Coming on the heels of the the much ballyhooed -- and now cancelled -- Studio 60, the new show follows an ensemble cast of eccentric characters trying to put on a dramatic show about a cast of eccentric characters trying to put on a sketch comedy show.
"We think we really have something special with the show-within-a-show-within-a-show format," said NBC's director of programming, Karen Singer. "It really adds a new dimension to the drama." The show-within-a-show is called Studio 7 on Sunset Boulevard. The show-within-a-show-within-a-show is called Live from Studio 7.
The show will star Jimmy Fallon as Matthew Barry, an actor who plays Matt Allen, the head writer for the sketch comedy show; Peter Krauss as Brad Whitley, an actor who plays Eddie Katt, the producer in charge of the sketch comedy show; and Zooey Deschanel as Alyssa Peel, an actor who play Morgan McTiernan, the network's director of programming. Bradley Whitford will play Eric Sorin, the drama's creator.
"My character is a talented writer who is expected to deliver a surefire hit for a struggling network that has just lost several of its most popular shows," Whitford says. "To make matters worse, the network has also decided to air a much better half hour show that is also a look behind the scenes at a sketch comedy show. Also, I'm a cocaine addict. Well, not me. My character. And my character's character."
The show is intended to be an ironic look at the ups and downs of network television. Sorkin notes, "In the show, everyone expects Live from Studio 7 to fail, and it succeeds, while everyone expects Studio 7 on Sunset Boulevard to be a big hit, and it gets canceled after one season. The irony of this is that LS7 is painfully un-funny, while S7SB is borderline watchable."
The show introduces a concept known as "dollylog," a twist on Sorkin's trademark "walk-and-talk" scenes. In a dollylog, the camera follows the actor playing the cameraman as he follows the characters conversing in rapidfire dialog while walking the corridors of the set.
Other Sorkin trademarks are also evident: Characters in LS7 sketches make knowing references to events occurring on S7SB , and S7SB characters make knowing references to Aaron Sorkin's drug problems and other real life drama. Characters at all three levels of the Sorkinverse also make knowing references to Saturday Night Live, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, The West Wing, Sports Night, Lou Grant, Network, The Magnificent 7, MacBeth, Marshal MacLuhan, Thomas Becket, Voltaire, Heidegger, the Epic of Gilgamesh, and Manimal.
On the pilot episode, Allison Janney guest stars, playing a White House press secretary who is unhappy with the portrayal of her on a sketch on LS7. In the sketch she is played by cast LS7 member Allison Jansen (also portrayed by Allison Janney). Whitford's character, Eric Sorin, ends up rewriting the scene to have Matt Allen rewrite the scene to include the press secretary (Allison Janney), as well as Allison Jansen (Allison Janney), playing herself and the press secretary, as well as Allison Janney (Allison Janney) playing herself. When the sketch bombs, the Sorkinverse implodes and Aaron Sorkin finds himself dumped on the side of the New Jersey Turnpike.
NBC also announced that it will be airing a half-hour comedy based on the hit comedy 30 Rock.
See what's behind the scenes at humor-blogs.com at humor-blogs.com.
Labels: Exemplary Police Work, TV
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