Studio 60's first episode pulled down fine ratings, and it is already being declared a hit, which in television is a self-fulfilling prophesy. As long as people have decided your show is a hit, it will stay on no matter how bad it is (Yes, Dear--I'm looking at you.)
The fact of the matter is Aaron Sorkin is probably the best screenwriter working today. Much has been made of his rapidfire dialogue full to the brim of sparkling wit and even the lowliest characters are towers of erudition. His stuff is always a joy to behold, the smartest people you can think of being very fast and funny. It is, of course, not realistic--nobody is that smart and sharp all the time--but who the hell cares? It's a scripted drama, people should sound and be smarter than they would be in normal life. From 'A Few Good Men' to 'Sports Night' to 'The West Wing' and now 'Studio 60', Aaron Sorkin has been dazzling us, and he deserves the incredible fame and fortune he has.
But beyond that, I love Aaron Sorkin because he represents that greatest of all literary characters--the tortured genius. The only story that gets more coverage that Aaron Sorkin's genius is his drug problems. Even people that don't like Aaron Sorkin's shows admit he is a supremely talented writer, just as those who cannot stop praising his writing must confess that he is a self-destructive typhoon who has never been able to fully control his demons. I have always been fascinated by people like Aaron Sorkin who are so phenomenally talented, so intellectually and creatively blessed, but are so deeply and tragically flawed. I don't mean to sound like a high-handed moralist, but Sorkin knows that he has had problems in the past. Maybe that is simply part and parcel of being a great writer--Fitzgerald, Hemingway, AA Milne, voracious drunks all. It's almost as if brilliant people have an incredible fire for a brain, but sometimes they need to extinguish it for fear that left unabated, it would burn them down. Watching him rise again and again, you realize that a mind like Sorkin's cannot be contained. His characters are fuller than almost any other on TV, and his stories of competent people who lean on each other are as compelling now as when he wrote sports night 8 years ago. He truly is a golden boy, and I hope his flame burns for years to come. Or at least until Studio 60 can hit syndication.
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2 comments:
For whatever reason, historically, great creative successes haven't come out of happy times or rarely so... I think an american sociological institute did a study that showed the brain actually shuts the thinking portion off when we're happy...which is maybe why most great geniuses are tortured, and the tortured part being why most of them were druggies/alkies/bipolar. Non sequitor, it's weird to think it's 1PM here while it's like 10 there.
Happy = not thinking, that explains a whole hell of a lot about the happiest people I know.
And yes Carolyn, time zones are a tricky concept.
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