Cancel the Funeral: 'Studio 60' Isn't Heading Off Into the Sunset Just Yet

Despite the assurances from those in-the-know around the blogosphere that the struggling freshman NBC hour "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" was mere hours away from cancellation with its low ratings and extravagant $2.5 million-plus per-episode pricetag, the opposite now in fact appears to be true. While not yet official, key industry sources are confident that NBC will, in the next few days, announce the show's pickup for its back nine episodes (giving it a full season complement of 22) in the wake of two consecutive Mondays of upwardly-trending numbers.

I chatted this morning with its producer and chief writer Aaron Sorkin, who thought that word of the show's fate could come as soon as today but likely not until week's end or -- at latest -- next Tuesday. It's thought that NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly was desperately searching for an excuse to renew "Studio 60" -- any sign of life that would indicate even modest traction -- and unofficial word is the show's performance over the past two Mondays has supplied it.

"I'd be very surprised at this point if the show weren't picked up (for the full season) in the next couple of days," noted one source who requested anonymity.

This is naturally music to Sorkin's ears, which have had to endure a running stream of pessimistic pronouncements and predictions over the show's fate since the day after it premiered. Critics, after all, love nothing more than tearing down that which they have built up with glowing praise, particularly when it comes from the writing/production stable of a brand name like Sorkin.

"Hopefully soon people will start paying attention to the show instead of who's making it," Sorkin told me today. "I really look at it as just the cost of doing business. I knew the reaction to the show was going to be a little bit noisier than I'd prefer. But hopefully, we're finally settling in and the audience is seeing the amazing cast and acknowledges the great, committed group of people who are behind this show."

Sorkin insisted that due to the last two weeks of ratings results "we're starting to feel optimistic around here" and reminds us that "The West Wing" also wasn't a hit in its first season. That didn't come until season two.

"But I'm much more comfortable with this feeling (of struggle)," Sorkin said. "It feels like it did when I did 'Sports Night.' 'West Wing' felt starnge to me. This feels normal."

While Sorkin is now confident that the call confirming "Studio 60's" back nine renewal could come any day or hour, he's also convinced that the show's measurement isn't reflective of its actual viewership.

"The Wall Street Journal wrote that when you add in people who TiVo our show and watch it later, our audience grows 18%," he said. "That's almost a full fifth larger. But those people don't get counted and advertisers don't care, because the assumption is TiVo viewers forward through the commercials. But that's still a very significant number for us. It would add close to two rating points to our total. People watch TV differently than they used to, and to be accurate the ratings need to begin taking that into account."

Comments

[Cathy Seipp]

I'm so relieved that it won't be cancelled! Last night I passed out and missed it, waking up sitting at my desk chair five ours after I put a pot of soup on to boil and woked up to a house full of smoke. But the worst thing was I missed "Studio 60"!

[Ozzyols]

This is the news that has made my day.

I am an Australian who has been following Studio 60 from the days when it was going to be called "Studio 7 on the Sunset Strip" so this is exactly what I wanted to hear. (thank you NBC/iTunes!)

As someone who has long viwed the Nielsens as an outdated and out of touch system of audience viewership, I too read the article in which it was proven that their figures were off (with great glee, I might add!)

This is truly brilliant news... I can't wait to get to work tomorrow and tell the other two dozen people I am frantically pimping my iPod to the good news!

[Cecilia Roman]

way to go Studio 60 and way to go Aaron! I thought Monday's episode was outstanding, congratulations and keep up the good work. (and can't wait to see Part II)

[OldOldLady Of The Hills]

I pray this show is not cancelled..For me, it is so far above any other new show---it is "quality" personified in every way---the writing, the acting, the direction and production, are all superb!

[cadavra]

Gee, Roger Friedman was wrong again. What're the odds?

[mike mclaughlin]

Thank you NBC for recognizing that there IS an audience that can "get" the intelligent, witty and always interesting humor of Mr. Sorkin and staff. Preventing more of the "dumbing down of America" is not only a public service, but rest assured that the sponsors of Studio 60 will get my business as a consumer. Please continue to support this quality programming and please pick up the options in future years. It's a quality audience if not a quantity one!

[Erik]

Studio 60 sucks ass. Can't wait until this crap is cancelled.

[mike]

i was hoping nbc would find something better to air rather than continue worshipping at the Altar of Sorkin.

This just isn't that good a show, and certainly, not as good as the hype.

[Jason]

I like Studio 60, though it's not quite as good as I had hoped it would be (but hey, give it some time).

But I'm not buying Sorkin's Tivo argument, unless he can supply a good reason to think that people Tivo Studio 60 more than they do any other show.

Plus, why should the network care? They make zero off of someone who Tivos the show and skips the commercials. So what difference does it make to them if the show's ratings are 'really' higher?

[Ryan]

I, for one, watch all of my TV (including Studio 60) on iTunes, so I'm not surprised that Tivo ratings (and, presumabley, iTunes purchases) aren't counted in Nielsen's but play a role in the series coming back. Hoo-ray!

[Kyle French]

I think that Studio 60 is a great show. Well maybe not yet, but I see hopes for its future. I agree that television should be a medium for intelligence and should not continue "dumbing down America." Lastly, who says TiVo viewers do not watch all the commercials. I know when I TiVo something and as I fast forward the commercials I always watch to see if the advertising is interesting. I think that it is up to the advertisers to change their approach to accomodate the viewers, not the other way around.

[S60PA]

My job lives!

[MZH]

Am I the only person who watches -- and loves -- the show as a satire of liberal self-righteousness?

I thought it was so mind-numbingly self-important and loathesome at first. Now, I honestly love it and laugh SO HARD at it.

I hope it doesn't get cancelled. Where else do you get such an honest look into the way liberals view the world?

[Will]

Studio 60 is terrible. Why is a show that purports to be about COMEDY heavier than a humpbacked whale? Sorkin can't write funny--he can only write deadly serious, self-righteous, morally-uplifting stuff like the West Wing. And that's what Studio 60 is, obviously: the West Wing set in a television studio. So you get a bunch of writers running around acting like the country will be in ruins if they don't write the perfect joke that night. Some of Bradley Whitford's rants appear to have been directly lifted from the last season of West Wing! It's ridiculous, and grating on the viewer.

[Mickymse]

Another TiVo watcher who doesn't get counted and forwards through commercials because they are usually LAME. I am more than happy to stop for a good commercial, though, and give kudos to recents folks like G.E. for responding -- as they did with their "60-second theater" series recently which was aimed squarely at those of us with DVR's.

[Lawrence]

It "appears to be true" and it's "not official yet". So, you, Sorkin and your sources are just speculating, right? There's nothing close to definitive that indicates Studio 60 is coming back yet? Although I wouldn't be surprised if it's announced in the next few days, this prognostication doesn't really amount to much of a story yet, huh?

[Shelley]

If it means keeping Studio 60 on the air, my family will run the television while TIVO is in progress.

Intelligent advertising usually finds intelligent programming. The Apple ads I saw while watching a Tivo'ed Studio 60 is a case in point.

[Chad]

The reason some people do not like this show or think it is not humorous is because they DO NOT GET IT! As the story has pointed out, this show grabs the biggest share of hosueholds with incomes over $75k. It is nice for once to not be forced to watch dumbed-down trailer park cr@p....nad just to make a point to NBC, why not try moving it to a different night so that it is not opposite the ratings juggernaught that is MOnday Night Football?

[rick]

Dear Shelley:
The show is for people who think they're smart. Like you. People who actually are intelligent see through it and find it annoying.

[Chris]

Rick, EXACTLY!!!! That is so true, when I think about the people I know who are watching it. What's not to "get" about the show? You don't have to make 75K or more to "get" it, and you certainly don't have to be a brain surgeon or a Harvard grad. Working in the biz might help you to take a shine to its self-importance, although I work in the biz and the only thing this show is "getting" to me is ON-MY-NERVES!

Even though it was picked up this time around, I seroiusly doubt it will be so lucky next time. I don't see it keeping up what little momentum it has now. I personally won't go back to it unless the scripts smarten up a bit, rather than having the characters talk just to hear themselves talk. It's like you say. It's as though instead of writing FOR the intelligent viewer, they're writing for the average (if that) viewer who wants to THINK of themselves as being smarter than they are. Which is exactly how all the characters come off. For the rest of us among the "75K and over" crowd, it's an insult to our intelligence. Give us a break, Aaron.

[george]

studio 60 has lost me as a viewer.
i'm tired of the constant preaching which cannot get over a boring story line and for once can we knock off the constant christian bashing. i'm not very religious but it got very old and mean spirited

[Gush]

Please don't cancel this literate, funny, interesting show. Perhaps it's too smart for Americans -- but give us a chance to smarten up! Please! At least it's not another fake reality television show or another talk show by an irritating Oprah wannabe...

[AD]

This show is so self absorbed I can't stand it. They walk around like the world is ending if the ratings do not go up. Who cares? The "walk and talks" are stupid and seem lifted straight out of West Wing. The show just raises my blood pressure the longer it is on. There is better stuff out there, and the Sorkin worshipers need to move on. His brand of TV sucks! I love how people who watch it claim it is just too smart for the rest of us. Maybe we aren't pretentious enough to enjoy the preaching and the soapbox that is Sorkin TV.

[lutheranchick]

I don't know if it's smart or dumb. I just like it. I like the characters and the humor and I don't know why that should bother people. Why can't we have an alternative to crime and gore? I'm sure there are enough of us out there who just appreciate witty dialogue and interesting plots. And if you don't think it's witty and interesting, just turn it off. On the other hand, go ahead and keep watching so you can complain about it. Helps the ratings.

[harreec]

Ok, so lots of people seem to like it, lots of people don't.

To be honest I love it. There is no two-ways about it, you may think it's self-absorbed, but think about it...It's set in the world of television. It's a dog-eat-dog world, every character, has to get the best out of themselves, and therefor everyone else. It's not a show for people who "think" they are clever, just strip it down to the bear essentials and everyone will be able to understand it. Granted, there are bits which are pointless, and 90% of people in the world will look at it with a vacant expression when they are talking about interrupting the broadcast and the amount of seconds that are needed, but it's part of it to describe the complications that *could* happen.
If NBC cancel this then they would be making a big mistake, Sorkin et al could take the show to someone else (FOX reference in "The Option Period" anyone?) and then they would have it on air over there at a time period where more people could watch it! (Why would you want to put a show on at the same time as MNF?!?)