Studio 60 - "Monday"

After being gone for five days, I'm really behind watching my TV shows. This episode of Studio 60 called "Monday" first aired on January 22. I finally finished watching it yesterday, February 6.

Studio 60 is a TV show about a fictional sketch-comedy series on the NBS broadcast network. Aaron Sorkin, the mastermind behind "West Wing" is the producer and main writer. So far, I'm still in limbo whether I really like this show. I keep watching it and it's like I really have no deep feelings toward it yet. Some of the characters I detest and others are okay. The same with the story lines. But this seems to be the same sentiments I have read from TV critics. So I guess I'll keep taping it and see if it improves.

Plot: Danny continues his pursuit of Jordan while Matt competes on an online bid for a date with Harriet. Jack and Wilson must deal with their pending situation about Macau, while Jordan meets with Hallie Gallway regarding a new reality show pitch.

Pam's Review: After a long break, this was definitely a filler episode for the next two shows. We meet Hallie, the new VP for Reality TV telling Jordan she can't just paint all reality shows with the same crappy label. I also like how Hallie shows she's not intimidated by Jordan, a move way overdue.

Fighting to keep the integrity of news is a good plot and I like how Jack is ready to do it. I also enjoy the sadly realistic bit that the board would rather remove Wilson White (Ed Asner) than risk a multi-billion dollar battle, showing Sorkin does indeed realize that in life, money would come before quality for these people.

I wince at them restarting the whole "foreign girl going after Tom" bit again but Jack had a great scene working with them all. The romances seem a bit too much now, especially the online auction and Danny's borderline stalking of Jordan. But at least she calls him on the fact it's more infatuation than real love.

But the highlight of this episode was the Simon/Darius bit. I always found it presumptuous of Simon that it was his duty to give other black comedians a break and save them from the inevitable life on the streets. It makes sense that Darius, an educated writer, doesn't want to be just "the black sketch" writer. That built to one of the best scenes yet where Simon blasts Darius for doing this after all Simon did to save him and Darius fires back "Yassa, Mistuh Simon, you sure is good to us." It's a great thing for Darius to let Simon know that not every black man feels like he does and they don't have to be shoe-horned like this. This is the Aaron Sorkin I've been waiting to see and hopefully the second half of the season will show more of that.