Adrian Scandle's Reviews: Studio 60 & Heroes

Alright, here's the deal CarryOn-ers, I am going to start posting reviews. I will warn you, my biting wit and no-holds-barred honesty may frighten and even offend you, but in the name of truth I must say what needs to be said. This will be a semi-regular posting (to all my loyal fans who complain I don't post enough, let me just say that some of us are billable) that will be updated as new material crosses in front of my unblinking eyes. This can be television, movies, the annoying behaviors of my otherwise loveable officemates and cats, songs on the radio, David's latest buffonts, etc. With that said, let us jump right into the abyss and being with my review of - virtual drumroll please....

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
So while admittedly never a mouth-foaming fan of The West Wing, I did understand the appeal of its running-down-the-hall-with-aides-and-cabinet, national crises, clip-board-in-hand, Allison Janey delivering slapping dialogue. If any place deserves the frenetic energy usually reserved for high school proms or Red Bull sponsored raves, it's certainly the White House (albeit not with the current administrations' Debbi-Downer clause apparently added to the Presidential oath...but that's another review entirely). However, Studio 60, driven by the self aggrandizing Sorkin, tries to deploy the same tactic of overlapping dialogue and kinetic hyperactivity and map it onto a TV studio, giving the same weight to "Mr. Producer, the White Stripes have dropped out!" that they would have given to "Mr. President, the country is under nuclear attack!" And while I'm sure Judith can attest to the fact that studio execs probably do treat such instances as issues of the greatest importance, studio president Amanda Peet could care less. Well, actually, I can't tell if she can care less because she only has 2 acting techniques that she uses by changing her face from amused to amused and bewildered. If there were a paper bag large enough, she would be trying to use those two faces to escape, if you catch my drift. Matthew Perry plays...well, Matthew Perry, which is delightful for me in a kind of sadistic way. I mean, he's not easy on the eyes (but my friends tell me apparently straight girls think he's dreamy, which I'll never understand...he looks like a gargoyle, all saggy-eyed) but seeing him play a nervous wreck is a nice departure from the sacchrine-blooded Chandler Bing.

The rest of the show for me just reads as an exercise in murdering subtelty. NBS, could that be NBC? HILARIOUS. Studio 60, a late night sketch comedy show that's failing? Could that be Saturday Night Live?! Oh Sorkin, you riotous cad! A writer/producer overcoming his coke habit to return a flailing network to its once glorious days? Could that be Mr. Sorkin himself?! Sheer sticky-palmed brilliance!

That said...it's unfortunately still better than 90% of what's on TV. I suggest a drinking game to impair your judgement (and taste). Try taking a shot/swig whenever a character says "Hey" to a fellow Studio 60-er, you'll at least think Matt Perry's more attractive by the end...

Heroes - NBC
So I was thrilled to see this show, especially after the preview where the girl jumps off a 50 ft. high platform and falls on her face (and lives). I'm amused by superpowers, especially ones that facilitate Jack-Ass style stupid human tricks, so I was expecting a lot from this show. What a letdown! I mean, for all you fans of a certain island mystery show on ABC starring Matthew Fox (a much more attractive Matthew), does this sound at all familiar: a group of strangers, some with unexplanable powers, are all somehow connected but they don't yet know it. There's the young sexy eterna-stubbled doctor (the main character, no doubt), an East Asian subtitled youngster sick of the stiffling anonymity apparently associated with his culture (I know, I found that bit racist too - his friend actually says "I want to be normal. We're supposed to be like everyone else, we're Japanese!"), a sexy brunnette with a dark past, a heroine addicted artist, yadda yadda yadda and the list continues. Again, what happened to new stories? I mean, I know since Shakespeare's time there's basically only been like 3 new stories developed, but can't you reach back further than 3 years for them? At least try and pull the wool over our eyes! Are Stan Lee and JJ Abrams getting a check for this show? I mean, we're supposed to wait for the characters to develop their powers and be intrigued by how all their stories intertwine, but you have to make the show watchable in the meantime. This makes me wish my TiVo had a "Quality" button that I could push that would extract the 10 interesting minutes from this uninventive superhuman drama. Maybe it'll grow into itself and get better? Maybe I'll develop the ability to fly and hover outside your offices? I'll give this show another try just in the hopes that someone on the production staff will develop the superpower of *gasp* originality, but in the meantime don't be frightened if you see me flapping along with the hawk and scaring the crap out of the 22nd floor.





"Wow...Adrian can fly! I should have left the public alone after Bring it On, All or Nothing. "