How’s this for irony? All last week, trying not to get too depressed about what a protracted writers’ strike might mean for the TV season and the industry at large, I was secretly looking forward to a weekend getaway: catching former Alias star Jennifer Garner’s Broadway debut in a revival of Cyrano, opposite Kevin Kline and Rescue Me’s Daniel Sunjata. Unfortunately, my tickets were for Saturday night, by which time the stagehands’ union had initiated their own sudden walkout and work stoppage.At this rate, I might actually finish the book I’ve been reading since mid-October.(Thankfully, I was lucky enough to catch Aaron Sorkin's new play, The Farnsworth Invention, before the strike. It was scheduled to have its official opening night later this week, but when it reopens, I predict a healthy run for this fascinating, entertaining play recounting the birth of television.)While consumers of TV, movies and even theater wait for unions and producers to reac...
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Who will spellbind young moviegoers once Deathly Hallows has come and gone? Warner Bros. has picked up the big-screen rights to the seven-book Septimus Heap series, while Relativity Media has acquired Tunnels, a children's fantasy series out of the U.K.... Also per Variety, Aaron Sorkin is penning three films for DreamWorks, kicking off with The Trial of the Chicago 7, which Steven Spielberg hopes to direct.... Per the Reporter, Naomi Watts will star opposite Clive Owen in the thriller The International.... Tim Robbins and Martin Landau have joined the fantasy feature City of Ember, starring Bill Murray.
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The self-explanatory (although probably unnecessary) Idol: The Musical, a satirical comedy about a "cult-like club that meets daily in a garage that doubles as a shrine to Clay Aiken," opens off-Broadway next month. Apparently, it earned raves in Syracuse. Seriously.... Licking his wounds after the whole Studio 60 debacle, West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin trades the small screen for the stage when The Farnsworth Invention hits Broadway this fall, says Playbill.com. Previously seen at the La Jolla Playhouse, the drama — about the (glorious) invention of the TV set — marks Sorkin's return to the Great White Way after almost two decades. — Reporting by Raven Snook
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Question: Exactly how mad will you be when Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip scores multiple Emmy nominations, including best drama, best actor (Matthew Perry), best supporting actor (Bradley Whitford) and best actress (Amanda Peet). I know it's going to confuse me much as the Russian translation at the end of Rocky IV did. But based on Aaron Sorkin's track record, the show's continued critical support and the cast's star power, I just know it's going to happen. Plus it fits that Emmy mold so perfectly, despite its many obvious and pointed flaws. If it takes a nomination away from Friday Night Lights, I just won't know how to react.
Answer: Continued critical support? Who are you reading? Beyond that, what are you smoking? I suppose there's an extreme outside chance that one or more of these high-profile actors may get a nomination, but talk about your dark horses. And Sorkin for writing? Maybe for the pilot, before it all fell apart, but even that will be tainted by the show's unhappy fate.
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As previously reported, NBC is bringing back Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, albeit on Thursday, May 24, the day after sweeps ends. Still, if all goes well, steadfast fans of 30 Rock's more serious big brother will get to see the first season's five unaired episodes.Pondering the surprising fate of a show with such a solid pedigree — crafted by Aaron Sorkin, and populated by the likes of proven TV draws Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford — Amanda Peet shrugs off talk that S60 tried to be too smart for the room. "It was definitely very ambitious," she tells TVGuide.com, "but a part of me wonders if, had it been an unknown writer-creator instead of Aaron Sorkin, we would have had more time to find our tone and focus. Because we were under a microscope from the moment we arrived, it was very difficult for the creators to feel free to follow the strengths of the show and see that through."Peet can next be seen starring alongside two other members of the Underappreciated TV Show...
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