I’ve been watching Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip this year and have been really impressed.  I had heard that it was getting cancelled, but it was picked up for the rest of the year and hopefully will be renewed for next year because it gets better with each episode.

If you’re familiar with Aaron Sorkin and liked The West Wing, you’ll find a lot of similarities in the pace, style, and substance of each show.  If you didn’t like The West Wing, it may have been that you didn’t give it a fair chance.  Sorkin’s style is fast, dry, and sometimes a little lofty.  The characters are all so smart and witty, that it’s a little intimidating and even a little snooty.  But, that’s also what makes the show so good: the characters are people who you trust making big decisions.  Whether it’s enlisting the best candidate to the Supreme Court in The West Wing or choosing between the funny bank heist or the Armani spit-take comedy sketch (not a skit, as was pointed out in one episode) on Studio 60, you trust that these guys are going to make what they feel is the proper choice.

Each episode usually contains a moral point or value judgment that one of the characters faces, typically surrounding press response to their very public lives.  The show’s staff takes everything very seriously and reserves the chuckles for when the in-show’s cameras are on.  However, what really propels the show, in my opinion, beyond the witticisms of The West Wing is that by focusing on a comedy show the writers can include some bits of very funny comedy sketches, a weekend news anchor desk, and even musical guests. It’s like Saturday Night Live, only funny.  So far, Sting has performed a beautiful rendition of Fields of Gold and this past week, Corrine Bailey Rae put on a sultry performance that’s convinced me to buy her album.

Amanda Peet is surprisingly good as Jordan McDeere, the beautiful studio president who has been receiving a lot of bad press from a tell-all book her sleazy ex-husband is publishing.  This story line is reaching a little, but it at least gives Peet screen time where she can show her strong, intelligent side, a far cry from the ditzy dame from The Whole Nine Yards which also starred Studio 60 co-star Matthew Perry.  Perry also does a fine job shaking off his own shackles, those of Friends’ Chandler Bing.  Could he be… any more serious here?  Perry gives a convincing performance as the show’s co-executive producer along with West Wing alum Bradley Whitford.  Both producers tackle each week as though the nation depends on them for a laugh to make the unbearable world manageable.  Each is as just as quick, witty, and brainy as the rest of the network staff, firing acerbic one-liners with aplomb and zinging each other with abstruse literary references.  Just thinking about it has me pawing through my dictionaries and thesauri.

Also disarmingly serious is Steven Weber who, like Perry, had also carved a niche with a goofily endearing character, his in familiarly named Wings.  I thought Weber gave a great performance in Stephen King’s The Shining, so I wasn’t completely taken by surprise that he can act as well in a dramatic role as he did in a purely comedic one.  Here on Studio 60, there is no sign of Brian Hackett.  Instead Weber plays Jack Rudolph, the merciless network chairman who you can’t really tell if you like or not, but definitely fear.  Rudolph is probably the only not-funny character on the show and Weber chews up the scenery perfectly.

Timothy Busfield, another alumnus from The West Wing, also adds acting power to Studio 60 as does D.L. Hughley who doubly gives the show-within-the-show comedic respectability.  Hughley’s cast mate, Nate Torrence, has been getting some recent on screen time as the rookie member of the comedy troupe, Dylan Killington, and looks to be one of the funnier members of the cast, next to D.L.  The show needs a strong, John Belushi/John Candy/Will Sasso/Chris Farley type of character and Torrence could be it.  Unfortunately, although the rest of the cast may have been good choices for their roles for Studio 60, they’re not always as believable as choices for the show-within-the-show.

Sarah Paulson plays Harriet Hayes who, as a Christian Republican, seemingly gives both Studio 60 shows permission to take shots at the right while avoiding claims of an imbalance.  Paulson seems more suited to theater than the comedy stage and has previously acted in Deadwood and Serenity, but I can’t remember her from either.  On an earlier Studio 60 episode the actress gave a spot-on Holly Hunter impression, but aside from that, I haven’t seen enough of a reason to feel that Harriet would be a member of a weekly comedy sketch group let alone the headliner.  Hopefully, future episodes will give Paulson’s character a chance to prove her worth.

"My great-grandfather’s great-grandfather was Dr. Josiah Bartlet, who was the New Hampshire delegate to the second Continental Congress, the one that sat in session in Philadelphia in the summer of 1776, and announced to the world that we were no longer subjects of King George III, but rather a self-governing people. We hold these truths to be self-evident, they said, that all men are created equal. Strange as it may seem, that was the first time in history that anyone had bothered to write that down. Decisions are made by those who show up. Class dismissed. Thank you everyone. God bless you. And God bless America.”
Martin Sheen as President Josiah Barlet, The West Wing

Howie Carr on the radio tonight was talking about cigarettes tonight and it reminded me of a bit I heard on Opie and Anthony where they played clips of old smoking ads.  The ads made outrageous boasts and some included doctor recommendations (4 out of 5 doctors smoke Camels).  I don’t normally listen to Opie and Anthony, but it was pretty funny.  There’s a good web site that posts images of some old tobacco ads.  “There’s an added pleasure in giving Camels at Christmas. You know your gift will be so genuinely welcome,” reads one ad.  Another declares that with Kools, “your throat and tongue stay cool and smooth, your mouth clean and fresh.”

http://www.chickenhead.com/truth/index.html

I actually found some of the radio spots in a montage available for download, posted on the Radio Market Bureau’s web site.  Some are pretty outlandish.

http://www.rmb.ca/asp/audio-displaypress.asp?PressID=3073

Maggie and I have been putting together a couple care packages for a friend who is serving in Iraq.  She is a military nurse stationed in the ICU unit of a forward hospital and recently asked if we could send over some cards and children’s drawings for the soldiers who pass through her ward.  I’ve put together a bunch of cards signed by men in my lodge and am working on getting the children’s drawings, too.  It got me thinking about some of the wonderful organizations who do charitable work around the world and for our service men and women stationed overseas.

Doctors Without Borders is an international medical organization that puts medical workers in areas that need them most.  In addition to medical care, they provide and administers drugs, vaccines, and medical supplies, help residents provide clean water, food, and sanitation, and train local medical personnel.  Doctors Without Borders has been in operation for 35 years and maintains over 3,800 field operations each year.

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.com/

Clowns Without Borders brings laughter to children and adults alike in refugee camps, crisis zones, and emergency areas.  The organization is a collection of volunteer performers, artists, and teachers.  Their U.S. headquarters is located in San Francisco and accepts donations through their web site.

http://www.clownswithoutborders.org/

The American Red Cross is one of the oldest organizations of its kind with over 125 years of service.  In addition to their blood collection and relief efforts, in 1905, the U.S. Congress granted the American Red Cross a charter to provide communication between the American people and their armed forces.  Ever since, they have been providing communications and services to members of the U.S. military and their families around the world.  The Red Cross store has a good collection of emergency preparation kits available for sale.

http://www.redcross.org/

The USO is a private, nonprofit organization that provides morale, entertainment, and recreation services to American troops.  They have been in operation for over 65 years since just before the start of World War II and currently operate 132 centers and ten mobile canteens around the world including those in United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Qatar, and Kuwait.  They also provide internet and email access, support groups, and housing and emergency assistance.

http://www.uso.org/

Network for Good is a central repository for charitable organizations, allowing users to contribute money to the charities of their choice.  They have an entire section devoted to charitable organizations that provide aid and comfort to our troops stationed overseas.

http://www.networkforgood.org/

Books for Soldiers is a non-profit organization that provides books, games, DVDs, and relief supplies to our troops through charitable donations.  Volunteers also have access to their online forum, Pen Pal area, and Post Card Jamboree.  Their online store sells stickers, mugs, T-shirts, and magnets.

http://www.booksforsoldiers.com/index.php