too. It was definitely cringe-worthy

[shootingstars]

It's nice to see Lauren Graham returning to her showkiller roots.

This show was flailing long before her arrival.

[westwinger247]

Did anyone else squirm for a moment when Sim called the guy "boy"?

I squirmed the entire episode. For the millionth time. WE GET IT AARON. Yes, you are the only writer who can do this. You are the master. We learn from the master.

I grow tired of Jordan each and every episode. What a snooze.

Like I've said before. Give Aaron a plot or story idea, he can write a symphony. Have him make up a plot, and he writes like a preschooler learning the violin.

[LizDC]

What a pretentious piece of crap. From the history lesson for Tom's naive parents to the treatise on race relations as it relates to comedy to the destiny anvils dropping from the sky as the blacklisted writer talked about how he stepped up his game for a girl, I don't see how this will do anything to stop the show from hemorrhaging viewers.

Sorkin needs to lighten the hell up.

Edited by LizDC, Oct 23, 2006 @ 10:13 PM.

[j32master]

Aaron Sorkin once again displays his apparent belief that if you don't live on either coast, you probably wear overalls and are definitely retarded. He is aware that we in Columbus have television sets, access to the interwebs, and running water and all that stuff, right? Unbelievable.

[Myrrhine]

It was pretty obvious tonight, that jacket was pretty tight on Jordon.

Was that why she kept carrying around her coat and purse everywhere *during* the party?

This episode felt so sanctimonious to me. I love vague elderly people as much as the next person, but that storyline seemed to drag and drag and drag.

I did like drunk Jack. And drunk Jordan seemed pretty likeable, but how does that person run an entire network? I mean, is that what network presidents are really like? Just calm and faintly smirky?

And I hated the hire a new writer storyline. When the camera cut to backstage and the failed stand-up guy is just solemnly washing his face, so downcast, and you just know Simon and Matt are going to save him, it just seemed kind of obnoxious. Is there any reason they can't just *say* "Well, your delivery isn't very good, but we like the way you think, and we think you could be a writer"? And I thought Simon's warning not to let him down was kind of icky too.

[markjay1]

Okay, I don’t scream “shoutout” at the drop of a hat, but someone at S60 is reading these boards. I can just see Aaron: “You want weighty issues? How ‘bout the racial divide and successful blacks lifting others up, war then and now, respecting your parents and elders, and the important things about friendships and relationships, all in one hour? How ya like them apples?”

Well, the scripts were written long before anything was posted about the show here so probably not.