15 Episodes of Sorkin

Thank you Maria Banson for asking

I am a snob. I am a credential snob, a classics snob, a theatre is better than tv snob. I am a snob that says written word is better than spoken work, that books are better than podcasts, that libraries are better than youtube. I am that sort of snob. I was defined early on as a snob, like grade school. I am not 100 percent sure of the demographics of it all, but yeah, snob came up at Schofield Elementary School 47 years ago. You see, I grew up in a paper mill town. It is my experience that there is a massive divide in towns like this, the guys who OWN the paper mill, and the much larger group of people who work at the paper mill. For every person who shows up to work in a tie, there are 50 guys showing up to work in coveralls. But, the guy who owns it, that money is magnetic, so stuff just springs up to service that. In my case, specifically the Country Club. Now, the dudes in the Coveralls they get stuff to, like Dive bars, and hardware stores or whatever. But, in this thing, there are Dive Bars, and Country Clubs. My best friend Sean was a Country Club kid, strangely enough my dad owned the dive bar across the street from the Country Club. I have no idea exactly how Sean and I became friends, other than both of us skipping a grade, but we were. And I spent time at the Country Club, and the tennis club, and all of it, and all of that led me to being called a snob by kids whose folks wore coveralls to the mill. So snob.

Then in college I lived with folks in the theatre program at UW Milwaukee. So, I went to a lot lot lot of theatre. One year we all went to NYC for Christmas to see Patrick Stewart read 'Twas the Night Before Xmas'. I got to see first cast of 'Bring in da noise, Bring in da funk', and I got to go to opening night of the reunion of 'Tommy' in America. I spent time around actors, and technical staff. This means I spent time around people WHO MADE ART all day long in a laborious process. I discovered Mamet because of this. I was an English major, so I chose electives in which I would read plays, because my friends were in theatre.

So I am a effete, literate, library board member being, snob. And now Sorkin.

I think I got Sorkin like everyone else. 'A Few Good Men' probably. I am old, so people read magazines, and watched cable TV and sometimes the previews of other movies was how we made decisions. But, somehow Sorkin hooked me. I think it went from the Nicholson movie, and then somehow Sports Night happened.

Today I am going to try to write about three Sorkin pieces. The last five of 'Sports Night', 'The Newsroom', and 'Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip' (referred to as Studio 60). I own all these shows in their completeness on digital platforms, and recently watched the last five episodes. So lets go!

Background.

1. 'The Newsroom' is a multi season show produced for HBO, starring Jeff Daniels and some others. It is a behind the scenes look at the making of a national news show. I am a former journalist, so I dig shows about journalist. The main character played by Daniels is Will McAvoy. Will appears to be a massive successful, rich guy anchor. A news version of Jay Leno or Letterman, not on personality but on scale. An Anderson Cooper/Bret Baier sort of thing. His boss is Charlie Skinner. His network is owned by Leona Lansing (played so amazingly well by Jane Fonda). There is a supporting cast, and all of that becomes Sorkin specific.

2. 'Studio 60' is a single season show produced for NBC (I think). It stars Bradly Whitford (Danny Tripp) and Matthew Perry (Matt Albe). Whitford and Perry are stars in Hollywood who came to stardom by being a producer and write for Studio 60, then moving out and doing movies. Their boss is a woman named Jordan McDeere played by the glorious Amanda Peet (watch her movie with Ashton Kutcher for some top notch 90s culture stuff). Peet has a boss Tim Daly, and Daly has a boss played by Ed Asner. The cast of the show has Harriet Hayes, the guy from The Bing Bang Theory, DL Hughley, and a bunch more. But, I want to high light Merritt Weaver plays Perrys assistant Suzanne.

3. 'Sports Night' is a show produced for ABC which was a behind the scenes look at the making of an evening sports show in the vein of Sports Center on ESPN. The show is a lot more ensemble than Sorkin later work, but it was also made in a different time of media reporting. Its main characters are Dan Rydell played by Josh Charles, and Casey McCall played by Peter Krause. They are the anchors, their boss is played by Felicity Huffman and her charecters name is Dana Whitaker, and Dana has a boss named Isaac Jaffe played by Robert Guillaume.

So, these shows were picked because of Substack request. They are all NOT the West Wing. Meaning only the Newsroom got to three seasons. And let us not assume I am going to dive that deeply into the super specific Sorkin repetition, because others have hit that over and over.

Here is the broad takeaway. Sorkin, like Mamet, uses the cast and situation as the tool to say SOMETHING. To explore an idea. For all of Sorkin television work he has super high functioning people working in a collaborative work place or situation, and this work place is clearly interchangeable and it is this because it is not the focus. The focus is what Sorkin want to say. Which I am totally cool with.

But, it is important to note that all three of these shows, they are all the same show.

Similarities.

1. Corporate Trouble. In each show the network is going to be sold. In The Newsroom some billionaire libertarian buys it because Leona needs cash to protect her larger company. In Sports Night the guy from the Avengers is buying the network. In Studio 60 Ed Asner faces a revolt from his board which he attributes to the Macau deal. This can only be saved by the dad of a drunk cello playing student from China. In Sports Night, Dana spends evenings at the bar talking to a stranger (the Avengers guy) about her concerns. In The Newsroom Leona uses a PR crisis for the libertarian guy to protect the show. Each of these as stand alones are cool. But, seen together, man. In the Newsroom the outside force is some children of Leonas dead husband making a proxy deal to punish Leona. Kat Dennings plays one of the kids, and it is a single episode arc. In both Sports Night and Studio 60 it is a multi episode arc. In these two shows Sorkin uses this to flesh out other things. There is the Whitford and Daly conversation on a plane back from Parumph in which Daly explains the professional risk Amanda Peet is in. In Sports Night Dana talks to the Avengers guy and tells him how much he cares for all of her people, specifically Casey. They have an on and off and on again relationship. In all of these cases the corporate troubles are quickly resolved exactly how we want them to be. In The Newsroom MacKenzie gets the job as the President of the network, in Studio 60 the stage is rebuilt, product tie in happens, and Asner keeps his job. In Sports Night the guy from the Avengers buys the network and keeps Sports Night on intact.

2. The Assistant. In Studio 60 Merritt Weaver plays Matt Albe assistant in the second ¾ of the season. In The Newsroom Allison Pill plays Maggie Jordan who starts as Wills assistant and ends up a producer. In Sports Night the parallel is not so clear, but maybe Natalie Hurley played by Sabrina Lloyd is similar. In the Pill and Weaver characters Sorkin is able to use these folks as devices to move plot along. Weaver has a great scene in which she confronts her boss about his drug use. This is repeated in The West Wing when an intern snitches on Leo for his pill addiction. And they have a scene together. Maggie in The Newsroom is the character that progresses the most PROFESSIONALLY. From a girl sharing an apartment and dating a superior at work, to someone breaking giant stories and dealing with a promotion that challenges her love life. She is also both a device to inject conscience and humor. The Natalie character is not such a dramatic device, but the physical appearance and age puts them in a similar place. Natalie also experiences a bunch of tremendously emotional stuff whether it be an on and off thing with Jeremy, or a physical assault.

3. The Job Interview. In each of these shows the exploration of other professional options comes up. In Studio 60 in the opening episodes there is discussion about a movie about Tesla (which sound fucking horrible), in Sports Night Natalie has an interview on SNL, and on The Newsroom Maggie has to make a decision on a promotion.

4. Layered Romances. Oh, the cliché of Sorkin Cliches. So, on Sports Night, Dana and Casey are pulled together. On Studio 60, Matt and Harriett are pulled together. On The Newsroom Will and McKenzie are pulled together. I think this are the core romance narratives Sorkin builds. But, on the Newsroom first Don and Maggie are a thing, an unhealthy and probably predatory thing. Then Don and Sloane become a thing, and it allows for the two narratives. One, the HR overseer. Which is awesome. And Two, batting above ones class. Sloane is far MORE successful, far more physically attractive than Don. And finally in The Newsroom we have the long angsty Maggie and Jim thing. This resolves in a great I Love You. In Studio 60 we layer in the love Danny feels for Jordan. This allows for lots of cool building things like the letters of reference, the I am Coming for you Jordan, the scene on the roof, and finally the pregnancy/birth story. We also have the Alex Dwyer and Lucy Kenwirght love story. This is a cool story because it intersects with the Corporate trouble, as the drunk cellist whose father must save the deal is in love with Alex Dwyer, and it leads to a cool lying at the start of a relationship thing. In Sports Night we have the Jermey and Natalie thing. Which is resisted by Sorkin to create tension. This tension is exploited by Sorkin in Jeremy having a relationship with a porn star played by Paula Marshall. Sports Night also has Casey trying to not be in love with Dana, and Dana forcing Casey to date other women, and Casey goes on a date with a woman perfectly named PIXLEY played by the amazing Megan Ward. I love Megan Ward. My absolute favorite Sorkin second layer love story is Danny and Rebecca Wells played by Teri Polo. OH MY GOD this is the best. There is physical comedy with the ladder shot, there is an amazing male heart break thing, and the going to the hotel bit is something I so want to happen to me. God, Teri Polo, man. Man. I also think the cool secondary tension between Dana and Sam Donovan is cool. And Dana also dates Ted McGinley (Gordon) who cheats on her, and Casey finds out because Casey sleeps with the same woman and finds Gordon wearing Caseys shirt.

5. Sets. Since the drama, and narrative are what Sorkin pursues, the sets are utilitarian at best. In each show there is a live television set, there is a back stage area, there are offices, and there is a control room. Per Sorkin knowing that movement draws attention, lots of walking and talking between these sets happens. I would have loved to know who built these sets. They are so multi use it blows me away. The way Felicity Huffman, Timothy Busfield, Mackenzie rule the narratives in their control room is cool. They become story pass through points.

The Last Five.

The assignment was to watch the last five, and post about that. I think the cool thing is the similarities. In each of them we have corporate trouble resolved. We have the resolution of love stories. In the case of The Newsroom we use the death of the beloved leader to pull things together at a funeral. In Studio 60 we have the kidnapping of family member to pull things together, and we add the birth of a child. In the earliest show, Sports Night, we simply over come the corporate purchase, and our senior leader deals with a stroke.

It is interesting that in the shows we move through different points of mortality in many ways for the senior leaders or other characters. Jaffe has a stroke, Charlie Skinner dies, Jordan McDeere nearly dies on the hospital table. The guy is kidnapped in Studio 60. Will has a stroke or heart attack on Newsroom. All of these incidents allow for amazing thing.

The scenes between Whitford and Peet in the hospital are all time great heart strings. The idea that Jordan has prepared papers for the adoption of the child by Danny, while the siren attorney tells Matt Albe that Danny has to do that too. Those two rising actions meeting in Jordan in bed prior to birth, is amazing. When Whitford discovers the last name of the child it is super cool.

For me,the consummation of the love of Matt Albe and Harriet Hayes is DEEPLY satisfying. While the constant banter is fun, the real and almost fatal struggles are important to resolve. Harriet on the movie set with Luke is deeply painful to watch, they way he yells at her professionally, and cruelly yells at her personally, those are deep holes. The deep and profound conflict of the The Harriet dinner dual episodes also needs to be resolved. And a dramatist like Sorkin simply must, and he does it so well. The scene when Matt is on the spiral staircase talking to God, and Harriet comes in and does the voice of God is perfectly lightening. Then, the means with which they resolve the conflict, and the slap, again I think it is perfect. Being a theatre nerd, the close shot of the show being the single light bulb, is so perfect.

The last five of The Newsroom are both amazing for the relationships and for narrative. First off, Will and Mackenzie resolve. I think the cool use of the Ring as a plot device, and the receipt for the purchase of the ring, that is perfect. I am super grateful that Sorkin cast David Krumholtz because I love his face. The device of therapy or counseling as a way to move without exposition is amazing. It allows us to see into the past with various levels of dependable or not dependable narrators, that is always cool to me. And David Krumholtz has a great face.

The story of Neal Sampat running away or needing to, allows Sorkin to have the characters argue about high moral issues (protecting a source) and cold actual needs (Will needing to protect his staff above source). Will goes to jail, and we get the lame imaginary friend later revealed to be Will going round with his dead father.

I dislike the corporate take over story line which has Charlie and Sloane trying to find another buyer for the network. This is a change in the Sorkin work. In Sports Night Dana is powerless to act against the corporate forces, even though she is hanging out with the guy. In Studio 60, Matt and Danny resent being a part of any of the corporate nonsense, and the comic way in which it resolves with the drunk cellist and her dad, is just funny. The only upside about the corporate take over is the scene in which Sloane embarrasses the guy who replaces Neal live on the air, incurring the wrath of the Newsroom billionaire. I appreciate the ineptitude and self involvement of the Newsroom billionaire.

I think the Newsroom Billionaire is a significant statement for Sorkin. He shows how the newsroom after Neal leaving, has become corrupted to such and extent that even the early discussions about ratings pale by comparison. The three guys talking about ten greatest movie lists, and all the other click bait stuff put forth during Neals absence is destroyed by Sloan live on the air. Then it is destroyed when Neal is allowed back. I think that this is the profound statement of The Newsroom, the absolute death of journalism in the face of NEW MEDIA. Said while posting on Substack.

I think that is a lot of words about 15 hours of television. Sorkin has lost some shine for me in recent years, but he still holds an elite place in my heart as far as writers go. His work on the Steve Jobs movie cancels out the horrible Social Network movie. I think the scene below from the Steve Jobs movie might be my favorite scene of the last 20 years, in any movie. It pays off just so many things, its use of music is profoundly great, and Perla Haney Jardin as Lisa Brennan Jobs is simply the greatest. I cannot show that scene to enough people, hoping they get it.

I think in closing, Sorkin three shows are going to end up as ways to teach the tools of drama. I think if you want to be a playwright (I hope people still want to do that), watching the way a skilled craftsman uses the tools of drama is worth paying attention to. I loved Studio 60 more than all the rest. Matthew Perry and Sarah Paulson are infinitely watchable. I have lost interest in Bradley Whitford over the years, and he has ended up in the Nic Cage column in my head. Merritt Weaver can do no wrong, as Alison Pill can do no wrote (the movie GOON). The Mary Tate character is amazingly sharp. The Gilmore Girls bit is amazing. As is the Sting thing. I mean, the Xmas episode, what can you say.

But this is my favorite scene from Sorkin, and it is not even in these shows. Thats how much I like it.