Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

Widely advertised as the most eagerly anticipated new drama of this fall season, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (Studio 60, for short) boasts a massive all-star cast and is produced by TV wunderkind, Aaron Sorkin, the man behind The West Wing (among other shows). Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is a drama based around a late-night comedy sketch show, ala Saturday Night Live. It follows the producers, writers, cast, and crew as they work and perform on the weekly show, delving into their personal lives, but taking place almost exclusively within the theater in which the fictitious title show is written, practiced, and shot.

Starring Matthew Perry, Amanda Peete (his co-star in the Whole Nine Yards movies), D.L. Hughley, Steven Weber, and many more, Studio 60 is a very straightforward drama, as opposed to a dramedy, and that's where it fails. Let's face it: people who write a weekly comedy sketch show should be funny (if only SNL would learn that), and while both Peete and Perry's characters are sharp-tongued and quick-witted, they're about the only ones.

Everyone in this show is so serious and the things that happen so dramatic, that you forget it's a show about a comedy show. Even when the situations are outlandish (as in last week's episode, when they had to go live for the West Coast to avoid a lawsuit, then later found out it was unnecessary) and perfectly-suited for comedy, Studio 60 manages to make it as deadpan serious as it can. Even if this was a drama about a dramatic TV show, the business itself is ripe for the picking, but Studio 60 plays it straight.

To its credit, it does this well. The tension is well-paced and the drama is definitely high. Just three shows in, the characters are firmly established and well-written (though the religious tension between Perry and his love interest is contrived and forced) and each of them has already started on an obvious arc. Studio 60 also does not back down from controversial issues or attempt to whitewash the business, particularly when it comes to sex and drugs. And it does manage to get a few laughs out of the life and lifestyle of those in the TV biz, but most of these are quick verbal jabs and subplots, minimized into the background.

The acting is top-notch and the thrust of the program. The writing is crisp and tight, but doesn't really shine for some reason I can't quite put my finger on. It may just be that the cast is so large and impressive that nothing really stands out because it's all outstanding... but I'm not sure. In fact, for such a large cast, the story is surprisingly linear and doesn't jump around much, yet it still manages to give all the characters enough time to develop at least slightly each episode.

I'm most impressed with D.L. Hughley's work, so far. He definitely has the dramatic chops you'd expect from someone with great comedic timing. He's had his chance to prove this a few times up to now, and I have a feeling he will become a more central character as the show progresses. Also impressive is Steven Weber's turn as a top-level, type-A executive (do they come in any other variety?), though he has not had much airtime. Also impressive is Perry, who not only proves his gift for drama, but also that he can carry a primetime show on his own -- and an hour-long one, at that! His movies have been resoundingly disappointing, mainly due to the scripts, but I really think he's found his stride with Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

And, of course, Amanda Peete's hotter than a $3 Mexican pistol in an Arizona pawnshop.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip airs Mondays at 9:00 PM, Central, following Heroes, on NBC.