New-dio 60

It's back! Now that there's been enough time to react to all of the bad reviews the show has gotten, I can't wait for the "TV critics don't have the right to criticize my show" episode. Nah, actually I started to honestly...enjoy? "Studio 60" the last couple of weeks before the hiatus, heavy-handedly co-opting the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina aside. However, it is really annoying to see the commercials that act like Danny/Jordan (or as I call them, "JorDan") are some sort of fated, star-crossed lovers when that's barely been played up at all on the show. Tonight, the gang takes on the FCC! Take that, conservative patriarchy! (actually, the FCC is a pretty great target, if not done to death, for Sorkin's distinctive, left-leaning preachyness). Here's an interesting article about us folks who actually like the show.

Also new tonight: "Heroes." Are YOU on the list? Probably not. You're not a fictional character.

Across the universe

One of the funnier aspects of TV fandom is people online referring to the fictional world "The West Wing" takes place in as "The West Wing universe," making it sound like some sort of sci-fi show (when it is obviously anything but. unless that element went over my head). Basically it's too explain things like Presidential elections happening in 2006 and being at war with a make believe country.

So by that logic, and I've touched on this before, new Aaron Sorkin show "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" must also be in its own, unique universe. Specifically because of the fake network they work on, "NBS." It was easy to accept on "Sports Night" because they were on a fictional cable network, and there are a million of those out there, but a fake network is a little weirder, since the fact that there are three big ones since the dawn of TV (and NBS is certainly presented as storied as ABC, CBS and NBC) is a pretty huge part of television history.

So are we to assume that NBS is just a stand-in for another one of the nets? Well, we can gather pretty solidly that NBC exists pretty, given the constant references to "Saturday Night Live" and Lorne Michaels. "Desperate Housewives" star Felicity Huffman was the host of the season premiere, so that presumably takes care of ABC. Les Moonves bid on "Search and Destory," so unless he's the head of ABC or NBC in Earth-60, so CBS does, too. So there's four historical, old-timey networks? Kind of weird. But not that big of a deal, I guess.

Not sure what the point is, really, but something to think about. If you happen to be really desperate for things to think about.

On a related note, this is pretty funny.