irony

Critics are concerned that Lorne Michaels' Saturday Night Live may be on life-support, worried that this may be more than a slump. The writing just isn't there with Tina Fey branching out to do 30 Rock. Still, NBC is committed to the veteran late night parody/satire show, even with the low ratings it stays on the air. On the flip-side, Aaron Sorkin's Studio 60 on The Sunset Strip got decent ratings for its series premiere. 13.5 million viewers tuned in to see Sorkin's newest show with not so new material. Here's the basic premise of Studio 60; it is a behind-the-scenes look at writing, producing, and broadcast of late night parody/satire show on the fictional network NBS.
If you are a Sports Night (Sorkin, 1998-2000) nut like me, you can almost immediately identify the writing. Reused lines, phrases, and even character backstories. Still, I enjoy his writing regardless of the medium. For me, this is just an hour-long Sports Night episode without Felicity Huffman, Sabrina Lloyd, Joshua Malina, Josh Charles, or Peter Krause.
So here it is. The show (Studio 60) of a late night parody/satire show is actually doing better than the actual late night parody/satire show (SNL). NBC must be so proud.