Sork of July – Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip 1.12

Remember that one time Sorkin tried writing Black characters? (via mralphafreak.wordpress.com)

Ok, so Sorkin has done a sports show, a comedy show and a news show, so which type of television program should he tackle next?  Well, I've got a few ideas.

My first idea is that Aaron Sorkin should do a behind the scenes show about a reality show.

No, wait; hear me out.

It's about the producers and crew who are really good at making reality shows.  They're successful and they decide that their next project is going to be about Detroit or Baltimore or New Orleans, or some other down on their luck town.  They decide to do it and get push back from the network and whatnot.  But really it's about people trying to make a difference via television.

Well, today's episode is "Monday."

Host & Musical Guest: No show this episode

# of references “Crazy Christians”:  None

Sketches Referenced: Zip

Sketches Shown: Zero

So the last episode ended things on Sinister Mister Tripp vaguely threatening Jordan.  Sure, it could have been scripted as romantic or playful, but it came off as creepy. 

Today’s episode starts with a montage of Danny calling Jordan during the Christmas break.  He starts off by calling her when she doesn’t show up at the wrap party for the Christmas show.  There’s some chit chat and she tells him her holiday plans, which involve spending time with family and then taking a trip to an island. 

Danny calls her on Christmas.  Danny calls her on New Year’s Eve.  Danny calls Jordan so much that he buys a new phone, so that she won’t know it’s him calling and avoid his call.  I think when you put that much into it, maybe a line has been crossed? 

We’ll get back to Danny and Jordan later, but let’s jump into Jack for right now.  Jack meets with the board for the Tunney Media Group to explain why they shouldn’t pay the 73 million dollar fine or put the news on a five-second delay.  The board isn’t really receptive to his reasoning, mainly because they don’t want to mess up the Macau deal.  Wilson backs Jack, which causes him to lose the confidence of the board.   In fact the majority of the board wants to oust Wilson. 

But Jack has a plan; he’s going to convince Zhang to support Wilson.  He wants Zhang to tell the board that he won’t do the Macau deal if they bow to the FCC.  Zhang is an honorable dude, but Jack sweetens the pot by telling Zhang that he’ll convince Kim to not drop out of school and pursue a career in improv comedy.  Jack is working very hard to keep all of his plates spinning. 

Also on the corporate side, Jordan has to deal with Hallie Galloway, the head of Alternative Programming.  They get off on the wrong foot; Jordan expresses her disdain for reality tv and Hallie tries to go around Jordan’s back with her show ideas.  But eventually Jordan becomes the bigger woman and apologizes in an effort to salvage the working relationship. 

At Studio 60 there are a couple subplots brewing.  First is that Harriet is getting an award by Catholics in the Media and is holding an auction for the person who gets to be her date for the evening.  Matt believes Luke is bidding and since he can’t let Luke win he begins to outbid him.  But because the money will be used to fund teen abstinence programs, he’s donating matching bids to a group that support poly-amorous relationships.  It’s as funny as it sounds. 

Tom asks Matt’s permission to go out on a date with Lucy.  It may seem odd, especially considering the ongoing drama between Matt and Harriet, or not, but Tom really only asks because, foreshadow alert, Wes had put the kibosh on intramural dating after some issues arose.  But Matt’s totally cool with it. 

Matt is completely enamored with The 48 Laws of Power and feels they can milk 48 different sketches out it.  In related sketch news, Simon pitches a militant Black Fruit of the Loom character to Darius and suggests that they work on it.  But Darius passes it off to Lucy because he’s not really feeling it. 

When Simon calls him on it, things get tense, especially after Darius breaks out his slave dialect.  See Simon is under the believe that he’s “saved” Darius rather than just mentoring him.  It’s an interesting and weird dynamic that doesn’t quite work.

On a lighter note, Matt’s nephew’s need for letters of recommendation gives Danny the idea that he’s going to deluge Jordan with letters of recommendation for himself.  But the plan backfires. 

Jordan gets letters of recommendation for Danny from Martin Scorsese, Lauren Bacall and Lord Dickinson, the third Earl of Kent, as well as 36 others.  She’s not cool with it.  What follows are direct quotes from Jordan.

“You have to stop it.” 

“This is unprofessional.”

“I’m your boss.” 

“You ask me out once, I said no.  You asked me again, I said no.  You asked me again, I said no. “ 

“Will you please stop?”

It seems like she’s making a pretty strong case that she’s not interested in a relationship with him.  Danny’s response to that final question; a petulant “no” and he walks off, ending the episode. 

So for those keeping score, the episode starts with him staking her by phone and end with him disregarding every indication that she’s not interested in him.  Truly disturbing.