30 November 2007

It's one of the best written shows on TV and had all those boy chasing girl and high drama elements that execs want and yet it was cancelled after just one season by the very studio that commissioned it. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, in case you've missed it, (and if so check out Camus's preview article here) is a behind-the-scenes drama set in the world of American television, specifically the troubled production of a Saturday Night Live-style sketch show, whose fortunes are turned around by hotshot new network president Jordan McDeere (Amanda Peet), writer Matt Albie (Matthew Perry) and director Danny Tripp (Bradley Whitford). Not that it's a straightforward route to success - Jordan rubs other execs up the wrong way and is secretly pregnant, Matt is a tad neurotic and on a diet of pain killers for his back pain and Danny is currently on a movie directing hiatus due to his recent cocaine addiction. Oh, and the whole thing is kicked off when the show's former executive producer had an on-air epiphany and urged the public, Network-style to wake up from their TV-induced daze and switch off.

If you've missed the Channel 4 screenings, where the show has been consigned to a late night slot, and didn't want the More 4 version burning their logo into your Plasma screen, then good news, as Warner are to release Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip - The Complete Series on UK DVD on 21st January 2008 as a 6-disc set containing all 22 episodes at the RRP of £49.99. We've been unable to confirm details of extra features as yet, but if it follows Warner's US release then we're not expecting much, though that release did feature a commentary on the pilot episode by writer Aaron Sorkin and director Thomas Schlamme and a featurette In Depth: The Evolution of 'Studio 60'. Don't expect a documentary on why the show was cancelled, given that the DVD is released by those responsible.