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Well, for those of you holding your breath, you shouldn’t be blue for too much longer. Apparently Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, the holier than thou take on the THRILLING lives of those working behind the scenes at a show similar to SNL, but far more pretentious. The return date is slated for May 24th, which is a Thursday. The show will take ER’s timeslot, the more or less the timeslot it was suppose to have taken when it premiered last fall before being scared away by Grey’s Anatomy.

Matthew Perry fans probably shouldn’t get their hopes up, as the series’ post-sweeps return is likely only to serve as a schedule filler and to burn off the episodes that had all ready been shot.

But who knows, stranger things have happened.

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By this time in March, the only SNL inspired show left on television could in fact be SNL. 30 Rock, the shorter, funnier one is going to be replaced by the equally short and equally funny Andy Barker P.I. in a few weeks, and last night Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip aired what could possibly be its last episode. Next Monday at 10pm, NBC will debut The Black Donnellys (currently available for view at Yahoo Video). Assuming the show picks up just a few more viewers than Studio 60 (and its hard to assume it won’t), it’ll likely stay put for the rest of the spring.

Good riddance, right? We all hate Studio 60 anyway! Though why do I feel like I’m going to miss it?

We all know the show is an unmitigated disaster, missing the mark in just about every way possible, but now that Heroes is good, what exactly are we suppose to complain about? According to Jim? Too easy. The joys in knocking down Studio 60 come almost exclusively from the fact that a show like that, with the talent it has behind it should be nothing shy of brilliant each and every week. Watching that brilliance get knocked off a cliff week in and week out, like some sort of respawning lemming tribe, provided those of us without our own television shows great opportunity to mock the powerful.

So is it wrong to say I’d like to see Danny and Timmy (that’s what their names were, right?) back up there harping about the Christian Right while walking in circles?

On the other hand, The Black Donnellys does look kind of interesting despite Paul Haggis’ crapulance.

Actually, now that I think about it, add Mr. Haggis to the Studio 60 team and you’d be dealing with some seriously delicious prentention. Pretention I’d love to tune into Monday’s at 10 on NBC.

Not only is Monday night one of the busiest night of television for me, but it’s also one of the most uneven. Tuesday mornings when I check out my DVR, I’m usually quite reluctant about diving in. Heroes, 24, Studio 60… not exactly a crop of sure-fire crowd pleasers (How I Met Your Mother and Everybody Hates Chris* are rock solid, but they also aren’t hour-long dramas that look quite menacing while sitting in a queue).

Luckily for us, one of those shows will deliver the goods, and by “the goods” I mean, “a scene or two of unbridled awesomeness.” Either Jack Bauer will do something completely off-the-wall crazy or Hiro will do something magically adorable yet thought-provoking or Matt Albie will tell his writing staff… um… yeah, 24 and Heroes will bring something to the table! Unless, of course, they don’t. Then Monday night (or Tuesday morning) slowly morphs into this endurance challenge, where a regular Joe sits in his easy chair staring at moving pictures while his mind is completely and utterly empty.

Last night’s selections were so boring there was a point where I started to try to breakdown the individual smell components of the fabric softener sheets I used on the sweatshirt I’m currently wearing (it’s like flowers with cotton candy and wood… or something).

Jack was absent from a good portion of 24 making the single episode feel like an entire day. I ended up fast forwarding through a good chunk of the CTU/White House nonsense, and even then the episode ended with me thinking, “All this for James Cromwell?” The same could be said for Mr. George Takei on Heroes, whose brief appearance at the end of the episode was suppose to make for the fact that nothing happened during the previous 57 minutes.

Thank god Veronica Mars is on tonight.

First off, sorry for the lack of post yesterday, but it is December and there just isn’t all that much happening. I’m sure we’ll all make it through… together. And speaking of being together…

Have you heard about this crazy show Heroes? I HAVE! Last night’s episode was the last for 2006, and it was mostly a good one. Again I have to say “mostly” because it’s impossible for a Heroes episode to be completely solid all the way through. This was especially evident tonight with the Nicki/Micah/D.L.(?) storyline, which seems to have completely severed itself from the rest of the show. In fact, with each passing episode every character gets closer to the others except Nicki/Micah/D.L.(?) who are apparently under the impression that they’re actually on a series called, Amazing Adventures in Domestic Violence.

All that being said, the overall mystery had some excellent developments, including the self-inflicted death of that pixie-girl with the eyes– but how is it that Sylar could all of a sudden use his powers? Basically, I’m glad I stuck around. The past six episodes have been exponentially better than the first five. The cast, though, is still a little bloated. Here’s all you really need: Claire the cheerleader, Peter, Horn Rimmed Glasses, Hiro. That’s a show you can knock out of the park. The rest is supposed to be icing, but it really just comes off as sugared lard.

It’s usually pretty fun to watch, though. You’ve got to give it that.

Oh, and A DINOSAUR!

Studio 60… talk, and other stuff, after the jump…

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The original plan was to post something about NBC’s Thursday night comedy line-up and/or the premiere of Scrubs‘ sixth season. And while I tuned in for everything after My Name Is Earl, I don’t know, there just didn’t seem to be anything too remarkable worth commenting about. What were we expecting? Was NBC suppose to go from being a fourth-place network to A#1 in those two short hours? Hardly. It should be noted, however, that last night’s The Office was written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, a fact that seemed to slip by just about everyone until the opening credits rolled (or maybe just me — when no one is around I do like to call myself “everyman”).

Instead, I’d like to take this time to highlight some television goings on that most people all ready know:

• Ben Karlin is resigning as the executive producer of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. A reason for the departure has yet to be released, though in the long tradition of powerful people resigning their posts we can only assume he “wants to spend more time with his family.”
• Michael Sera (aka George Michael Bluth) has been hired by CBS to produce content for Innertube, the companies online video portal. The show will be called The Good Life, and will be about television producers because it seems to be the only thing anyone in the television industry seems to know anything about these days. Still, good news to see our boy making good– even if what we’ll be seeing will be really small, grainy, and buffering.
• For the industry-junkies out there: I read an old New York Times Magazine article the other day from the summer of 1997 about Jamie Tarses. She’s, more or less, who the Jordan McDeere character on Studio 60… is based. The story itself, from what I’ve heard, helped play a role in her ultimate demise at ABC. She was also the executive who put Sports Night on the air. You can read the Times article HERE, but you have to pay for it.
• I did end up finishing season four of The Wire this week and plan to write about it over the weekend. Quick questions: while I know that most people who read this site DON’T watch The Wire (your loss, suckers), I’d rather not spoil it for those who do. So, let me know in the comments if you’d rather have me wait to post my season-wrap-up until after it airs on HBO, or if I should post Monday after its put On-Demand? The decision is yours and yours alone. UPDATE: a The Wire MUST READ.

Tonight capped off the first nine-episode arc for Veronica Mars‘ third season. Loved it. It had, more or less, everything you could ask for. You got yer quips. You got yer red herring. You got yer set-up for the next mystery. You got yer action, suspence, and funny t-shirts worn by cast members (”Ask me about my STD”). Really, the only thing I could have asked for would have been a little more punch on the mystery itself — though you do gotta love the groundwork laid during the “prisoner/guard” episode from six or seven weeks ago.

I’m also kind of thrilled Veronica and Logan split. Logan is a great character, but he’s always at his best when he can be reckless. Take, for example, his well timed smashing of a cop-car so that he could be locked up with Mercer. Classic Logan. This move will not only be good for Veronica and Logan (she’s too independent, he’s too bi-polar) but it will be good for us, which in the world of television romance is always the most important thing.
When all is said and done, I’m coming out in favor of these shorter storylines. Twenty-two episodes is a tad long for one mystery. Seven to nine is just about perfect, and I look forward to catching the rest of the season during the new year, even if those episodes are going to be short one Ed Begley Jr.

Remember Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip? Remember how just about everyone who watched the show during that first month couldn’t believe what a disaster it had become since the pilot aired? Remember how pretentious, preachy, preposterous, and generally unfunny it was? Well it still is, but I’m also still watching it. After the jump I’ll tell you why…

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I seem to be writing about NBC a lot lately, though the network is in such disastrous shape it begs discussion. Here’s what we all know: NBC is in last-place. Because of this, and because parent company G.E. is responsible to its shareholders for increasing the value of its stock, NBC recently had to fire 750 employees in a massive restructuring move that included moving MSNBC from its current home in New Jersey to Rockefeller Center with the rest of NBC news. With hindsight we’re able to ask the always important question, “Jersey?”

Additionally, NBC has decided to remove all scripted comedies and dramas from the 8 o’clock hour in lieu of cheaper game shows and reality fare. This will affect the bottom line initially, but one has to wonder if Howie Mandel is really the best choice for a lead-in (over and over and over again).

This restructuring is suppose to put more of a focus on NBC’s digital properties, because, if you haven’t heard, this ‘digital’ thing might really take off. The problem is that even if this is true, someone still has to program at least 21 hours worth of prime-time television each week. After the jump, I think I’ve figured out how to do it…

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I’m done with Heroes. Done. As in, “I’m not going to watch Heroes anymore.” Nothing happens, and when when it appears like something is happening it’s usually cloaked in so many layers of pseudo-mysterious nonsense that you walk away wondering why it is you decided to watch television that night in the first place. There’s too many characters. When we follow the good ones, things seem promising but then we leave and start following around the professor’s son and that girl who looks like a low-rent Ginnifer Goodwin and I’m simultaneously infuriated because they couldn’t be more boring, even if they are trying to save the universe, and because every word that comes out of their mouths sounds like it was written by George Lucas when he was nine. And is it just me or does anyone else want Greg Grunberg to just be funny?

Of course, it couldn’t just all end there, allowing myself to wash my hands of the whole mess. No, the last two minutes had to include a reveal of Claire (man, they’re even ripping the names off from Lost), the cheerleader who owns no other clothes, awaking on a surgery table after getting a stick jammed through her head, pulling the stick out and then realizing that her entire chest had been removed during some sort of autopsy. That, my friends, was god-damn awesome, and even though I’m DONE with Heroes I might check back in next week to see what happens. Y’know, just to make sure she’s OK.

Studio 60… wasn’t as infuriating. The show is still week-to-week with me, but I found myself entertained enough to want to see another episode. Others, it seems, are a little more on the verge of jumping ship, but they also seem to know much more about Mr. Sorkin’s past than I. Though if you find yourself bored with this version of a fake SNL, here’s a fun game to play: in all of the scenes with “Ricky and Ron,” the two hacky writers, just stare at Carlos Jacott (the one with hair) and his almost freakish absence of lines. I think he has maybe said two things since the show started a month ago.

Whatever. 30 Rock starts tomorrow. Let’s focus on that.

Heroes — The last minute and a half of Heroes was so awesome it was infuriating. Infuriating, because it made me wait through 45-minutes of ho-hum setup and seemingly unanswerable questions. Infuriating, because it also will make me wait through 45 more minutes of ho-hum seemingly never-ending setup and, of course, more questions.

AND WOW, was it violent! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a woman nailed to the side of a stairwell with ice picks before. THANKS NBC!!

See, what all of these new super-secret-serials have failed to learn from Lost is that people want to see a story mixed in with their supernatural intrigue. Sure, any give Lost ep will boggle the mind and dazzle the senses, but it will also tell a story about a character, and when the hour is over you feel like you’ve learned something about why someone behaves the way they do, even if you’re left asking a million more questions regarding the madness that is the Lost universe.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip — A note for Aaron Sorkin: quit preaching to me! If I wanted political opinions I’d watch cable news. Or better yet, I’d watch The Wire. See, The Wire is one of the few shows that can say everything about everything without actually saying anything. Studio 60… has started to irk me simply for its lack of subtlty. Sorkin, I suppose, is an acquired taste. Maybe I have yet to acquire that taste. I’m curious if I will before I quit watching. However (as usual), Matthew Perry is still good enough to carry me over to the next week.

Weeds –  Have you noticed that once a season hits episode six or seven, it suddenly becomes void of discussion material? I did enjoy the scene with Andy and Silas laying the pool talking about how their lives suck. That was funny (if obvious).

Early in August when I rented Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip from Netflix I was certain that the buzz behind the show would make it a huge hit and could (potentially) save NBC from its current status as a last place network. I think I was way off the mark. And, while I’m not yet ready to start king-making again (and the fact that I actually have little power and influence), it definitely seems like Heroes is aligned to save the day [groan]. I promise there won’t be any more puns after the jump…

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