Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip for the very first time: 1.02 "The Cold Open"
[spoilers for "The Cold Open"]
I see that many of my notes are my own attempts to clarify just what everyone's name is. (I am very bad at watching TV, for the record, which is why I didn't do it for so many years. If I weren't in fandom, I'd be completely unable to figure out what was going on half the time. That said.
"The people who watch television shows are not stupider than the people who make television shows."
Dear Sorkin,
Better, but there's still room for improvement.
Love,
Ari
When Danny announced publicly about the cocaine, I just filled with love and adoration for him. I think people stating hard truths about themselves as bold declaratives is one of those obvious emotional ploys that makes me beside myself with glee.
I found myself pretty lost in the many subarcs going on with the cast, the crew, and the writing staff. I also realized that I would be much more excited about this show if it were a Joss creation. For obvious reasons, like then I'd stand a chance of writing fanfic, and because this show is so meta, about the TV production process, which is something that really fascinates me in terms of Joss's three shows -- observe, the RPF instinct! -- but much less so about Sorkin's shows or really any other TV. I have really not followed Sorkin off-screen at all; I've seen some of the conversation surrounding him and some of the more obvious West Wing moments that make fans go bzuh? but even still, I find myself wondering, and not in an awesome way, how much of Sorkin is in Danny and Matt.
There were a couple of moments that really made me stand up and go eee!; the press conference was probably my favorite part, and in my notes I seem to have written, without a referent, "Oh, the dialogue, I heart it so." So somewhere, at some point in the episode, I was made to laugh.
Whedon's hat trick*. What the fuck. (Which of course got me thinking about Joss and how I really wished he were doing a TV show right now. SIGH!)
Oh, before I finish entirely with Joss. Because Jordan is the president of the entire network and is not, actually, just in charge of Studio 60, if NBS were to pick up a Jossian pilot (or an Espenson pilot!), then, well, I totally started writing RPF-crossover IN MY HEAD. Because I think I could totally make Joss/Jordan into a thing of win.
I pretty much liked Jordan okay in this episode. I am still not totally sold on her, and I think part of that is just that I don't find her that attractive (yay, shallow) like I do Dana or CJ. And I find her ball-breaking, take-no-prisoners... not all that endearing, really. Since there's not really much of a personality behind it. But I am totally withholding judgment until I've tried shipping her with Joss until I've seen more than two episodes.
I was pretty fond of the dynamics among the cast. Jeannie/Harry for the OTP of WIN. (I would actually prefer them without Matt in the middle. I mean, with the bottle! And the low-five. They just... significant eye contact! Besides which, Matt already has an OTP.)
This seems to be the end of my notes.
I totally almost wrote that I feel like the pacing is uneven, but then I realized that's because I'm not used to watching TV shows "live" with commercial breaks left in. Way to be, Ari. Still, I felt like most of the big scenes felt forced -- Matt/Harry's big UST moment, the moment when the show came together -- not that it wasn't awesome, because people being brilliant is for the win, but that it didn't feel organic.
I really like that they pray before every show. That is awesome. I really like Harry and that she is Christian, okay.
Then there was Gilbert and Sullivan. Because that is just plain awesome.
*surely I am not the only person who thinks of Carlos Jacott as "Joss's hat trick"?
I see that many of my notes are my own attempts to clarify just what everyone's name is. (I am very bad at watching TV, for the record, which is why I didn't do it for so many years. If I weren't in fandom, I'd be completely unable to figure out what was going on half the time. That said.
"The people who watch television shows are not stupider than the people who make television shows."
Dear Sorkin,
Better, but there's still room for improvement.
Love,
Ari
When Danny announced publicly about the cocaine, I just filled with love and adoration for him. I think people stating hard truths about themselves as bold declaratives is one of those obvious emotional ploys that makes me beside myself with glee.
I found myself pretty lost in the many subarcs going on with the cast, the crew, and the writing staff. I also realized that I would be much more excited about this show if it were a Joss creation. For obvious reasons, like then I'd stand a chance of writing fanfic, and because this show is so meta, about the TV production process, which is something that really fascinates me in terms of Joss's three shows -- observe, the RPF instinct! -- but much less so about Sorkin's shows or really any other TV. I have really not followed Sorkin off-screen at all; I've seen some of the conversation surrounding him and some of the more obvious West Wing moments that make fans go bzuh? but even still, I find myself wondering, and not in an awesome way, how much of Sorkin is in Danny and Matt.
There were a couple of moments that really made me stand up and go eee!; the press conference was probably my favorite part, and in my notes I seem to have written, without a referent, "Oh, the dialogue, I heart it so." So somewhere, at some point in the episode, I was made to laugh.
Whedon's hat trick*. What the fuck. (Which of course got me thinking about Joss and how I really wished he were doing a TV show right now. SIGH!)
Oh, before I finish entirely with Joss. Because Jordan is the president of the entire network and is not, actually, just in charge of Studio 60, if NBS were to pick up a Jossian pilot (or an Espenson pilot!), then, well, I totally started writing RPF-crossover IN MY HEAD. Because I think I could totally make Joss/Jordan into a thing of win.
I pretty much liked Jordan okay in this episode. I am still not totally sold on her, and I think part of that is just that I don't find her that attractive (yay, shallow) like I do Dana or CJ. And I find her ball-breaking, take-no-prisoners... not all that endearing, really. Since there's not really much of a personality behind it. But I am totally withholding judgment until I've tried shipping her with Joss until I've seen more than two episodes.
I was pretty fond of the dynamics among the cast. Jeannie/Harry for the OTP of WIN. (I would actually prefer them without Matt in the middle. I mean, with the bottle! And the low-five. They just... significant eye contact! Besides which, Matt already has an OTP.)
This seems to be the end of my notes.
I totally almost wrote that I feel like the pacing is uneven, but then I realized that's because I'm not used to watching TV shows "live" with commercial breaks left in. Way to be, Ari. Still, I felt like most of the big scenes felt forced -- Matt/Harry's big UST moment, the moment when the show came together -- not that it wasn't awesome, because people being brilliant is for the win, but that it didn't feel organic.
I really like that they pray before every show. That is awesome. I really like Harry and that she is Christian, okay.
Then there was Gilbert and Sullivan. Because that is just plain awesome.
*surely I am not the only person who thinks of Carlos Jacott as "Joss's hat trick"?