Is Aaron Sorkin a brilliant enough writer to save two networks (the fictional NBS and the real NBC)? If the pilot episode is any barometer, the answer is a resounding YES!
STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP is everything this TV addict hoped for. In the same way in which he made us root for a fictional sportscentre (SPORTS NIGHT), and an idealized White House (THE WEST WING), Sorkin yet again creates an environment where viewers will be rooting for the underdog.
In the pilot episode we’re introduced to a critically acclaimed late night sketch show (not to be confused with Saturday Night Live!) that is on the brink of creative implosion (it’s no longer funny). After a public relations disaster that occurs in the opening scene (A ‘classic’ Sorkin lecture extolling the evils of television and how low networks have sunk to pandering to the lowers common denominator), it’s up to the newly appointed head of the network, Jordan McDeere (Amanda Peet) to save both the network, and the show.