Studio 60 Fodder

Studio 60: The Wrap Party

(This review was delayed, as mentioned yesterday, due to the very recent birth of my daughter Anya Haley Friedman.)

Anya was nursing with her mother, and Studio 60 was waiting on the TiVo, so we got to watch "The Wrap Party." As I predicted in yesterday's "pre-cap," we picked up right after the end of last week's episode. The titular wrap party, as it turns out, is taking place at the Studio 60 studio.

Jordan meets up with Cal to celebrate her day and hide out from Jack. As if on cue, Jack walks in -- drunk and ready for fun. Cal remembers the show had to shut down for two weeks the last time they had a wrap party at the studio, and orders "tarps over everything!" And then we head to commercial. Anya, meanwhile, continues to nurse well.

Harriet confides in Jeanie about her near-kiss with Matt earlier this evening, and rechannels her energies into thinking about her date for tonight's party.

Tom and Simon are hanging out backstage, too. Tom's parents -- who don't understand what he does for a living or appreciate the fact that he could buy and sell them -- are in town. Simon, meanwhile, is hoping to take Matt to an improv club to see an up and coming comedian named Willy Wilson. Tom's parents, meanwhile, hail from Columbus, Ohio, and are a constant source of embarrassment to Tom. Simon reminds Tom that Tom's parents work for a living, and that he should be nice.

Lauren Graham meets up with Danny and Matt. She wants to know why her sketch was cut; Matt explains that it wasn't funny. And, Lauren takes Matt's phone number. Seconds later, Danny introduces Matt to three young, vapid girls.

Meanwhile, two security guards are attempting to escort an elderly gentleman off the property. (The gent was trying to walk off with a photograph from one of the studio walls.) Cal intercedes on his behalf after figuring out that the mysterious visitor is a fan of Sid Cesar's. Anya, it should be noted, needs a new diaper.

Tom is giving his parents a tour of the studio and discussing some comedy history. His parents, however, haven't even heard of "Who's on First."

Simon rescues Matt from the three vapid girls and asks him to join him looking at Willy Wilson tonight. "I'd like to see more black writers on your staff. Or, a staff writer on your staff," Simon tells Matt. Matt's insulted that Simon thinks he needs help writing "black" jokes. But still... he agrees to go with him.

Jordan meets up with some of the actresses from Studio 60 backstage. She tells them that she needs to make friends. Harriet tells her she's doing a good job, and the two have a friendly chat. Jordan's acting really odd, actually. Could she be drunk?

Cal meets back up with the mysterious elderly visitor. The elderly gentleman continues to spout what appears to be nonsense. Danny figures out that the old guy is messing with Cal. I remain a bit confused, but figure this mystery fella' must tie in with the vaudeville roots of the Studio 60 building that Tom had explained to his parents earlier this episode.

Tom, of course, is continuing the tour with his parents. His dad refers to him as "Mark," which apparently was Tom's birth name. His dad makes some rude quip about Tom being an interior designer, since Tom made reference to the "art deco" look of the theater. There is a deeper issue here... and it turns out that it's the fact that Tom's little brother is off fighting in the middle of Afghanistan. Tom's been trying to distract them about that... with little success.

Matt and Simon make their way to the Improv to see Willy Wills. Willy makes a series of clichéd racist jokes that leave Simon pissed off. He apologizes to Matt for dragging him to the show.

Cal gets the elderly gent's wallet and finds out that the man is a vet, and that his real name is Eli.

Jordan scores an autograph for a family member from Harriet's boyfriend, who makes a snide comment about the "clubs" Jordan likes. (You'll remember Jordan's ex used to drag her to sex clubs.)

Cal, by now, has figured out that Eli is a World War II vet and thanks him for his service. He then looks more closely at that photo Eli was trying to take: Turns out, Eli's in it. Duh. I think even Anya figured that out already. Eli used to write for the Studio 60 Radio Comedy Hour, before getting blacklisted during the McCarthy era.

Matt and Simon are together at a bar. Simon shares some of his gang-life history; all the guys he used to roll with are serving life sentences. Turns out, one of those gang members forced Simon to stay home the day the rest of them killed someone. Simon -- understandably -- feels he owes that man his life, and each month sends him the only two things he's allowed to send: Cigarettes and stamps. Simon wants to help as many folks as he can, but Willy Wills is beyond helping, he tells Matt. Matt suddenly keys into the new act onstage, another black comic who the audience is hating. Simon and Matt both warm to the guy -- even though his act is tanking -- and hire him for the show. Even though his act wasn't that great, I guess Simon and Matt show potential.

Back by the studio, Tom is saying goodbye to his parents. We learn that Tom paid for body armor for his brother's entire division. Before they drive off, Tom hands his father a record -- a good, old-fashioned record, since his dad still uses a record player at home. It's a recording of "Who's on First." Tom apparently has contacts with all-night comedy record stores. His parents leave.

A drunk Jack meets up with Danny. Jack's fuming about the UN show that Danny helped Jordan score in last week's episode. Cal interrupts so that he can grab Danny to meet Eli.

Jordan meets up with Harriet again. Harry's interested in what her boyfriend the baseball player signed on Jordan's baseball. Jordan doesn't want to bother fishing it out of her purse... And Harriet eventually realizes that her "boyfriend" had scrawled his number on Jordan's ball. Nice.

Matt and Danny join Cal in the writer's room to meet Eli and pick his brain. They all sit down and listen to him tell his stories.

I have to be honest. I found this episode rather boring. I agree with some of the general web punditry about Studio 60; namely, that writer/creator Aaron Sorkin seems to be phoning in these scripts a bit. We hear about Harriet's greatness, but don't see it. We hear about Matt's talent, but don't see it. We hear about this wonderful working and friend relationship between Matt and Danny, and the two have barely any screen time together -- and it's essentially the same scene each week. And the idea that all of America would be interested in the personal life of a network television president like Jordan is ridiculous. (Think I'm wrong? Name two network television presidents. Can you do that? Then name two personal facts about them.)

Perhaps with a five-day-old daughter, my "entertainment bar" has been raised. But I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been satisfied with this episode a week ago, either.

Programming note: Studio 60 is on hiatus for the next two weeks.

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Posted by Lex on October 24, 2006 3:32 PM
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