What I'm Watching: Studio 60

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip: Season 1, Episode 19 "K & R, Part 1" (B-)

The tone of this episode was very much unlike all its predecessors, and felt more like the serious urgency of a "West Wing" hour. The lawyer was even phoning in international favors like the president might do on "The West Wing". The "Studio 60" show-within-a-show takes an enormous backseat to an episode devoid of the real supporting characters (Simon, all the other actors) and with almost a dozen bizarre flashbacks to show, just in case you have not picked up on it, Harriet and Matt have had a complicated relationship over the years. The problem with the flashbacks, besides their excessive use, is that they do not feel like "way back in the past" because the characters look and act almost exactly the same. And, from the looks of an episode guide, this is the first of a three-part episode which should drag out the Tom's brother situation until it has been beaten to death (hopefully Tom's brother, however, will not be beaten to death). The only real fun part of this episode is the Danny-Jordan stuff. When I predicted "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" as a nominee for Best Drama Series for the upcoming Emmy awards, I felt that the episodes aired before this burnoff period would be the ones considered, and I think they will have to be for the show to get nodded. I also am not sure how the new eligibility rules work and if they permit these episodes, aired after the original May 31st cutoff date, to be considered for Emmy nomination.