Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

After months of speculation as to who he's playing and whether he's even playing anyone at all, Bradley Whitford as officially signed on as Danny Tripp (formerly "Moore"), the other lead character along with Matthew Perry's Matt Albie for Studio 60! Great to put an end to the speculation for the major stars and also good to know that one of the most popular actors on the West Wing is continuing with Sorkin. Congrats Brad!

Also announced is confirmation of Sarah Paulson as Harriet.

Danny Tripp- Bradley Whitford
Matt Albie- Matthew Perry
Jordan McDeere- Amanda Peet
Harriet Hayes- Sarah Paulson
Simon Stiles- D.L. Hughley
Tom Jeter- Nate Corddry
Jack Rudolph- Steven Weber (possibly no longer)
Cal- Timothy Busfield

Martha Moyer- Unknown
Wes Mendell- Unknown
Wilson White- Unknown
Jerry Jones- Michael Stuhlbarg
Ron Oswald- Evan Handler
Ricky Beck- Carlos Jacott

Happy at Brad's casting? Angry that his last name has gone from the cool sounding "Moore" to the cartoonish sounding "Tripp"? Share!

A rumor has arisen that Steven Weber who was cast as Jack Rudolph, the first definitive casting announcement may have pulled out (or been pulled out.) Why (and even if this is true) is up to speculation. It may have something to do with the concerns we've had that the Jack role is too small to even be a regular cast member.

One things for certain, Weber is probably the cast member who's taken the most amount of heat on the 'net for his casting, many people not being big fans and not thinking he could handle the Sorkinese.

Thoughts?

Bradley Whitford's name has officially been added to the cast list (like Paulson, under rumored) Check back for more casting news.


Danny Moore- Bradley Whitford (rumored)
Matt Albie- Matthew Perry
Jordan McDeere- Amanda Peet
Harriet Hayes- Sarah Paulson (rumored)
Simon Stiles- D.L. Hughley
Tom Jeter- Nate Corddry
Jack Rudolph- Steven Weber
Cal- Timothy Busfield

Martha Moyer- Unknown
Wes Mendell- Unknown
Wilson White- Unknown
Jerry Jones- Michael Stuhlbarg
Ron Oswald- Evan Handler
Ricky Beck- Carlos Jacott

There is some talk and question over when this show oughta be scheduled. What kind of day and time it's right for, etc. Sorkin has a clause in his contract with NBC that they can't show it from Friday to Sunday, nor can they show it at 8/7 central. The rest of the times are up for grabs. Based on current TV scheduling (obviously these things are subject to change), I think the ideal times are:

1. Monday (9/8 central)
2. Monday (10/9 central)
3. Tuesday (9/8 central)
4. Wednesday (9/8 central)
5. Wednesday (10/9 central)

Of those times, based on my own personal preference, I think I might like it on Mondays, since you never really hear of THAT much on Mondays. But what do you all think?

The character of LA Times columnist Martha Moyer is apparently no longer appearing in the pilot. Moyer, based on Aaron Sorkin's ex-girlfriend New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd (pictured left), would have appeared to be lead character Danny Moore's love interest.

Whether Martha's absence from the pilot means she will merely be appearing in a subsequent episode (due to having to cut a long pilot) or means she has been written out of the show entirely is, of course, yet to be seen. One thing's for certain, it seems clear now that Martha was likely never intended as a member of the regular cast.

What with Timothy Busfield (Cal and The West Wing's Danny Concannon) and Matthew Perry (Matt and The West Wing's Joe Quincy) already cast, Bradley Whitford (The West Wing's Josh Lyman) being in heavy talks for a role on the show, most likely Danny, and with Sorkin's penchant for reusing actors [see Joshua Malina, the entire filmography of. ;) ] There is some concern that the show will be overblown with West Wing actors. Now, The West Wing is my favorite TV show of all time (the next best show, Seinfeld, being significantly behind it, too) I can't say I'd be miserable if the likes of Allison Janney, Richard Schiff, Janel Moloney, Dule Hill or, hell, even Martin Sheen showed up. All of these fine actors are either Emmy-winning or Emmy-nominated, specifically for their roles on that show so obviously they got some chops. But, the concern is, of course, that it will just be "The West Wing Goes Hollywood."

Currently there's little danger in that happening, the only Wingers on the show now are Timothy Busfield (who, admittedly is probably best known for his frequently recurring role of Danny Concannon.) and Matthew Perry, who, obviously, is most well known to television audiences as Chandler Bing, and will most likely need to shed that persona, not that of Joe Quincy (although, he has been nominated for more Emmys for his three-episode role in the West Wing than he has for his ten years on Friends. So, maybe we should be looking more at Joe Quincy for our view on Matt Perry's work.) However if Whitford is cast as Danny Moore (something I've got my fingers crossed for) then this will shorten the likliehood of us seeing many more Wingers on the show (although, obviously, Josh Malina's going to show up *sometime*)

Is this good, bad, none of the above [sorry, Sam, you're right, none of the above is a pedestrian phrase which has no place there ;)] feel free to share!

Some of the Bradley Whitford as Danny naysayers are citing the fact that Whitford comes off as much older than Matthew Perry (they, admittedly are 10 years apart) or that they don't have the right kind of chemistry. In my opinion it only takes seeing the West Wing season 4 episode "Evidence of Things Not Seen" to see that's not true. But, for even more evidence, here's an interview the two of them did together in 2003. Also, there's this picture, in which I think Brad only looks a few years older than Matt. Anyways, here's the link, be sure to respond with what you think. http://www.kcra.com/video/2111640/detail.html

Sarah Paulson, a noted Broadway actress who's had roles on a few failed TV shows (including Jack & Jill where she costared with Ms. McDeere herself, Amanda Peet) has been mentioned as a possibility for Harriet Hayes. I've never seen Paulson in anything, so I can't speculate how good she'd be, but I certainly hope she gets it, just to put an end to the Kristin Chenoweth and Emily Procter rumors (two actresses I adore, but who shouldn't be cast, due to most people not wanting this to be The West Wing Goes Hollywood)

At any rate. Hopefully we'll know soon.

Something that I've both heard about and thought before, and is being discussed on the TWoP boards (to which you can get access on the right-hand links page) is this... Jordan McDeere (Amanda Peet) is the President of NBS (formally UBS) and Jack Rudolph is the network's Chairman. Obviously those two roles are pretty key in the pilot episode, what with dealing with the catastrophe the episode is centered-on... but how will they feature these characters in every episode? Can they realistically accomplish this? Or will they slowly fade out in the first season, like Ms. Hampton and will we have to deal, for the rest of the show, with a Jordan-and-Jackville? My guess takes a little of column A and a little of column B. My guess is Jack's gone after the first season, and he'll be our Mandy. Amanda Peet, just because of sheer "Amanda Peet-age", will not be written out but her role will be diminished as it would obviously have to be, and she'll be our Sam, eventually choosing to leave herself since she doesn't like her smaller role.

You heard it here first, folks!

The "Will Bradley Whitford end up as Danny Moore debate continues." Currently we have many sources stating that Brad is "in talks" for coming on board. He's mentioned it at his talk at AU and it's been reported by tvguide.com. While I personally am majorly hoping for Brad to come on board there are many who, sadly, feel otherwise. Their reasons?

1. Whitford's too heavilly connected to Josh Lyman.
2. Whitford's too old to play someone in their mid-30's.
3. He's not an unknown.

Learn more about the intense debate at: http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/index.php?showtopic=3131815&st=1140

Here's the first post of a blog that'll hopefully chart the course of Aaron Sorkin's 2006 drama "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip." Here's the current cast....

Danny Moore- Unknown
Matt Albie- Matthew Perry
Jordan McDeere- Amanda Peet
Harriet Hayes- Sarah Paulson (rumored)
Simon Stiles- D.L. Hughley
Tom Jeter- Nate Corddry
Jack Rudolph- Steven Weber
Cal- Timothy Busfield

Martha Moyer- Unknown
Wes Mendell- Unknown
Wilson White- Unknown
Jerry Jones- Michael Stuhlbarg
Ron Oswald- Evan Handler
Ricky Beck- Carlos Jacott