Cribbing Aaron Sorkin

When the new TV season’s lineups were being pimped by the networks at the end of the summer, there were only a handful of shows that I thought would be worth the time and effort to watch them.

Of those, only a few seemed even remotely new and fresh.

After most of the new lineup has made its debut, I can safely say there’s only one new show I can’t live without. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

It shouldn’t have been a surprise, having been penned by my favorite television writer and all, but now that 30 Rock has premiered (and fallen flat) I can safely call the competition for Studio 60. It’s not even close.

First off, I thought having two very similar shows was strange to say the least. In a time when America steals its game shows from England (not to mention The Office) it should be expected, but I completely missed the fact that these are both NBC shows.

How does that happen? You have two shows, based on working in the office of a sketch comedy that isn't Saturday Night Live and premiere them on the same network? How stupid is that?

The funny thing is I was prepped to hate Studio 60 with Matthew Perry in a dramatic-ish role andlatch onto 30 Rock with its cast. Couldn't have been more wrong. Aside from Tracy Morgan running around in his underpants claiming to be a Jedi and whacking cars with a light sabre, the pilot sucked pretty hard.

By comparison, I was asking when the first season of Studio 60 was coming out on DVD. After a TiVo issue for the second episode, we bought the iTunes version when the NBC.com feed went a little haywire. That's probably the best compliment I can pay the show - when I missed it, I tried to get a copy and had no problem paying for what's free on TV to keep up.

After a few sour seasons of The West Wing it was nice to have Sorkin back on network TV and I've been a loyal follower since (OK, it's three weeks, but still...)

30 Rock was a big disappointment and I can't see watching another episode on purpose. I'm pretty sure I saw the three jokes play out and I have no real reason to go back.

In all, NBC should have stuck to one of the two and had they asked anyone with an ounce of taste, the decision would have been clear. When you have a drama that's funnier than a comedy, go with the drama.

(Image from: tvsquad.com)