What I'm Watching: Studio 60 (Series Finale)

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip: Season 1, Episode 22 "What Kind of Day Has It Been?" (B-)

This finale is nothing too exciting, and the amount of corniness is just a bit excessive. I highly doubt that Jordan actually drew up adoption papers the moment she met Danny, when she did not know she was pregnant and when he was fresh off a failed drug test. But I will let that one slide. Matt and Harriet's reconciliation, however expected and simulataneously joyous, seems a bit out of the blue and forced. And the successful rescue of Tom's brother also feels out of place for this show, as I have said in past weeks. This episode title is the same one used for the first season finales of both "The West Wing" and "Sports Night", previous Aaron Sorkin shows, and it feels too much like a forced summary. Those shows lived on for one and six more seasons, respectively, and therefore this episode might have served well as a bridge to the next season of the show, had it been renewed. All in all, the show was a decent idea that played out very well in maybe the second to tenth episode and never quite reached the point it could have been, though "The Wrap Party" was a fantastic hour. I would have liked to have seen it renewed, but I am not certain if it really would have gotten better. I would like to make mention of both Amanda Peet and Steven Weber for their constantly excellent performances this past season, and applaud the pairing, however on-and-off it was, of Bradley Whitford and Matthew Perry.

The series: B-