Pasadena, Calif. – Substance abuse; It’s a throwaway line.
One of the most promising fall series is NBC’s “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” Aaron Sorkin’s take on the culture wars.
Sorkin, creator of “The West Wing,” never shies from political debate. Think of his new drama as an update on Paddy Chayefsky, a meditation on America and the media, set backstage at a “Saturday Night Live”-like show.
There’s more pathos than comedy, although comedy sketches will be seen on the show-within-a-show.
“Studio 60” also marks the return of Matthew Perry (“Friends”) to TV.
Perry plays Matt Albie, a former senior writer at the late-night series who was fired by the network boss, played by Steven Weber. Bradley Whitford (“West Wing”) plays Danny Tripp, a recovering cocaine addict who left “Studio 60” in a show of support for his writing partner Matt. Albie and Tripp are brought back to executive produce the show.
Both Perry and Sorkin called attention to their past personal problems during a press conference here. When asked about “Studio 60’s” zings at NBC’s gross-out reality series “Fear Factor,” Sorkin defended his choice to make his network a target: “When things are mean-spirited and voyeuristic going on, it’s like bad crack in a schoolyard,” said Sorkin, who was caught with cocaine at an airport five years ago.
“I did all sorts of mental preparation” to face critics, he said afterward, shaking his head at his choice of words. “The fact that I was able to say that is beyond belief.”
Perry, who has battled addictions, chimed in with, “I think it’s mostly like bad Vicodin in the schoolyard.”
War and words
Anderson Cooper threw around the phrase “World War III” in coverage of the escalating violence in the Middle East this weekend, speaking of the unthinkable possibility of what could evolve there. The word “Apocalypse” appeared in a CNN story tease, as the network covered the glee with which a subset of evangelical Christians is greeting the possibility of the end of the world.
At a time when tempers are flaring, it is unnerving to hear such ideas bandied about between commercials.
Brian Williams told critics that, standing “where the Bible tells us Jesus stood,” overlooking where a Kaytusha rocket had just landed, was “mind-bending. And a friend of mine who was there said that he can’t help but think that we’re standing on the very same soil that could be the birthplace of the next true global confrontation.” That’s a better way to put it.
From a media perspective, this is the first cellphone war, the first heavily blogged war, the first time graphic images and raw language are popping up, 24/7, from citizens in the midst of the bloodshed, praying via e-mails and holding their phones up to transmit pictures while under attack.
Other technologies have defined the media experience of previous global crises – Vietnam was the first “living-room war,” with mobile cameras relaying images albeit days later. The first Gulf War was the first live cable news war; Iraq was the first videophone war. Now bloodshed is beamed worldwide instantly – and far more personally.
Telenovelas
The panel for MyNetworkTV sucked the life out of the Ritz Carlton ballroom. MyNetworkTV is what’s filling in on former UPN stations left without an affiliation, like KTVD-Channel 20 in Denver. The all-telenovela lineup is, let’s say, inexpensive looking. The only thing worse than the writing is the acting.
Morgan Fairchild and Bo Derek talked about the pressure to get scenes done without too many retakes. And they fondly recalled their slapping, screaming fight scenes. Next up, they joked: mud wrestling.
At the end of the MyNetworkTV session, a parade of attractive people entered and stood at the rear of the room, the stars of the new telenovelas. The actors and former models stood awkwardly waiting to be approached by reporters. But the room emptied, as reporters dove for the exits. If you’d seen the clips, you would have made a beeline for the door, too.
MyNetworkTV launches Sept. 5 on Channel 20. The station is also carrying the new syndicated “Megan Mullally Show” at 10 a.m. weekdays this fall.
TV critic Joanne Ostrow can be reached at 303-820-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com.
