kangeiko

I recently blitz re-watched Studio 60 and wow, do I have some conflicting feelings about it. On balance, I like it enough to re-watch it and to keep the DVD box-set. This can be contrasted with me failing to finish The Newsroom and having zero interest in giving it another go. (But then also with my love for The West Wing.) Sorkin is definitely a problematic fave, I'll admit, and a lot of his flaws are front and centre in Studio 60. Female characters inexplicably young for their role and clumsy as new-born colts? Check. Obsession with the Christian right to the exclusion of all else? Check. Male characters simultaneously smug and in power, check. But where we have genuine power-players in The West Wing, the power in Studio 60 is weirdly transitory. Everyone is revolving through the door of being hired and fired, on the air and potentially canned. Somehow, Jordan McDeere's personal history is front page news (is this a thing in the US, bc it's weird in the UK) and the romance with Danny is played for, well, romance, rather than stalking. Just... that whole thing didn't work for me, Jordan, Danny, any of it. I'd be OK while they were on the screen, and then the moment the camera wasn't on then I'd be revolted. I think it was a case of Bradley Whitford and Amanda Peet's charms tipping the scales while they were in my line of sight, and then the reality of the writing re-asserting itself the moment we cut away. Sorry, guys, that plotline didn't work for me at all.

What else.... spare from Matt and Harriett. Has there ever been another couple so toxic for one another? I'm one of those weird people who thinks if you don't respect the person you're with there are probably no wedding bells in your future. And while they may respect each other's talents, they don't respect each other in the least. I had no patience with it.

So what did I like? I really, really liked Jack Rudolph. I liked him on my first watch, and I adored him on my rewatch. While the nonsense storylines were happening, Steven Weber was acting his socks off and giving us a rounded character in Jack Rudolph and I could quite happily watch an entire show just about him. I could even stomach Jordan/Danny (if it had /Jack in the mix in there). I want to write fic about him - maybe something happens and the media is out for his blood and Danny and Matt for once try to watch out for him, because how about seeing him as a person you self-centred, sanctimonious - aherm, sorry. Or maybe the fact that Jack is constantly drunk, that he's a fighty yet considerate drunk, that he's sad he's getting divorced, that he's under pressure and he offers himself as the sacrificial lamb to protect the network - maybe we could have some time to flesh that out. I'd quite happily write a million words of gen fic (and/or shippy fic) for Jack is my point.

Tom and Simon! I love them. Mostly in connection with Jack, it has to be said, but also in relation to each other and to a lesser extent to Harriett (primarily because we don't see them with Harriett that much, weirdly). Tom's brother and that storyline was weirdly paced and endless, but I would have liked to see the fallout of that. What does Tom do after? How do Simon and Jack relate to each other after that?

I liked Cal, I liked the guest stars, I liked the premise. I guess I just didn't like the romance element which felt very forced and I would have preferred if we'd had 3/4 seasons before Danny/Jordan got together, and absolutely no will they/won't they on Matt/Harriett - just have them be exes! People do that!

Also, Jack. The show needed more Jack.