Weird Science
Though my preference in television has long evolved away from the traditional sitcoms of my youth to hour-long dramas and half-hour comedies with high concepts and no laugh tracks, one throwback show has managed to be one of the few new series this year to keep its grasp on me: The Big Bang Theory. Yes, I know, it follows a lot of the predictable setups and punch lines — hot waitress moves in across the hall from twenty-something physicists, laughs ensue — that dozens of other cookie-cutter sitcoms rely on, but the writers and actors provide interesting variables to the typical equation.
Consolation Prize
It’s hard, really, to feel bad for Aaron Sorkin. After the runaway success of The West Wing and the critical embrace of the pilot episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, the series’ failure could easily be shrugged off. But for so many fans of Studio 60, its departure from the airwaves marked a significant downturn in the amount of quality television available. If only Sorkin hadn’t felt it so necessary to continue telling us so.
Taking Flight
Upon the cancellation of Arrested Development and Veronica Mars, two of television’s most intelligent shows, fans clamored for them to be transferred to HBO, where ratings are less important and advertisers are virtually nonexistent. Anyone looking for those shows to resurface is out of luck, but they can take solace in the network’s Sunday lineup, which now boasts one of TV’s smartest shows in Flight of the Conchords.
Sundown
You should consider yourself very lucky, because this is the last time I’ll write about Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip…at least until the DVD set comes out. That’s right; last night was the season and series finale of Aaron Sorkin’s erstwhile series about the behind-the-scenes drama of a late-night sketch comedy show hampered by conservative America. The final six episodes were a strange mix between limping to the finish line and going out in a blaze of glory; the same can kind of be said of the entire series. Marketed as a comedy at the same time as a show with an identical ad campaign (30 Rock, which will be coming back for a second season), Studio 60 was never presented to audiences the proper way. At the same time, Sorkin never managed to spread out his political sermons among stories that could keep the show moving at a good pace.
Remember Us?
Early this television season, I quickly embraced Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and praised it as one of the best shows around. Aaron Sorkin responded by getting preachier than an Oblate at a Desperate Housewives convention, and NBC responded by yanking the show from the air, refusing to renew it, and telling fans they could see their precious final six episodes when they were done with the 145th season of ER. That night is tonight, and I have to tell you…I’m not really all that excited. Perhaps it’s because Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds’ End comes out tonight, and perhaps it’s because I’m still getting over last night’s episode of LOST, but I’m not ready to get sucked back into this show, knowing that it won’t be back next year. Of course, I’ll watch the last six installments if I’m home or on tape if I’m out, but I’m not pacing my living room waiting to see what happened to Danny and Matt.