Sorry, I can’t resist:
Jonah, I was one of the people who emailed to defend the show after week one. It’s only fair that I now email my concession. I concede. Last night’s dialogue was glib by even Sorkin’s standards, and was punctuated by self conscious defenses of Sorkin’s self absorbed writing (see the network president defend her not-so-witty retorts when her boss informs her that her ex-husband is writing an expose.) And after Sports Nite and West Wing, Sorkin’s dialogue is beginning to have the effect of a mediocre character actor that’s appeared in too many of the same roles–like that deja vu feeling you get every time you watch a Hugh Grant movie. After last week’s episode I remarked to my wife that the real problem with the Studio 60 is that it only works if the show within the show is actually funny, which as you note, it isn’t. SNL during all but its darkest years is funnier than Studio 60. At least Sorkin can take comfort in the fact that, like the dimwits in the focus group, we just don’t get his super intelligent brand of humor.