Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip Guide, DVD

Spoiler Warning

Notes on the items of Spoilers for “Studio 60″: 1) “Sides” are pages from the script released to actors who might want to apply/audition for guest roles, 2) Linkage to the Television Without Pity Studio 60 Forum before mid-August 2006, may be to a single “old” forum but as of mid-August, they have a multithread forum.

June 28, 2007

DVD due out October 16

May 27, 2007

We do have up a page on the next episode (May 31), #118 Breaking News.
By the way, we apoliogize for the server problems we experienced over the last few days.

May 26, 2007 Wikipedia lists the last four episodes:

• “K&R - Part I”: “Jordan is rushed into surgery as the situation with Tom’s brother grows more grim.”
• “K&R - Part II”: “Matt’s obsession with Italian opera music poses a threat as Friday night draws near. Danny tries to figure out why he’s getting the cold shoulder from Jordan. Jack has a self-proclaimed nervous breakdown, while the lack of fruit in the studio raises some eyebrows.”
• “We’re Pullin’ Outta Here To Win”: “Network brass try to fire Danny after the comments he made to a magazine. Jordan tries to intervene to save his career while Jack and Matt air their dirty laundry in front of some unsuspecting guests. Relationships in the cast begin to deteriorate as Tom comes to terms with his brother and Harriet begins to realize a career beyond Studio 60. Bruce Springsteen performs.”
• “What Kind of Day Has It Been”: “The series finale. The long night for Danny, Jordan, Tom and Simon comes to an end as Matt and Harriet start a new beginning.”

May 24, 2007 CinamaBlend:

“…according to some rumors the episodes do manage to bring the show to a complete end, unlike poor cancelled ‘Veronica Mars’ for example.”

May 20, 2007 Mindy Kanaskie, the show’s co-producer is quoted in the Post Gazette as saying about the finale:

“‘There’s no cliffhanger…. You’ll be pleased with the ending.’”

May 18, 2007 The Enquirer reports on rising rock star, Gran Bel Fisher:

“Fisher performs his single, ‘Crash and Burn,’ [available on the album ‘Full Moon Cigarette‘] on the May 31 episode of NBC’s… ‘Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.’

“‘The story I heard was that (’Studio 60′ creator) Aaron Sorkin heard the song, and it inspired him to write the episode,’ says Fisher…. In some ways, playing the fake ‘Saturday Night Live’ show is the best way to be ready for the real ‘SNL’ when that chance comes around, Fisher jokes.”

May 17, 2007 This is more news that spoiler but it has been so long, that we wanted to announce this everywhere:

NBC has announced that the May 24 episode will be “The Disaster Show” with Allison Janney as the guest host.

May 13, 2007 - “jeweljss” posted at the Television Without Pity Studio 60 Forum:

“Today’s USA Weekend insert in my local paper [May 6] confirmed that Allison Janney will, in fact, be appearing as a host on the show. According to the article she will be on an episode airing later this month, which I am assuming must be the May 24th episode since this will be the only episode that airs in May.”

May 4, 2007

Wikipedia has possible information about the upcoming episodes. Will Allison Janney really be a guest host?

April 30, 2007 - TV.com on “Breaking News” which is due to be broadcast May 24, 2007

“During a live show, Jordan has problems with her pregnancy while an even bigger problem is in store for Tom. Meanwhile, Matt’s rampant pill use is discovered by a member of staff.”

April 29, 2007 - Wikipedia has information that it claims is about the May 31 episode

Name: “The La Scala Opera”
“Matt’s obsession with Italian opera music poses a threat as Friday night draws near. Danny tries to figure out why he’s getting the cold shoulder from Jordan. Jack has a self-proclaimed nervous breakdown, while the lack of fruit in the studio raises some eyebrows.”

April 28, 2007

Just to remind everyone: Studio 60 returns on Thursday, May 24, 2007

April 19, 2007 - “folktale” posted at the Television Without Pity Studio 60 Forum:

“Kristin was asked about the show in her latest column:
‘Nicole in Troy, Idaho: Anything new on Studio 60?
‘Expect a bomb threat to halt production before the end of the season. And, yes, I�m talking about a storyline here, people!’”

April 16, 2007 - “freeview1″ posted at the Television Without Pity Studio 60 Forum

“I have word from an insider that the last six episodes will air beginning in June.”

February 21, 2007 - Wikipedia has some descriptions of Episodes 21 & 22 but most insiders do not believe these are real spoilers but more probably something someone just made up. People on the Television Without Pity Studio 60 Forum pointed out the odd spelling of the titles and from our standpoint as editors of this site and having followed Sorkin for some time, it doesn’t seem like Sorkin to leave on a downward aspect no matter how disappointed he is in the reaction to the series. Still, we thought you might be interested in seeing even what we believe is false information since it comes from a widly used source that keeps insisting they are reputable even though universities are in the news this week refusing to allow Wikipedia.com as a reference in papers and exams.

21. “The Good Bye”: “After a lawsuit Matt is upset with Harriet and is pushing her over the edge. Jordan tells Danny a shocking truth.”
22. “The Good Bye Pt. 2″: “Harriet walks off the show during the broadcast and causes the season to be over. Matt is found taking pills and fired. Danny is mess after what Jordan told him and Jordan’s job is up for grabs after a NBS disaster.”

February 20, 2007 - We do not know when we will get new spoilers:

While the show is in hiatus, there may be a lack of spoilers or maybe there will be more time for spoilers to get to people. We can only wait and see what comes up during the next couple of months. If you want, you can sign up to be notified when this page changes by clicking here: Receive email when this page changes - most of our pages have such a link at the bottom of the page above the text links.

February 5, 2007 (2^nd) - Daniel Kurland sent us the following information about #114 “The Harriet Dinner, Part II” to which he gives a score of 10 out of 10:

Teleplay by: Aaron Sorkin
Story by: Mark Goffman and Dana Calvo
Directed by: John Fortenberry
Description: “Cal tries to get the ferret (with the snake in it) out of the studio; Tom tries to deal with a drunken Kim, and fix what is left with Lucy; Matt and Harriet argue about their relationship (past tense); Jordan and Danny continue to stay stuck on the roof”
The Good Parts: “The ‘Acts of cruelty, disguised as cuteness’ line is not only true, but has shades of Dan Rydell’s line to Dana Whitaker on Sports Night regarding her ‘acts of insanity, disguised as cuteness’, all of the stuff regarding throwing rocks off the roof and field hockey, drunken Kim, the realistic nature, many callbacks, crushing tone, and future implications of Matt and Harriet’s fight, the Mexican standoff of the three animals, Matthew Perry’s perfect performance as someone in love with someone who has feelings for someone else, Cal’s ‘honesty’, Jordan’s magic, Matt’s probably ad-libbed version of Natalie Cole’s song, Peet is so good at this point in my opinion, I honestly can’t think of how people had a problem with her to begin with, the fact that it’s better than ‘The Christmas Show’, the ending.”
Quotes: “That’s the worst lie you’ve ever told”, “A man down there that is both housing and employment challenged”, “It’s going to clang”, “That was hubris”, “Who will kill me with his thumbs”, “And I will be performing selected scenes from ‘Weekend at Bernies’”, “A lot of women would have found that charming”, “And when I find these animals, I’m going to cook them, and I’m going to eat them”, “I’ve got it in my room” “Who are you, Sinatra?”, “You breathe it in, and you die”, “I bet Hallie Galloway can’t do magic”, “Why do you pretend you don’t speak English?” “It’s fun”,

February 5, 2007 (1^st) - “Sarah” posted at the this on the Aaron Sorkin Yahoo Group - From the Boston Herald By Herald wire services Tuesday, January 30, 2007:

Art imitating life
“MATTHEW PERRY is no stranger to addiction, and according to TV Guide’s upcoming issue, his ‘Studio 60′ character won’t be either. ‘Matt begins taking - illegally - prescription painkillers, muscle relaxers and anti-anxiety medication to fight through a sudden and profound depression,’ the series creator Aaron Sorkin reveals, referring to Perry’s variety comedy show writer, Matt Albie. ‘It’s brought on by an argument with Harriet and his subsequent difficulty writing.’ Perry has battled a real-life addiction to painkillers off and on for years.

January 30, 2007 - “Ewokmonster” posted at the Television Without Pity Studio 60 Forum “From the February 5-11 issue of TV Guide, Criminal Minds is on my cover”:

“Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip takes a dramatic turn February 12 when Matthew Perry’s character, the head writer of a fictional SNL-like show, ‘begins taking prescription painkillers, muscle relaxants and anti-anxiety medication to fight through… depression brought on by an argument with Harriet and his subsequent difficulty writing,’ according to exec producer Aaron Sorkin.”

January 29, 2007 - - Sorkin defends ‘Studio 60′ - Written January 22, 2007

“Bradley Whitford’s character is a recovering cocaine addict, and Perry’s character will begin abusing pills in upcoming episodes. But Sorkin readily acknowledges that his version of life at ‘SNL’ is much less dysfunctional than what we know about the real thing….
“In addition to the drug storyline for Perry’s character, Sorkin wants to focus more on romantic comedy and the show’s two main quasi-couples: Matt and Harriet, and Danny and Jordan.”

January 28, 2007 - Daniel Kurland sent us the following information about #113 “The Harriet Dinner” to which he gives a score of 8 out of 10:

Teleplay by: Aaron Sorkin
Story by: Eli Attie
Directed by: Timothy Busfield
“The pieces from last week start coming into place with Tom having to date Kim instead of Lucy to help Jack out; Jordan continues to butt heads with Hallie Galloway; Matt keeps bidding for Harriet; Simon and Darius have words; Danny contemplates whether he should give up on Jordan or not; Cal deals with some snakes.”
Good parts: “Tom in more silly costumes, plenty of Cal, Matt and Danny’s ability to not talk about work all the time, the entire first viper conversation and everything about the vipers in general, the entire Tom and Lucy conversation (minus the lying), the Icetruck Killer not playing the Icetruck Killer, how ridiculously cute Lucy is, the fact that it didn’t take until part 3 to ‘get to Thursday’, the whole dinner situation (Tom/Kim, Harriet and her two ‘men’), Danny attacking snakes, all the situations in this episode were particularly enjoyable and fun”
Regrets about the episode: “may not be the most quotable episode, but that hardly means it isn’t a good episode, the fact that we don’t have part three now.”

January 27, 2007 - Bogger 60 on the Sunset Strip referenced a Reuters article: Low-rated “Studio 60″ a hit with music biz which discusses the boast some musicians have gotten from appearing on the show and then says:

“On February 5, Natalie Cole will perform on the show (within the show), singing a version of the Burt Bacharach/Hal David classic ‘I Say a Little Prayer.’ It’s a song that could have easily appeared on her new album of covers, “Leavin’.”

This new version of “I Say a Little Prayer” was created and conceived by faith-based company Good News Holdings for the launch of its Save My Life initiative (http://www.savemylife.org). The not-for-profit Save My Life raises funds and awareness for children affected and infected by AIDS in Africa.

Cole’s appearance on “Studio 60″ arrives six nights before the 49th annual Grammy Awards, where the singer is nominated in the best female R&B vocal performance category for “Day Dreaming.” (editor’s note: “Day Dreaming” is on the Leavin album and a section can be listened to on the Amazon page.)

January 26, 2007 - RBC-TV has spoilers:

• The Return: Matt has to write for a whole new person when an old cast member returns to host the show. Meanwhile, one of the current cast members has to deal with the past.
• The Harriet Dinner: While Matt and Harriet’s relationship takes a trun for the worse Danny manages to win Jordan over when the two are locked on a roof together. Jack uses an unusual strategy to take on his board of directors. Jordan is threatened by a new executive brought in to head up alternative programming.

January 22, 2007

Preview of tonight’s episode.

January 21, 2007 - Daniel Kurland sent us the following information about #112 “Monday (1)” to which he gives a score of 7 out of 10:

Teleplay by: Aaron Sorkin
Story by: Dana Cavlo and David Handelman
Directed by:Lawrence Trilling
“The Studio 60 cast returns over Christmas break, and Danny tries to get things moving with him and Jordan; Matt obsesses over an auctioned-date for Harriet; Jack and Wilson White deal with their FCC issues; and Jordan faces off with Hallie Galloway (Stephanie Childers), the new Head of Alternative
Programming”
Good Parts: “The way this episode really feels like a season premiere, Sorkin’s obvious awareness of what wasn’t working over the break, and focusing more on relationships instead of the sketches, the subtle way Jordan remembered Danny over the break, versus his exact opposite method, Matt’s distracted nature at the writing meeting, BossSexy, Whitford, Weber, Dolphin Girl, How Hallie Galloway seems to be the exact opposite of Jordan McDeere, and the following tension between them, Matt’s frantic-ness towards the auction and Danny’s frantic-ness towards Jordan, the more of Lucy shown, the more I like her, Jack killing time while the opera ends, at the end of the episode I wanted to really see how the rest of this works out”
Daniel Kurland also said that this episode “feels more like it’s setting things up (and I suppose this makes sense as it’s the first of a three-parter).”

January 18, 2007 - Aaron Sorkin tells journalists:

“When the show returns Monday with a two-month run of new episodes, ‘we happen to be falling into a period where there�s a lot of romantic comedy on the show,’ Mr. Sorkin said Tuesday during a meeting with television journalists on the show�s set at the Warner Brothers studio in Burbank….

“The emerging interoffice romances will revolve around several of the show�s main characters: Matt Albie, played by Matthew Perry, will rekindle his romance with Harriet Hayes, played by Sarah Paulson, while Bradley Whitford�s character, Danny Tripp, will disclose his relationship with his boss, Jordan McDeere, played by the obviously pregnant Amanda Peet.”

January 10, 2007 TV Guide’s Ask Ausiello answered a question about Laura Innes leaving “ER” with:

“…come back to TVGuide.com Friday morning to read Ileane Rudolph’s exclusive interview with Innes. In it, she reveals why she’s checking out of County General and what’s next on her plate. (Hint: It involves Aaron Sorkin.)”

December 18, 2006 - “HungryHippo2004″ posted at the Television Without Pity Studio 60 Forum a link to an interview with Christian Camargo (who plays Rudy on Showtime’s Dexter and who will guest star on “Studio 60″):

“I was just asked to do a turn on Studio 60, and when I showed up on the set, everyone wouldn’t stop talking about [his role of “a homicidal maniac” on “Dexter”]. It was like being a rock star on that set…. I played a guy playing Keith Richards. Sarah Paulson’s character gets a movie outside the show. She plays the girl who married all the Rolling Stones, and I was Keith. It was hysterical. I got to dress up and do the accent. They were all really great there.”

December 13, 2006 TV Guide’s Ask Ausiello answered request for info on Studio 60 with:

“Big two-part episode coming up on Jan. 29 and Feb. 5 titled ‘The Harriet Dinner.’ Per my Studio mole, Harriet and Matt’s relationship takes a turn for the worse, and thus begins Matt’s downward spiral into darkness. Danny, meanwhile, manages to win Jordan over when the two are locked on a roof together. On the business side, Jordan is threatened by a new executive brought in to head up alternative programming, and Jack uses an unusual strategy to take on his board of directors.”

December 9, 2006

Not exactly a spoiler but just for those concerned that the show won’t be on for the next few weeks, the next episode is January 8, 2007. Oh and with Christmas approaching you might want to check out the NBC official merchandise and other things on our Merchandise page.

December 5, 2006 - TV Guide’s Ausiello Report by Michael Ausiello has an exclusive:

” Masi Oka…. The Heroes breakout time traveler will play himself in an episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Per my spies, Masi � who shoots his scenes tomorrow � will pull a Lauren Graham and host Studio’s show-within-a show.

“More to come in Wednesday’s Ask Ausiello.”

December 3, 2006 (2^nd) - Dave Walker reports in The Times-Picayune of New Orleans:

“Troy ‘Trombone Shorty’ Andrews will make his acting debut on national television during Monday night’s episode of ‘Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,’ which will conclude with a band of New Orleans musicians playing a Christmas carol.
“In the episode… multi-instrumentalist Andrews plays a New Orleans evacuee drafted to sub for one of the trumpet players in the show’s house band.
“The story then expands to include a reunion of displaced New Orleans musicians for the show’s finale.
“In a telephone interview, Schlamme said Andrews and the rest of the group — which includes tubist Kirk Joseph, drummer Bob French and trumpeter Mervin ‘Kid Merv’ Campbell, among others — were assembled with the help of Bill Taylor of the Tipitina’s Foundation….
“‘Aaron was interested, first and foremost, in the emotional story of these guys,’ director Schlamme said of his writer-partner Sorkin….”

December 3, 2006 (1^st) - Daniel Kurland sent us the following about #111 “The Christmas Story” to which he gives a score of 9 out of 10:

Teleplay by: Aaron Sorkin
Story by: Christina Kiang Booth and Cinque Henderson
Directed by:Dan Attias
“Danny helps Jordan deal with her pregnancy and his feelings; Matt tries to instill Christmas spirit in all; Harriet gets a movie offer; Jack deals with the FCC”
The best parts:“Bradley Whitford gets the Emmy for this episode, Sorkin keeps up the tradition of having great Christmas episodes, Mark McKinney is back as Andy, plenty of Jack, Cal, and Andy, Matt’s Christmas tree, Jack’s entrance, Jack’s reaction to Jordan’s pregnancy, Matt trying to get Danny to admit he likes Jordan, Cal and a coconut, Simon and Tom fighting for Lucy, Matt and Harriet arguing over his stomach, The anti-semetic Santa, The ‘To Catch a Predator’ sketch is actually a really clever idea, all of the dissecting of Christmas and why it makes no sense, also bringing in Joshua Malina as Jordan’s ex-boyfriend at this point would be a great idea, did I mention Bradley Whitford?”
Some of the best Quotes:“The reuse of ‘fraction of a man’, ‘That can’t be you’, ‘No’, ‘It’s an Alaskan king crab that does that’, ‘If he was, he’d be here.’, ‘We can put your tree on stage and it’ll just be like Dickensian London’, ‘How is it that I’m the only Jew in a writing room?’, ‘SCREW Christmas?’, ‘Bubbles?’, ‘I’m gonna get a gun, I swear to God I am’, ‘With the eyes and the face, and everything’, ‘I’m not even talking to anyone right now’, ‘Aren’t you like 100 years old?’ ‘Aren’t you like only marginally callous?’, ‘GO WRITE’ ‘OKAY’, ‘Abs of granite’, ‘Flavius Josephson’, ‘We do live here now.’”

December 2, 2006 (2^nd) For anyone else who can’t watch the video (see link to video in previous post) one of our readers sent us the answer:

Nancy D. emailed us info on Jordan’s baby’s father
“The father is the guy from the Insurance company who told Jordan about Danny’s drug test.”

Yahoo TV has a clip that reveals who the daddy is.
Editor’s note: Clip won’t play for me. If someone will email the revelation, I will post it here.

November 26, 2006 -Daniel Kurland sent us the following about #110 “B-12″ to which he gives a score of 8 out of 10:

Written by: Eli Attie and Aaron Sorkin
Directed by: Bryan Gordan
“A virus infects the staff during a rehearsal; Martha O’Dell returns; Jordan does an interview about her personal life; Matt brings back an old writer to help Lucy and Darius.”
“The Good Parts”: “Just a bit to note, I know I say this a lot, but if you’ve given up on this show for whatever reason, please give it a chance again. Last week’s episode was probably the best, and this one is also great; there’s no focus on religion, there’s great banter, everyone gets a lot to do, the jokes are funny, the emotions are genuine, and there’s a new story featured in the episode that proves that the people on the show do not think that they’re the most important people in the world. It may be moot, but this show was good, but it’s now great, and I’m glad there’s still another 12 episodes this year….
Getting back to things here: “Mark McKinney gets to act and plays an awesome character, Darius and Lucy become even better and real characters this week, a glimpse of Jeannie’s ass and a shot of Harriet in her bra, The difficulty of hearing over a long table and the eunsuing “I’m Sorry”’s, the spit-take competition and Matt’s reaction, I’m loving the growing focus on Danny as opposed to Matt (I have nothing against Matt, but Whitford is great) and it’s been a subtle enough transition, Harriet’s inability to tell a joke.
Noted Quotes: “Dilbert27 at Aint-It-Cool-News writes…”, “What happened?” “Real life”, “Could these lights be any hotter?” “No, this is as hot as they get”, “I think she’s mocking you”, “Flawless impersonation”, “I don’t find anything funny”, “I’ll take the hell out of you”, “He’s trying to get a riff going, don’t feed the fire”, “You know, one day Chevy Chase woke up and he just wasn’t funny”, “It’s like watching a drunken man cross an icy street”, “I think she’s mocking you”, “Stand right there for another minute” “Why?” “For the metaphor”, “I’m a medical marvel”

November 19, 2006 -Daniel Kurland sent us the following about #109 “The Option Period” to which he gives a score of 9 out of 10:

“Teleplay by Aaron Sorkin,
Story by Christina Kiang Booth and Mark Goffman
Directed by: John Fortenberry
“Jordan tells Danny that he needs to fire 15 people due to budget cuts; Matt worries over the possibility of Ricky and Ron leaving the show; Harriet argues with Tom and Simon over doing a scantily-clad photo shoot”
“My favorite moment from the entire series takes place in this episode, it involves Matt and Danny predicting when Jordan’s phone will ring, and they might as well be Dan and Casey in these 10 seconds, Danny and Jordan, Danny in general, Cal’s distraction with a basketball game, Ricky and Ron, some of the best dialogue happens this week:
“Quentin Tarantino’s hallmark movie, ‘Turkey Won’t Die’”, “What do you need?”, “I was raised on a heroin dealership”, “I didn’t know it was in confidence” “So when I said, ‘I have something to tell you in confidence’…”, “Thanks to me” “How is it thanks to you?” “I suppose it’s not”, “Woah there, nugget”, “This I cannot do”, “Are any of you particular to ‘Peripheral Vision Man’?”, “Oh how I love the Eastern witty voice”, “That’s not the bible, that’s Robert Frost”.
“After Steven Webber’s wonderful performance last week, the complete absence of Jack Rudolph is noted and missed.”

November 13, 2006 - On the subject of why Tom Jeter was speeding:

See our Questions section of the page on Nevada Day, Part II

November 12, 2006 - Daniel Kurland sent us the following about #108 “Nevada Day, Part 2″ to which he gives a score of 8 out of 10:

Teleplay by Aaron Sorkin
Story by David Handleman and Cinque Henderson
Directed by Timothy Busfield
Plot: “Jordan deals with her quote about not wanting kids; Harriet deals with her apparent homophobia; Matt tries putting a new guy on the News 60 desk; Everyone in Pahrump tries to get back to work”
His view of the good parts: “Half-Way House Cafe, Matt disagreeing with Harriet, Jack dealing with the camera, Jack’s rant at the end, more arguing with Jack and Danny, and Jack in general, John Goodman’s fixation on Simon’s hair, John Goodman in
general, the way characters are standing up for each other more, and becoming nicer, more ‘real’ people.”
Quotes: “Is Tom in jail in a Marx Brothers’ movie?”, “Cheeses of Nazareth”, “I’m in the middle of an episode of Walker Texas Ranger”, “I’m homophobic in the way that makes sense”, “Wanna talk about it some more?”, “Whaddaya know, I’m Agatha Christie”, “We’re not being slowed down by the fact that you’re making chicken caesar salad for everyone?”, “Can’t really break a newspaper”, “YOU’RE THE ONE WHO STARTLED ALL OF THIS!”

November 11, 2006 - “HungryHippo2004″ posted at the Television Without Pity Studio 60 Forum

• “From Starz Casting, info on a role being cast in… 1.11…
  “[HALLIE GALLAGHER] 30s, any ethnicity. Sharp, savvy, ballsy. Hired as the Head of Alternative Programming, she has her ear to the ground and knows what will make great unscripted television. She can play office politics with the best of them, but eventually lets Jordan know that she’s a serious rival for programming time. RECURRING ROLE, please submit actresses with very strong credits.”
• “Coming Soon says that Christine Lahti will appear in two upcoming episodes.”

November 9, 2006 - Studio 60 has been renewed

See the NBC Official Press Released

November 6, 2006 -Daniel Kurland sent us the following about #107 “Nevada Day, Part 1″ to which he gives a score of 8 out of 10:

“Teleplay by Aaron Sorkin, Story by Mark McKinney (”Kids in the Hall”)”
Directed by Two People! Timothy Busfield and Lesli Linka Glatter (”Twin Peaks”, “West Wing”)
Plot: “Tom gets arrested by a small town judge (John Goodman); Harriet copes with a truncated quote from her involving gay marriage; Jack and Wilson try to seal a deal with some Chinese”
His view of the good parts: “John Goodman in general, the way the story is told, Hariett and Tom’s confrontation with the ‘gang’, Jack’s eagerness to accept blame for the questionable sketch, Jack’s scene on the phone, Jack’s conversation with Danny about Jordan, this may not be the most quotable episode, but it’s definitely got one of the strongest stories in my opinion, and I’m glad it’s being explained over two weeks, the mystery as to why Tom was speeding.”
Quotes: “Yeah, we’ve got legal brothels.”, “You don’t see me asking the cast of CSI: Miami to wear yamacas.”, “You see how I did that?”, “Where the hell have you been?” “BREAKFAST!”, “Seriously, is this a sketch?”, “What we have here is a domino situation.”, “You don’t like kids or dogs?” “Or orphans, is that bad?”, “The cast of a Fellini film is on a plane to Pahrump, Nevada”, “Did you have three years of law school this morning?”

October 30, 2006 - “HungryHippo2004″ posted at the Television Without Pity Studio 60 Forum

“Very small tidbit from Starz Casting about 1.10 (including the pilot as 1.01):

“[LUKE SCOTT] Early 40s, with a well-manicured scruffiness, this successful film director is smart, confident, and persuasive. When Luke offers Harriet the role of a lifetime in his upcoming feature, Matt doubts that his motives are purely professional…GUEST STAR”

October 22, 2006 (3^rd) - “themightylaur” posted at the Television Without Pity Studio 60 Forum “Received this week’s copy of EW [Entertainment Weekly] in the mail and they list Studio 60 as one of their top five new shows to watch, along with some spoilers:”

“Sorkin hints that exes Matt and Harriet ‘each find someone else while still looking at each other,’ while Danny and Jordan ‘enter into something interesting.’ (Sorkin will also incorporate Peet’s real-life pregnancy.) The sketch show’s ratings go south; Larry David, Beyonce, and Jessica Simpson may cameo, and John Goodman appears as a judge in a small town where Studio star Tom (Nate Corddry) gets arrested.”

October 22, 2006 (2^nd) - from Daniel Kurland (”Ain’t It Cool News Review“) about #106 “The Wrap Party”:

“Continuing directly after 1.5, the cast celebrates their wrap party for their show; Danny assembles three women for the purpose of getting Matt’s mind off Harriet; A drunken Jordan hides from Jack with the Studio 60 cast; Tom’s parents visit; Cal deals with a mysterious man caught backstage of the show; Simon tries to convince Matt to hire more black writers.
What’s Good About It?
All the banter between Matt and the three girls, Simon’s confrontation with Matt, The background we get on Tom’s life, The Sorkin-like tradition of fathers not getting along with their sons, Simon’s expression during Willy Wills’s stand up.”

October 22, 2006 (1^st) about Jessica Simpson being on Studio 60:

“Not so fast say Jess’ camp. It’s a ‘false rumor’ her reps told us, and they ‘don’t know where that came from.’

A rep for ‘Studio 60′ says that production does not have Simpson ‘on the books.’”

October 20, 2006 “Jessica “Simpson will play herself as a musical guest”:

“According to Life and Style Magazine, Sorkin wrote the part especially for Simpson. The remaining fans of Studio 60 may find that fact to be a bitter irony, as the show’s pilot began with a scathing evisceration of network television and its need to pander to the lowest common denominator.”

October 19, 2006 “NY Post story by Michael Starr:

“Jessica Simpson, meanwhile, is set to make a cameo on NBC’s “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” according to Life & Style - which reports that Simpson will play the musical guest on the show- within-the-show in an episode scheduled for November sweeps. An insider tells Life & Style that series creator Aaron Sorkin wrote the part specifically for Simpson.”

October 18, 2006 “Matt Webb Mitovich
reports in TV Guide:

“…Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip has decided to incorporate the real-life pregnancy of cast member Amanda Peet, who plays network exec Jordan, E! News reports….

“A Studio 60 producer says that when the show-within-a-show’s entire cast is getting B-12 shots, Jordan refuses, and after much pressuring, admits she’s in a family way. Minus the family.”

October 15, 2006 - from Daniel Kurland (”Ain’t It Cool News Review“) about #105 “The Long Lead Story” (to which he gave 4.5 stars out of 5 - last week’s episode he gave 3 stars out of 5 to):

“Martha Odell tries to find an interesting piece of reporting on the topic of Matt and Harrett; Jordan and Jack disagree over a new reality show pitched to the network….

“Lauren Graham is the fictional host of the week (albeit sparsely), with Sting as the fictional musical guest, Martha Odell from last week gets a lot more screen time, we learn a lot about Harriett’s life, and Wilson White (Ed
Asner), someone with possibly more authority than both Jack and Jordan, makes his first appearance since the pilot.”

October 14, 2006:

A clip from Monday night’s episode and another of an interview are up on the TV Guide site.“

October 13, 2006 (2^nd) - “gossipcom” posted at the Television Without Pity Studio 60 Forum the following link:

“Access Hollywood clip“

October 13, 2006 (1^st) - “CafeRene” posted at the Television Without Pity Studio 60 Forum:

“From Kristin @ eonline…
“You heard Sting is guest-starring, right? Pretty sweet! Also, coming up, Matt and Danny will continue to push the envelope with somewhat scandalous sketches a la Crazy Christians. I�m hearing something about terrorists plotting their next attack on the U.S. Jordan will continue to fight the network brass and the affiliates on their behalf, and she�ll get caught in the crossfire.”

October 8, 2006 - from Daniel Kurland (”Ain’t It Cool News“) about #104 “The West Coast Delay”:

“Matt stresses over Hariett when he learns she’s gone on a date with a pitcher; Jordan stresses over her ex-husbands eminent book on their personal life; and the Studio 60 cast stresses over 90 seconds worth of material they use that ends up to be plagiarized….

“Martha Odell (Christine Lahti) comes on board as a reporter doing a story on Studio 60, Darren Wells (Teddy
Sears), a pitcher is introduced who seems like he’ll be sticking around for a while, and a new member of the writing staff is briefly seen, played by Lucy Davis (BBC’s ‘The Office’)….

“What�s Good About It?
“…the fact that Thomas Schlamme’s wife, Christine Lahti, is playing a character that the character who is arguably based on Thomas Schlamme seems to be showing an interest in….”

October 2, 2006 - “Escardonme” posted at the Television Without Pity Studio 60 Forum quoted “Ain’t It Cool News” about “The Focus Group:

“What�s It About?
“A focus group leads the company to think that Matt and Danny�s success may not last and that the show is unpatriotic; Some information about a drunk driving incident Jordan was involved in eight years ago leaks.

“What�s New?
“Rob Reiner ‘hosts’ this week, and Gwen Stefani is the musical guest (in spite of her not appearing) Simon and Hariet anchor News60 with Tom overlooking the writing for it, and the main impressionist cast member (his name isn�t mentioned) gets some air time, we actually see an entire show run through including many sketches.”

September 25, 2006 - “HungryHippo2004″ posted at the Television Without Pity Studio 60 Forum:

“Barely a spoiler, but during ‘The Cold Open’, as Matt and Danny are walking from NBS headquarters to Studio 60, the front of the building says that Gwen Stefani will be the musical guest the week Rob Reiner is guest host.”

September 22, 2006 - “threeinchheels” posted at the New Television Without Pity Studio 60 Forum Site a link to future info from Time Magazine:

“In Episode 2, Matt has to come up with a knock-’em-dead opening sketch for his first show. His idea is–wait for it–a Pirates of Penzance parody. Studio 60 treats it like comic genius….

“As always, Sorkin proves he can make dialogue skip rope. When a detractor calls Matt and Danny ‘Barbra Streisand–loving,’ Matt asks, ‘Was she calling us Hollywood liberals, or was she calling us gay?’ Danny: ‘It’s a fine distinction.’”

September 21, 2006 - “threeinchheels” posted at the New Television Without Pity Studio 60 Forum Site a link to an article called “NCSA Chancellor To Appear On NBC’s ‘Studio 60′”:

“The chancellor of the North Carolina School of the Arts will appear next week on a new NBC drama series.

“John Mauceri will play himself on ‘Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,’ NBC’s show that airs Monday at 10 p.m. on WXII 12. The show opened this week to critical acclaim.

“Executive producer-writer Aaron Sorkin and Emmy Award-winning executive producer-director Thomas Schlamme asked Mauceri to be on ‘Studio 60′ because they are fans, having seen him conduct at the Hollywood Bowl a number of times. Mauceri just concluded his 16th and final season as the director of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra; he now assumes the title of founding director.”

September 17, 2006 - on YouTube:

Perry and Whitford Interviewed by an NBC affliate station (and check out the other videos available from this same page).

September 15, 2006 - RBC: “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” offers these Spoilers:

Upcoming Episodes (Different and New information)

104. The West Coast Delay (Premiere date: 10.09.2006)
105. The Long Lead Story (Premiere date: unknown)
106. The Wrap Party (Premiere date: unknown)

September 11, 2006 - N.Y. Times: “�West Wing� to West Coast: TV�s Auteur Portrays TV” (Aaron Sorkin):

“‘You�ll never see a sketch for no reason,’ Mr. Sorkin said, ‘and you�ll never see it full-on the way a television audience would see it on �S.N.L.� Rob Reiner, who did a guest thing for us, said this was a great setup because you only have to do the good parts. You don�t have to end the sketch, just do the good parts and get out.’”

September 9, 2006 - Entertainment Weekly: “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip”

“Matthew Perry � who returns to series TV playing Studio 60’s head writer � shoots a scene where he argues with his ex-girlfriend, cast member Harriet (Deadwood’s Sarah Paulson), over a joke about a small Missouri town that cancels a school production of Grease! for moral reasons. Harriet wants the gag cut, and launches into a crackling, incisive, 25-second rebuttal with at least 50 seconds’ worth of words: ‘[It’s] a town of fewer than 4,000 people, more than half the adult population works in the Hanover bakery plant, and the average income is $18,000 a year, or roughly the same thing I’ll be paid to perform this show tonight. Why are we making fun of them?’ Her speech continues, touching on politics, intolerance, and governmental hypocrisy. Sorkin, who’s sitting by a monitor watching Paulson’s close-up, nods and smiles.”

September 3, 2006

We now have two promos on this site.

September 2, 2006

A longer promo of the scene there was a piece of in the promo shown on the Emmys has turned up on Market My Monkey called “How does a grown-up dress, anyways?”.

August 20, 2006 “HungryHippo2004″ posted at the New Television Without Pity Studio 60 Forum Site about a whole bunch of character descriptions for episode 5:

• [MRS. JETER] Caucasian, mid-50s, midwestern, salt of the earth. Tom’s (Nathan Corddry) mother, she’s visiting from Columbus, Ohio and has come to watch the show. Genuine and loving, she is thrilled to see her little boy in action, but is less happy with the risque talk around the set. She finds herself in the familiar position of peacemaker between Tom and his father… GUEST STAR
• [MR. JETER] Caucasian, 50s, midwestern, stoic. Tom’s (Nathan Corddry) father, he and his wife have come to Los Angeles to visit their youngest son. Mr. Jeter rarely shows much emotion, but the stress of being in unfamiliar surroundings, and putting up with Tom’s smart-aleck manners, leads to a bit of an outburst… GUEST STAR
• [DARIUS HAWTHORNE] African-American, 19 years old (please don’t submit actors under 18 years old). Intelligent and well-spoken, this budding comic is having a very unsuccessful set at a stand-up club… RECURRING GUEST STAR
• [WILLY] African-American, 30s. This outspoken comedian is a master of crowd-pleasing, if unoriginal, jokes that play on racial stereotypes. Please submit actors with stand-up comedy experience. GUEST STAR / CO-STAR
• [SECURITY OFFICERS] Any ethnicity, 30s- 40s. These security professionals have apprehended an old man in the Studio 60 lobby. They join Cal in trying to figure out what the old man’s mutterings could mean… CO-STARS
• [LACI, SHANA, AND TREASURE] 20s, any ethnicity, very sexy. These lovely ladies are fans of Studio 60 and have come to the wrap party. They’ve been dating in the rock scene and are hoping to meet more mature guys… NICE CO-STAR ROLES
• [POSSE BOYS] 20s, any ethnicity. Full-time entourage, these guys hang out with Darren Wells, a major- league baseball pitcher. They do everything from security to keeping a bag of baseballs for him to sign… CO-STARS
• [MC] Any ethnicity, this stand-up comedian is the MC at the Improv… please submit stand-up comedians only.
• David Semel is directing, Aaron Sorkin is writing.

August 20, 2006 “HungryHippo2004″ posted at the New Television Without Pity Studio 60 Forum Site about 1.02, The Cold Open:

• “We open at the home of Matt Albie. Despite his back surgery he’s working out on a machine (after all, he plays with pain). Also at his home is a woman by the name of Jeannie. As we’ll later learn, Jeannie is a castmember on Studio 60 (and likely played by Ayda Field). They’re bantering about his workout and a fruit juice he’s trying to make. Turns out that Matt has been sleeping for 28 hours, waking only twice - once to ask if the Yankees won, and once to have ex with Jeannie (the latter occurred because the former did). In his doped up state, Matt has thought that rejoining Studio 60 was a dream. This illusion is shattered when he hears it being discussed on the radio.
• “(This opening scene seems to have been cut, as the revised scenes have the second episode beginning with Matt at Studio 60)
• “Back at Studio 60, Jeannie puts her foot in it with Harriet by accidentally telling her that she and Matt are sleeping together. This doesn’t go down well with Harriet at all (and more than likely leads to her storming into Matt’s meeting and calling him a whoremonger). Jeannie and Harriet soon make up.
• “Jeannie is not having a good week though. She’s pitched a sketch to Matt which he liked, but it fell flat with a focus group. Jeannie is desperate for Matt to cut the sketch but he refuses, saying he’ll give her $10000 if the rating from the focus group improves.
• “Meanwhile, Danny has a crisis of his own - the guest host is Mark Wahlberg and the musical guest is The White Stripes. However, Jack White falls ill leaving Danny struggling to find cover (this seems to be resolved by instead using an orchestra, but it’s a little unclear in the sides).
• “Jordan isn’t having a great day at the office either. Still settling into her job, she first has to endure the press conference announcing the hiring of Danny and Matt. In the conference Danny reveals his cocaine addiction to a shocked press. The ‘Crazy Christians’ sketch is still causing a massive headache. A network affiliate has threatened to pull their coverage of Studio 60 unless Jordan gets the sketch cut. This would involve her going back on her promise to Matt and Danny, but in not doing so she faces the threat of a massive backlash of a contingent of conservative christians which threatens to snowball.
• “We learn Jordan may have had a bit of a rocky past. Her ex-husband is releasing a book with lots of details on her, and is going on Geraldo. It’s unclear how much is true, but Jordan admits that some is. Some of the accusations include a DUI and visits to sex clubs.
• “There’s not a lot else, but we do see the writers (led by Ricky and Ron) trying to pitch some sketches. They finally create a decent one which is used on ‘News 60′ which is presented by Simon and Harriet.
• “It’s also possible that Martha Moyer makes her debut in this episode. In one of the sides Jordan mentions going over to Studio 60 to check on Martha. For those who don’t know who Martha is, she was an important character in the pilot script who didn’t make it to filming. In the script Martha was a journalist with the L.A Times who was on a date with Danny. She seemed to be an important character and it looked like she was going to reappear.

August 17, 2006 According to Glark at the Television Without Pity Forum Site (where Sorkin posted a couple of times early on in the history of the West Wing until things happened and then he referred to the forum in a West Wing episode where Josh went to a site devoted to him and was ordered by C.J. afterwards never to go anywhere near it again):

“In episode 2 some of the Studio 60 staff goes online to see what people are saying about Wes’s breakdown. I don’t know what they say (I’m sure it’s full of references to internet people being chain smoking loons) but I cleared TWoP for use in this scene so if you posted in the Wes thread and if it doesn’t get cut and if the camera was close enough your post may be on the show…. I’m not 100% TWoP will even be on the show but there you have it.”

August 16, 2006

Review of the pilot episode And this site also links to a page with 100 screen shots of the pilot which you can also view as a slideshow.

August 14, 2006

Check out this picture from “CrossMyMind-LiveJournal” of a scene between Danny and Matt in some upcoming episode.

July 25, 2006

NBC has made available the artwork from the DVD of the pilot: available in early August from NetFlix.   (See cover image above.)

July 11, 2006 - “HungryHippo2004″ posted at the Television Without Pity’s Studio 60 “Old” Forum:

“Netflix have the Studio 60 pilot available for renting (on a DVD along with Kidnapped). I’m not a Netflix member so can’t see any release dates, but someone on one of the other Aaron Sorkin boards say it’s August 8th. Good marketing idea by NBC and it means that the pilot will be available for download within a month! Also you can see a nice Studio 60 poster on the Netflix page for it.”

July 8, 2006 (3^rd) - “Ozzyols” posted at the Television Without Pity’s Studio 60 Forum:

That NBC also has new videos up on its First Look Site

July 8, 2006 (2^nd) - “rachel1707uk” posted at the Television Without Pity’s Studio 60 Forum a link to an interview with D.L. Hughley in the Denver Post:

“‘This is certainly the most challenging thing I’ve ever done in my life,’ Hughley said of ‘Studio 60.’ ‘It’s a drama in that it’s a realistic view at what life is like behind a sketch-comedy show.

“‘But it’s more of a hybrid to me because it has the weight of a drama but the cadence of a sitcom,’ he said. ‘It’s the best thing I’ve ever read.’”

(editor’s note: the forum currently has about 250 pages, so you may want to click on the double arrows and go to the current page and go backwards from there.)

July 8, 2006 (1^st) - You might want to check out the link below and bookmark it as it seems NBC is going to be making a lot of clips/promos/videos available here:

NBC’s promo page on YouTube

July 6, 2006 - San Francisco Chronicle: Steven Weber By BRIDGET BYRNE, For The Associated Press Thursday, July 6, 2006

“‘During a scene in the pilot I had to walk though a lot of background actors and they were either directed to be afraid of me, or they just were. Because it was like the seas parted and they were flinching. It was really empowering,’ Weber says, laughing, noting it’s a change for him to play an authoritarian figure.”

For some detailed spoilers on the Second Episode:

Spoiler items for Studio 60.

July 2, 2006 (more) - See more clips of “Studio 60″:

iFilm TV Clips

July 2, 2006 - The Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip blog has information about episode 2

(Some of this may be from “casting sides” that are made available so actors can apply for roles that haven’t yet been cast.) Below are direct quotes from a June posting at the Studio 60 Blog:

• “Danny is apparently regarded as smarter than Matt, although he doesn’t know as much about commedia dell’arte (which I suggest everyone learn about, since I’m a big commedia dell’arte fan and am glad Sorkin referenced it!)”
• “Matt went to Cornell.”
• “Episode two starts on the Sunday following the infamous Friday that takes place in the pilot it continues on until the following Friday I believe.”
• “Host: Mark Wahlburg, Band: The White Stripes (iffie host, good band, imo) Who knows if this’ll remain. Obviously the band for the pilot episode in the first draft, Counting Crows, didn’t turn out to be the band, even though the host, Felicity Huffman, did.”

May 22, 2006 -

NBC’s First Look trailers

May 21, 2006 - “Singaporesling” put up a link on the Television Without Pity’s Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip Forum which sent us to a trailer of scenes from the finished pilot:

A Six Minute clip of scenes.