(Display Name not set)September 2006 Archives

Censorship and the religious right will once again take center stage during primetime tonight on Aaron Sorkin's "Saturday Night Live"-inspired backstage drama, "Studio 60." At the end of last week's debut, new network president Jordan McDeere gave writer/producers Matt Albie and Danny Tripp her promise that their "Crazy Christians" sketch--the same sketch that lost their predecessor his job--would be allowed to air the following week.

Picking up the story three days after McDeere's promise, "Studio 60" writer/producers Matt Albie and Danny Tripp are at a press conference where they must once again tackle questions about the infamous comedy sketch, because the sketch has now been leaked to the media. In fact, a conservative Christian publication called "Rapture Magazine" has found out about the sketch and asks McDeere at the news conference if "Studio 60" really does plan to air it. When the magazine is told "yes," the woman who runs the magazine does what all good conservative Christians are born to do--at least in TV land, anyway--she starts a boycott.

Immediately after the press conference, we are once again treated to some sharp dialogue that no doubt has been patterned after real-life conversations and plays up the cultural divide between Hollywood and the heartland. When McDeere snippily asks the press conference coordinator, "How many whack jobs subscribe to Rapture magazine anyway?" she is calmly told by the media coordinator that Rapture magazine has a "circulation four times the size of Vanity Fair." McDeere and everyone else in the room is taken aback. They had no idea there were so many people out there who aren't like them.

But while I enjoyed that little bit of sparring, the rest of the storyline illustrates one of several storytelling pitfalls Sorkin is going to face while trying to create an intelligent show-within-a-show about Hollywood. Boycotts by conservative Christian groups are really old news. Those types of stories have already been done to death, and, quite frankly, it would have been more interesting, less cliché, if a different group would have been the ones doing the boycotting--groups like the NAACP and their recent attempt at a boycott, for example.

The other pitfall Sorkin stumbles into tonight is that if you are going to write a series about a sketch-comedy show, at some point your cast will have to perform a funny sketch. However, the sketch Albie finally comes up with isn't as funny as even a mediocre "Saturday Night Live" skit. What's worse is that we never see the infamous "Crazy Christians" sketch at all. If you are going to spend two episodes discussing something supposedly so controversial that most of middle America would be offended, there needs to be a much better pay-off to the conflict

Don't get me wrong, I still hold out some hope for this show to possibly resurrect intelligent, non-crime related storylines on TV this season, but tonight's episode is not a move in the right direction. (Oh, and I'll save my thoughts on the problem with trying to make the Harriet/Matt relationship work on the show for another time!)

The success of any heroic journey in fiction is based on the premise that the hero is an ordinary person who is endowed with special powers and is sent on a special quest to fulfill his or her destiny. NBC's new drama "Heroes," which debuts Monday night, takes that classic premise and gives it a slight twist by introducing viewers to the lives of several ordinary people from various parts of the world who are just beginning to come to terms with the reality that they have supernatural capabilities. Unlike "X-Men" or the "Fantastic Four," these heroes do not work together or even know each other--yet--nor do they wear super cool comic-book-hero-style costumes, but their quest to do something more is no less interesting.

In Monday night's episode, we meet a man who can fly, a woman who sees strange images in mirrors, and an artist who paints the future. The only real clue we are given to the possible link between these characters and their superhuman abilities is a genetics professor who is trying to solve the mystery of his father's death. The big question: Did his father make a huge discovery regarding human evolution, and does anyone else know about it?

While it is tough at times to keep track of all of the stories this episode is trying to establish, I think the best storyline by far is the journey of Claire Bennett, a cheerleader who can automatically heal from any wound inflicted upon her. "Heroes" is at its most life-affirming when we watch a teenage girl who has always been judged on the most superficial criteria--even by her own family--discover there is so much more meaning to her life than what she previously thought. (I'll bet I just grabbed the attention of all of you "Buffy" fans out there!)

With multiple characters, multiple storylines, and almost endless possibilities, "Heroes" is probably one of the few potential hits of the new TV season. It has enough action and mythic pathos to keep the graphic novel enthusiasts entertained while providing enough heart and soul to hold the interest of the rest of us.

Perhaps the best way to describe last night's debut of the CBS series "Jericho" is that it is something like "Lost" meets "Left Behind." The show borrows storytelling devices from both, but with only moderate success.

Last night's pilot introduced us to the tiny, old-fashioned fictional town of Jericho, Kansas. But before we can become too attached to Jake Green, a prodigal son returning home for a brief visit after a mysterious absence, disaster strikes. A mushroom cloud is seen in the West--supposedly over Denver--and word of some kind of explosion in Atlanta is also heard of over the airwaves. Jericho then loses all contact with the outside world.

Chaos ensues, as word of the explosion spreads. Soon, townsfolk turn on each other, while Jake is reluctantly turned into a hero for saving children on a stranded school bus. By the end of the episode, the folks of Jericho feel an eerie sense of helplessness over their future survival.

The problem with "Jericho" so far is that the science fiction element is not as strong as it is in a show like "Lost" or "The X Files," but it also doesn't have enough of a spiritual angle to snag an audience thirsty for an apocalyptic adventure. My guess is "Jericho" may vanish from primetime before anyone--including viewers--realizes the citizens of Jericho, Kansas, are still alive.

Sure, we're happy to see Matthew Perry return to television, especially alongside those enjoyable "West Wing" folks like Bradley Whitford and Timothy Busfield. But the biggest reason many of us will be tuning in tonight to the premiere of "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip"--NBC's new behind-the-scenes look at a fictional late-night sketch show--will be the man who puts the words in their mouths: writer/producer Aaron Sorkin. And I am happy to say that tonight's premiere of "Studio 60" provides Sorkin aficionados with great acting, lush sets, and the joyous return of "walk and talks"--witty banter matched with long tracking shots that are typical of the storytelling style Sorkin and his directing partner Tommy Schlamme have perfected.

Tonight's pilot episode (10.00 p.m., NBC) finds the "Saturday Night Live"-style comedy sketch show "Studio 60" in more than a bit of trouble this particular Friday night. The fictional NBS network's standards and practices rep is pulling the plug on the intended opening sketch, intriguingly titled "Crazy Christians." This leads to an on-air "Network"-inspired tirade by the show's producer, which, of course, gets him fired and leads to major national news coverage. In an effort at damage control, the new network president, Jordan McDeere (Amanda Peet), tracks down the famous writing/producing duo of Matt Albie and Dannie Tripp (Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford) to offer them a chance to return to "Studio 60" after being fired from the show a few years before.

But just as Sorkin's "Sports Night" was not simply about a sports broadcasting team, and "The West Wing" was not only about people working in the White House, "Studio 60" is about much more than the cast of a floundering comedy show. Whether it's references to Pat Robertson as a bigot or psycho-religious cults who thrive on boycotts, Sorkin is clearly taking some thought-provoking shots at the cultural and spiritual divide in America. But he's doing it with the help of a Christian.

That's right: Imagine my surprise when I found out that "Studio 60" has, at the center of its cast, a character who is clever, funny--and just happens to be a devout Christian without being completely annoying, as so many TV Christians are. Harriet, a longtime cast member and ex-girlfriend of Matt Albie, is a thinly-veiled homage of some kind to Sorkin' s ex-girlfriend, Kristin Chenoweth, a Christian who became a Broadway star and was also a "West Wing" regular in its last season. But that doesn't dampen my excitement over the possibility of a primetime show portraying a Christian without resorting to stereotypes. A perfect example of this is when Harriet defends the "Crazy Christian" sketch, while the less-tolerant Albie confesses that he let Harriet's appearance on Robertson's "The 700 Club" become justification for ending their tumultuous relationship.

All indications point to Harriet's faith continuing to play a significant part in future episodes of the show. And while I am not convinced that Harriet will continue to serve as an accurate mouthpiece for us moderate evangelical types, I am looking forward to the spirited--and spiritual--discussions "Studio 60" is going to generate around watercoolers everywhere this season.

Past Billy Graham television specials have focused on issues such as divorce or on cities in ruin, such as hurricane-ravaged New Orleans. But the latest evangelistic crusade, broadcast from Baltimore, asks the question, "Do you know where your children are?" Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham, continues to take the helm of the behemoth evangelical ministry, while the ministry increasingly is focusing on reaching out to teens, in this case by addressing the staggering and bleak statistics surrounding teenage runaways.

The special follows the usual Crusade format of testimonies of dramatic conversions--in this case from teens who used to live on the streets--mixed with coverage of Franklin Graham preaching and contemporary Christian musical guests singing their latest hits. While I have never been a huge supporter of this type of old-fashioned revival-style formula for evangelizing, a thought struck me as I was watching the special. With pseudo-celebs like Stephen Baldwin trying to make Jesus "rad" by developing gospel skateboarding comic books while Christian bookstores sell the latest "Gospel According To…" book, maybe it's time to go a little retro in the way the gospel is preached after all .

Jesus didn't try to follow pop culture trends to make his message fashionable, He told the truth in simple terms. So while Graham's method of ministry may seem old-fashioned, it is perhaps ever-so-slightly more effective than the latest Christian slogan or marketing trend.

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