Friday, October 27, 2006

This Pretty Much Sums It Up

Ken Levine (hey Ken) does Sorkin doing baseball. An excerpt:



EXT. KAUFFMAN STADIUM -- NIGHT

THE MANAGER, LEO, TROTS OUT TO THE MOUND TO TALK TO BELEAGURED PITCHER, DANNY (THERE’S ALWAYS A DANNY). THE BASES ARE LOADED. THE CROWD IS GOING NUTS. IT’S GAME SEVEN OF THE WORLD SERIES.

LEO
You can’t get a good lobster in this town.

DANNY
Last I checked we were in Kansas City.

LEO
4.6 billion pork ribs sold every year and 18.9 tons of beef consumed annually since 1997 –

DANNY
They like their beef, what can I tell ya?

LEO
But you’d think just for variety’s sake.

DANNY
I can still throw my curve.

...

You know how, since you're a baseball fan, this sounds insane? This is exactly how Studio 60 sounds to anyone who's ever written comedy for television. (h/t Lee Goldberg)

54 comments:

Anonymous said...

For this scenario to play out, the Royals would have to make it all the way to the World Series. Now that's what I call comedy!

kadgi said...

Oh c´mon...

Anonymous said...

That's how it sounds to people who haven't written comedy, too.

Diane Kristine Wild said...

Here's a secret: doctors don't really act like they do on Grey's Anatomy or House. Cops don't act like they do on CSI or Criminal Minds. All .00000000001% of the Studio 60 audience who are TV comedy writers might just have to live with the fact that it's not a documentary.

You know, until it's cancelled because no one else is watching, either.

Unknown said...

You raise an interesting point, actually -- although the writers of said shows toss away the finer details of those settings, the shows themselves are somehow ... consistent with reality (a writer once called it "accretion of detail.") It's something you saw in stand-up, too -- you could tell an audience something that didn't happen, but was true in some intangible way, and they went with you. But if you were dishonest with them, they could sense it.

All kidding aside for the tiny percentage of us who work in TV ...

... and Ken's bit is a very inside joke, but enough TV writers hang here, I thought they'd get a kick out of it ...

... I think one of the reasons Studio 60 doesn't work is that Sorkin's attitudes/style were somehow honest in a White House setting, but feel fundamentally incongruous in a TV setting, in a way even non-professionals can sense. It doesn't have to be a documentary (of course not), but there has to be some alignment of setting and intent. Sorkin writing about a newsroom, for example, would probably work, and be interesting.

I can live with any show that's "not a documentary" -- most aren't. But one that feels fundamentally dishonest (even if earnest), that's a different matter, I think.

Anonymous said...

What about if Sorkin were to write a behind the scenes show of a Daily Show style comedy news show?
Part of me wants to put an emoticon on this, and the other part says that's stupid.

Diane Kristine Wild said...

Sure, fair points for those who aren't loving it, it's just that I'm one of the much fewer than .00000000001% of the population who does, and maybe I drank the Sorkin Kool-Aid, but it feels to me like it says something authentic about how even entertainment is important, and seeing people kick it while it's going down makes me sad. But carry on. Ignore my weeping in the corner.

Cryss said...

Do you have any updates on the Fatal Frame movie post/script you mentioned alomst 2 years ago? I have been enticed of this idea ever since I have been aware of the rumors.

I would apprecicate your comment back!

Cryss

Evan said...

And you know what else is funny about that Aaron Sorkin baseball show idea?

The fact that I'd still watch it.

But I agree that Studio 60 is a badly flawed show. It's like after his four years of writing The West Wing, he'd completely forgotten how to write SportsNight, which is what he ought to be aiming for.

Unknown said...

I think entertainment is important. But I'm not sure you can do a straight up preaching job about it.

And, hey, I'm a fan too. As I said, it's weird, watching this skilled a guy apply himself to a setting he not only doesn't seem to know anything about, but doesn't seem to care whether he does. The simple fact is that he is passionate, articulate, but just. Not. Funny. And if you're not funny, I don't know how you can convey that comedy is important in ways OTHER than lecture-style speeches.

Anonymous said...

For what it's worth - and it's likely worth very little - my group of friends and I love it. And we're an unnecessarily highly educated, professional bunch. We gather round the TV weekly to watch - and think the show is both earnest and hilarious.

Unknown said...

Earnest yes, hilarious, for me, no. Most comics will tell you, for them, earnest is the enemy of funny. But there you go. An individual's sense of humor is the single, inarguable point of their personality. Something's either funny for you or not. If it is, then glory in it and enjoy it. At least, this time, they've spent so much money on it, you'll probably get your full season.

In what may well be a contradiction, I loved Sportsnight, because the intriguing idea behind it, for me, was that an apparently content-free subject -- sports news -- was shown to have cultural freight, and the people were not who you'd (I'd) expect to work for a sports network. S60 is populated with precisely the people I expect, saying precisely the things they're supposed to about the subject at hand. At great length. Really, really great length.

Diane Kristine Wild said...

One thing I think gets lost in the Sorkin-can't-write-comedy argument is that Mark McKinney, of Kids in the Hall and SNL, was hired to write the sketches on Studio 60. That won't make them any funnier for people who aren't laughing, but a lot of people are bordering on Sorkin-bashing and missing that fairly important point. The argument then becomes he can't recognize that the sketches aren't funny, not that he can't write funny sketches ... but not all of us agree that they're not. And I think there's a lot of humour throughout the episodes, too. But it is a drama about comedy writers, not a comedy.

Alistair said...

Earnest is the enemy of funny? Doesn't that exclude Bill Hicks et al (and Oscar Wilde bdumtish)?

Anonymous said...

I may check it out if it ever filters down to DVD - the climbing ratio of squalid ads to quality shows has killed commercial TV for me.
(TDS excepted, of course)

Ross said...

I think what really bugs me about it is that his characters have no sense of professional respect for any comic that's not them. All of the pros I know may have varied opinions on other comics' talent/routines, but having gone through the gauntlet of reaching headliner status (or whatever) themselves, they're far less critical of other people's acts and writing. It may not be their thing, but that's why they don't pay to see it.

These people are supposed to be at the pinnacle of their profession, but they treat others in the business with an open-mikeresque, "I can do better than that" attitude. Which might be carried off if the writing brought the goods.

As for McKinney, he may be helping with some parts of it, but I'm guessing that for the most part the concepts are coming from Sorkin, and when you're told to write a Gilbert & Sullivan parody, no matter how clever the end result, you can never make it funnier than a Gilbert & Sullivan parody. Pure guess, though.

Anonymous said...

Here's my take on the lack-of-comedy problem: it isn't that the sketches aren't funny, it's that the people are so earnest and, frankly, dour that it's hard to imagine them ever being funny.

I may chuckle a couple times in an episode, but for the most part it is hard to imagine that these people (the characters, not the actors) get paid a bunch of money to make people laugh. That's why it rings false to me.

I get that it's a drama and not a comedy. Even so, I think it is necessary that the audience believes that these characters are funny people.

Perhaps that's not fair. Perhaps that's a symptom of the way comedians are often treated in daily life. If you'll excuse the cliche, no one walks up to doctors and demands that they save a life, but people demand that comedians be funny. Only the rudest will bark "Say something funny!" But most of us, when we meet someone who professes to make people laugh for a living, will immediately look to see some evidence of this.

Anonymous said...

Sorkin not funny? West Wing was one of the funniest shows on television before he left. CJ was a perfect comedic creation. The interplay between Josh and Donna was hilarious. Even the President was funny!

I live in New Zealand so I haven't seen Studio 60.

Anonymous said...

First in reply to rogers, “earnest is the enemy of funny”
If you watch older comedies like All in the Family or Mash, I think you’ll see that honest and earnest can be funny and touching.

In reply to nona, “it made *sense* for the characters to be insane workaholics who took their jobs incredibly seriously and never, ever went off the clock”… it may not make sense but have you ever worked in the TV production industry? People really do act like lives depend on it. It’s sad but it’s true – many people in film and television production act like the world will fall apart if things aren’t done and done right, especially in live television.

diane kristine is right, “it is a drama about comedy writers, not a comedy”. Some of the moments are disingenuous but generally it’s interesting and most of the time well written.

Anonymous said...

No matter how well a show is written, if actors were badly cast, if the audience doesn't "believe" the characters' personalities/actions and takes a visceral dislike to them, the audience will tune out. And characters who are too contrived (a supposedly hilarious and hip gal who's also a conservative Christian?) ring false and heavy-handed.

None of The West Wing's actors was out of synch with his/her character. Lucky casting. S60 isn't the only new series to suffer from bad casting...Brothers & Sisters is another, but it is redeemed by the divine Rachel Griffiths.

Anonymous said...

But does that make Studio 60 bad? I would watch a Sorokin series about garbage collecters if they were interesting to listen to. And something tells me it would be. But that's just me.

Anonymous said...

runescape money runescape gold runescape money runescape gold wow power leveling wow powerleveling Warcraft Power Leveling Warcraft PowerLeveling buy runescape gold buy runescape money runescape items runescape gold runescape money runescape accounts runescape gp dofus kamas buy dofus kamas Guild Wars Gold buy Guild Wars Gold lotro gold buy lotro gold lotro gold buy lotro gold lotro gold buy lotro goldrunescape money runescape power leveling runescape money runescape gold dofus kamas cheap runescape money cheap runescape gold Hellgate Palladium Hellgate London Palladium Hellgate money Tabula Rasa gold tabula rasa money Tabula Rasa Credit Tabula Rasa Credits Hellgate gold Hellgate London gold wow power leveling wow powerleveling Warcraft PowerLeveling Warcraft Power Leveling World of Warcraft PowerLeveling World of Warcraft Power Leveling runescape power leveling runescape powerleveling eve isk eve online isk eve isk eve online isk 血管瘤 肝血管瘤 音乐剧 北京富码电视 富码电视 富码电视台 7天酒店 7天连锁酒店 7天连锁 自清洗过滤器 过滤器 压力开关 压力传感器 流量开关 流量计 液位计 液位开关 温湿度记录仪 风速仪 可燃气体检测仪

www.ciudad-real-3d.com said...

For my part every person must go through this.

Anonymous said...

Penyakit ini umumnya muncul karena penderita mengejan terlalu keras pada saat buang air besar. Dengan mengejan terlalu keras, maka pembuluh darah di sekitar anus dapat melebar dan pecah menimbulkan infeksi dan pembengkakan yang berakhir pada masalah wasir atau ambeien tersebut.

Unknown said...

Penderita Penyakit kondiloma atau Kutil Kelamin yang telah terinveksi disarankan untuk segera melakukan pengobatan secepat mungkin sebelum Virus HPV penyebab kutil kelamin makin banyak berkembang biak di dalam sel darah makin lama dibiarkan akan memperparah kondisi organ vital karena kutil kelamin akan terus membesar sehingga terlihat seperti jengger ayam untuk penderita yang baru tertular kurang dari satu bulan biasanya akan lebih cepat ditanggulangi obat kutil kelamin Paling ampuh dari De Nature dan terbaik ada hanya di http://obatkutildikemaluan.blogdetik.com/ untuk mendapatkan informasi yang lebih jelas mengenai pengobatan kutil pada kelamin silahkan kontak langsung di nomer 0852 808 77 999 atau 0859 7373 5656 Bagaimana mengobati Ambeien itu sendiri. pengobatan yang terbaik untuk Ambeien adalah dari luar dan dalam sehingga Ambeien benar benar tuntas dan tidak akan kambuh lagi. obat Ambeien terbaik "Ambeclear dari De Nature" AlamiAdalah obat Ambeien herbal yang memang terbaik untuk mengobati Ambeien, dan sudah terdaftar di badan obat dan makanan (BPOM) dengan nomer registrasi POM TR: 133 374 041. terbuat dari bahan alami antara lain terdiri Daung Ungu, Mahkota Dewa dan Kunyit Putih.

Pengobatan Ambeien Wasir said...

Nuwun sewu kula bade nderek promosiuntukandayangterkenapenyakitkulitsepertikadasataukudiskinitelahhadirobat herbaldaride natureyangsudahterbuktikhasiatnyamantab!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

cara yang alami menyembuhkan penyakit wasir ambeien secara alami dengan menggunakan daun ungu serta mahkotadewa aman untuk ibu hamil tanpa operasi cukup dengan menggunakan obat wasir herbal ambeclear terbuat

Anonymous said...

wasir ambeien bisa sembuh tanpa harus di operasi maupun injeksi cukup dengan obat wasir ambeien herbal ambeclear herbal de nature dari daun ungu serta mahkotadewa aman untuk ibu hamil

Unknown said...

Penyakit kencing nanah bisa disebabkan oleh beberapa faktor seperti seks bebas, penularan, virus hpv, lingkungan, gaya hidup dan lainnya, Maka dari itu kita harus waspada dengan penyakit kencing nanah ini, karena penyakit kencing nanah sangatlah berbahaya, Namun untuk anda yang menderita penyakit kencing nanah, maka anda tidak perlu khawatir,

Pengobatan Ambeien Wasir said...

HeHeHeHeHeHeHeHeHeHeHeHeHeHeHeHeHeHeHeHeHeHeHeHeHeHeHeHeHe

Unknown said...

Berapa Harga untuk Obat Wasir Ambeien alami daun ungu AmbeclearAmbeien adalah gangguan atau penyakit yang terjadi pada saluran pencernaan manusia

Cara Mengobati Wasir Ambeien said...

berhitung yuk......... 123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930

Unknown said...

Kenali penyebab penyakit kencing bernanah sehingga cara mengobati
penyakit kencing nanah dan infeksi saluran kencing nanah dapat dilakukan
dengan benar.

kLINIK oBAT mANJUR said...

Bismillaahirrohmaanirrokhiim ???????????????????????????????????

Unknown said...

Sekitar Vagina Tumbuh Daging, Berbahayakah? Kutil Pada Kepala Penis mirip bunga kol atau jengger ayam, Merupakan Penyakit Yang diakibatkan Oleh Virus.Kutil kelamin, atau disebut juga condyloma acuminata, adalah kutil atau daging berwarna kulit atau keabuan yang tumbuh di sekitar alat kelamin dan

obar herbal manjur alami said...

Bismillahirrohmannirrokhim ........................

Unknown said...

penyakit yang ditularkan melalui hubungan seks : vaginal, oral dan anal. Juga dapat menular melalui persentuhan kulit dengan daerah yang terinfeksi.

Unknown said...

Obat Ambeien Resep Dokter Ambeclear dari De Nature Ampuh Tuntaskan Ambeien Sampai Tuntas

Cara Mengobati Wasir Ambeien said...

Bismillahirrohmannirrokhim ........................

kLINIK oBAT mANJUR said...

Bismillahhirrohmaanirrokhim.... ********************

kLINIK oBAT mANJUR said...

Bismillahhirrohmaanirrokhim.... ***************************

kLINIK oBAT mANJUR said...

Bismillahirrohmannirrokhim .........................

Unknown said...

???????????????????????????????

obar herbal manjur alami said...

1111111111111111111111111

obar herbal manjur alami said...

111111111111111111111111111111

kLINIK oBAT mANJUR said...

111111111111111111111

Obat Keputihan Herbal Alami said...

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111

obar herbal manjur alami said...

111111111111111

kLINIK oBAT mANJUR said...

1111111111111111111111111111111

kLINIK oBAT mANJUR said...

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111

Unknown said...

manjur manjur manjur manjur manjur manjur manjur manjur manjur manjur manjur manjur manjur manjur manjur manjur manjur manjur manjur manjur manjur manjur manjur manjur manjur manjur manjur manjur manjur manjur manjur

obar herbal manjur alami said...

alami alami alami alami alami alami alami alami alami alami alami alami alami alami alami alami alami alami alami alami alami alami alami alami alami alami alami alami alami alami alami

Unknown said...

obat sipilis raja singa obat sipilis raja singa manjur obat sipilis raja singa herbal obat sipilis raja singa alami obat sipilis raja singa mujarab obat sipilis raja singa herbal manjur

Unknown said...

Orang yang mampu belajar dari kegagalan adalah pemenang, namun orang yang selalu menutupi kegagalan adalah pecundang