Shook the Spot

TIMES WRITERS CLEARLY DISCUSSING CSI AROUND THE WATERCOOLER

"At the center here, public health and law enforcement officials are learning to speak the same language and using the same forensic techniques as those popularized on the three C.S.I. television series to diagnose elder abuse and neglect." —The Times, September 27, 2006

"In a case right out of CSI: Corporate America, a team of private investigators spent months obsessively hunting the source of a news leak from inside Hewlett-Packard about the company’s corporate strategy." —The Times, September 29, 2006

Wait, what the fuck is going on here?

Tonight's about getting back into Grey's Anatomy and seeing whether Six Degrees is as good as its promising premiere. But to harp on Studio 60 a little bit more, I think it might be helpful to relive this clip, from the second season finale of The West Wing, in which President Bartlet decides to seek another term after disclosing he has M.S. (The frequent comparisons between the two shows are justified because they share even more than their creator: hourlong dramas cast in the same shadows and Romantic temperament, featuring the same cast members and even the same title cards. Studio 60 is The West Wing Goes to Hollywood.) Anyway, do you like this scene? To me — and I'm sure Yo, It's . . . would agree — the clip represents one of the great moments in television of the past decade . . .



In the same vein, there's the scene preceding that one, with Bartlet cursing the Almighty in, of all things, Latin and lighting up a cigarette in the National Cathedral. (Look, it's not every day you hear God called a "feckless thug" on TV.) Or there's this classic scene from the campaign trail and the memorable exchange . . .

Josh: "We changed time zones? We changed time zones? We changed time zones?"
Kid: "It's a common mistake."
Josh: "Not for the U.S. government!"

I'm reminded of the line from this week's Studio 60, in which Matthew Perry gives Harriet some coaching . . .

Harriet: "What did I do wrong?"
Matt: "You asked for the joke."
Harriet: "What did I do at the table read?"
Matt: "You asked for the butter."

Anyone who winced at that is being unfair. There's little on network television that comes close.

"WE'LL BE THE PERFECT MODEL OF A MODERN NETWORK TV SHOW"

"I've got a secret for you, Mr. President," said the ghost of Mrs. Landingham in the finale of season two of The West Wing. "Your father was a prick who couldn't get over the fact that he wasn't as smart as his brothers."

Believe it or not, that line was controversial. As recounted in a 2001 New Yorker piece . . .

When a long-running drama is short on off-color language or risky topics, you
can assume that the Standards people think it's no good. "Last year, we let
Aaron Sorkin use the word 'prick' on 'The West Wing,' " Alan Wurtzel, at NBC,
told me, "but only because it is clearly a quality show, and because the
characters had been established for two years." A former NBC executive told me,
"The producers of 'Pretender' and 'Profiler,' two extremely pedestrian shows,
would always say, 'They used "ballbuster" on "Homicide"—can't we do it?' We'd
say politely, 'Your show ain't "Homicide." ' "

And from later in the same piece . . .

Standards departments pay particular attention to impiety. Aaron Sorkin, the
creator of "The West Wing," said, "What has surprised me most about television
is that Standards and Practices made it very clear that I will be able to say
'motherfucker' on the air before I can take the Lord's name in vain. They fear
that religious groups will aggressively boycott our show." In one episode last
year, President Bartlet exploded about being bested by a "damn street gang." "It
didn't ring true," Sorkin said. "I originally wrote 'goddamn street gang.' In
the movies, it would have been 'fucking street gang.' I'm fighting to get NBC to
loosen the reins, and I feel 'bullshit' should be allowed, occasionally— 'That's
crap' doesn't play."

Well, Studio 60 nailed it again last night. (See the episode here.) A slow beginning—hard to compete with last week's start—gave way to a second half-hour of brilliant television. To those who couldn't stand the Gilbert and Sullivan bit, feel free to shit on Sorkin in the comments. Shook, for one, loved it.

The "Modern Major General" riff was reminiscnent of West Wing's third season finale, which ended in a dramatic rendition of "The Patriotic Song" from the Dickens musical, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. But whatever. It was good. And how about the cut to Danny Trip (Bradley Whitford), executive producer of Studio 60, the NBS show, when the chorus repeats that classic line, "And we hope that you don't mind that our producer was caught doing blow." Blow, shrooms—it was a clear nod from Sorkin, executive producer of Studio 60, the NBC show. Once the premiere started with an NBS cry of "Roll VTR" into the actual NBC credits, you had to know the two would be tightly intertwined.

Finally, a reason to be proud of my city, from a graphic in today's Journal . . .

Since shaking to Somerville, Shook's television access has been restricted to the Big Three, but there was plenty to watch this week, and I watched most of it. Observations and guidance . . .

MONDAY

Deal or No Deal (NBC, 8 p.m.) — Two-hour premiere of the most inane yet addictive show on the networks. This shit's been all nearly every day this week, with the top prize, normally a humdrum million, growing to $6 million by week's end. The irritating hype that already permeated Deal has increased accordingly. Best moment of Monday's episode: The high-school football coach who brought his entire team to cheer him on, and said he wanted to win money to buy them new equipment. Not the most endearing, but certainly the loudest, charity cheering section in a long time.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (NBC, 10 p.m.) — Best premiere of the week. Yes, Studio 60 is to television what The West Wing was to politics. Yes, it's romantic to a fault. But you can't beat Aaron Sorkin at his best. The first segment featured a performance by Three 6 Mafia. The second segment featured Matthew Perry, in his first appearance, stoned out his mind on painkillers. (Drug abuse, by the way, will clearly be a recurring theme—one that Sorkin, of course, knows a lot about. Bradley Whitford plays a somewhat recovered coke addict. And it's about television, after all.) Anyway, Studio 60 is clearly "the can't-miss show of the season."

Unfortunately, Studio 60 runs against CSI: Miami, which Yo, It's . . . reports was actually in Brazil this week. Go figure.

TUESDAY

Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBC, 9 p.m.) — Great copycat-serial-killer story, with a twist, of course. But after all this time, I still can't picture Vincent D'Onofrio as anything other than the alien from Men in Black.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC, 10 p.m.) — Look, it's a good franchise. This was another solid premiere, though the eco-terrorists were funnier than they were scary.

Missed Friday Night Lights (NBC, 8 p.m.), but intend to catch it next week.

WEDNESDAY

The Biggest Loser (NBC, 9 p.m.) — Can't get into this.

Kidnapped (NBC, 10 p.m.) — Very promising. Jeremy Sisto (Billy from Six Feet Under) was great in the premiere. Interested to see how it plays as a serial narrative. Better character development in one episode than 24 has achieved in several seasons.

Two disappointments: Missed 30 Rock (NBC, 8 p.m.) and then stupidly chose Loser over Lost (ABC, 9 p.m.), which I intend to try next week.

THURSDAY

The Office (NBC, 8:30 p.m.) — There was too much actual plot to deal with after last season's cliffhanger, but it's still the best comedy on the networks. Michael outs Oscar, and they end up kissing in an emergency office meeting as Michael yells, "Burn this image into your brain." Done and done. After the kiss, Michael declares, "I'm still here."

Grey's Anatomy (ABC, 9 p.m.) — My most anticipated premiere turned out to be most disappointing. The show's always been something of a downer, but this took it to a new level. Last season's finale seemed like rock-bottom for most of the case, so it was only natural to expect a turnaround for some of them. Nope. Throw in a few cringe-inducing lines of narrative from Meredith, and you've got me consdering a switch to CSI.

Six Degrees (ABC, 10 p.m.) — On the other hand, my least anticipated premiere turned out to be the most surprising. Encouraged by a good review by Heffernan in the Times, I picked Degrees over Shark, the promising new legal drama on CBS, and yet another season of ER. That turned out to be a wise move, especially after the soul-crushing Anatomy premiere. Degrees is hokey enough for its own good, and the stories — at least in its first hour — were more engaging than much of what I saw on TV this week. Always great to find an unexpected gem.

Would have liked to have seen Shark, but really, Degrees was just that good.

FRIDAY

Well, it ain't Friday night yet, and I'll be missing primetime anyway. Would like to catch new ADA Alana De La Garza (CSI: Miami) on Law & Order (NBC, 10 p.m.)

Eric Massa is a Democrat running for Congress in New York's 29th district. This is his new campaign commercial . . .



"Today I run for the United States Congress to fight again—against higher taxes, against runaway spending, and anything that even rhymes with NAFTA."

Just a quick question: Doesn't Massa kind of rhyme with NAFTA?

AT LEAST YOU COULD SAY "MAN DATE" FIVE TIMES FAST

As a 21-year-old whose out of school, Shook's only health insurance at the moment is thanks to the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, which forces Aetna to continue covering me (at a hefty price) for 18 months or until I go back to school and become a bonafide dependent again. So I was intrigued to see a piece in tomorrow's Times about 20-somethings who remain on their parents' health-care plans. The author: Jenny 8. Lee. So, naturally, it wasn't far into the article before a new, bogus, prickly trend-term was invented . . .

Not only are children moving back home after college and asking Mom and Dad for monthly subsidies, but in a growing number of states children can now stay on their parents’ health insurance plans well into their 20’s.

Call it another example of adultescence.

You can't even pronounce that shit!