Do you remember when The West Wing used to be good? Back in those early seasons when Sam, Josh, Toby and CJ were the heavy hitters; the Josh/Donna relationship was still “will they/won’t they/just kiss already damn it;” and, most importantly, when Aaron Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme were still at the helm? They left around season four, and The West Wing turned into simply one of the better shows on television instead of the “you must watch this” behemoth it was when it first started. Sorkin and Schlamme made their return to the small screen on September 18th with Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and if the first two episodes are any indication, they’ve picked up right where they left off.

Studio 60 is home to a Friday night sketch comedy show, like Saturday Night Live. And, like Saturday Night Live, the show has fallen on hard times: the show’s executive producer says as much in an unscripted rant broadcast live over national television, likening the fictional NBS network to a cheap whore answering only to the bottom line. Said producer is canned and, before her first day on the job, new network president Jordan McDeere (Amanda Peet) has to deal with the fallout. She hires Matt Albie (Matthew Perry) and Danny Tripp (Bradley Whitford), former writers on the show, to right the ship.

If Studio 60 rode solely on the chemistry between Perry and Whitford, it could float along relatively easily. They’re a brilliant team, throwing out perfectly Sorkin-ized witicisms at a rapid pace. Perry may always be Chandler, but his uniquely sarcastic delivery is dead-on for Sorkin’s style. Whitford, meanwhile, manages to carry over all the things that made us love him as Josh but still avoids copying the role.

The first two weeks may not have broken any new ground in terms of issues, focusing on the somewhat tired idea that television is a watered-down version of what it used to be, but remember that the first week of The West Wing dealt with a generic immigration issue and keeping the fact that the President fell off his bike out of the press. There’s plenty to cover in the season ahead, from TiVo and Bittorrent to the FCC. And that’s not even taking into consideration the interpersonal dealings of the cast, including Matt’s broken relationship with cast member Harriet Hayes (Sarah Paulson).

With a massive cast of very funny, very smart actors, Studio 60 will have no shortage of possibilities in the weeks (and years?) to come. The show has been lined up to belong to Perry, Whitford, and Peet, but Sorkin’s imagination leaves a multitude of angles to approach with each character.

Sorkin’s new show might not be the best show on television, but it’s certainly risen to the top of the crop of new offerings, finally offering something worth watching instead of Monday Night Football.

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