Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

To quote former Acting President Glenallen Walken, "It's alright everyone. Breathe regular."

Sorkin fans can rejoice, NBC has repositioned its Autumn line-up, and Studio 60 now finds itself on Mondays at 10:00 (9:00 central) after Heroes.

Huzzah! Eat it, Dr. Meredith Grey! Eat it! You too, Gil Grissom.

Eventually, I hope Studio 60 will have enough strength to battle Grey's and CSI, but for now it's the best thing for it, giving it time to grow.

A six-minute trailer is up at YouTube.com, please enjoy! (Note: this can be taken down at any point, it's already been taken down once.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl0isLMhhkY

ETA: At NBC.com under First Looks more clips exist. You can find a longer version of Wes' rant, Jack backstage at S60 and the extended version of the "Sorry, man, that one was all me." scene with Danny, Matt, Jordan and Jack.

Well, okay... so in a surprise move ABC announced that they're moving their most popular show, Grey's Anatomy, to compete against CBS' most popular show, CSI, and what ought to be NBC's most popular, show Studio 60.

This does not bode well for Sorkin's new drama. Although technically more watched, CSI was less of a threat because the same kind of people wouldn't have been watching both shows. The kind of people who like dramedic character-driven shows as opposed to dramatic procedurals are going to like S60 and Grey's, but they wouldn't have liked CSI.

All this will likely mean is that NBC will move S60. They have to. I have every bit of confidence in the world that it will be a better show than the other two (although Grey's is going to have the talented and lovely Ms. Debora Cahn next year) but lots of buzz or not, it's hard to fight against the two most popular dramas on TV. Whether it's home will be Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday now... or whether they will just move it to ER's new slot. Remains to be seen.

Well, NBC announced their fall schedule today (I found out a while ago but was having problems with BlogSpot and thus couldn't post) and Studio 60 finally has a home. It'll follow My Name is Earl and The Office and precede Thursday mainstay ER. In all likeliehood this means that its biggest competition will be CBS powerhouse CSI. Hopefully S60's buzz will be enough to let it do fairly well.

Also up at NBC's media village are a variety of pictures of Studio 60, cast shots and the like. You can't really get a very good look at them, and this is the biggest one that there is.

More will be posted as we get CBS, ABC, FOX and The CW's schedules confirmed to know what S60 is up against. Anyways, big news! This should be a good slot for it. I wouldn't think CSI and S60 would have gotten a lot of crossover anyway.

For now, let us hope that like Seinfeld, Frasier and Cheers before it, Studio 60 prospers there.

For those who watched the West Wing finale (which I did and cried my eyes out!!!!) you got the added bonus of seeing an add for Studio 60!

It looks pretty great, I loved the music (hope that's going to be the theme) and the mood and the look of it all. Tim Busfield's shaved his beard which I think is a good thing for the show (I didn't look at him and see Danny) likewise did I not look at Matthew Perry and see Chandler. I did, however, look at Bradley Whitford and go "Josh! Get back to Washington this instant!"

The music seems to be pretty jazzy (which is good... because we've done rock-ish with Sports Night and orchestral with West Wing) as does the whole... feel of it all. Anyways, any thoughts?

There's a lot of talk and speculation about where S60 is going to be placed on NBC's schedule. We know that it's only a possibility for the 9 and 10 slots Monday through Thursday due to specifics negotiated in Sorkin's contract for the show. The revelation should be made at NBC's Upfront on Monday, but the current biggest speculation is that it will be A) Be on Monday nights at 9, paired with the new Black Donnellys and possibly up against powerhouse Grey's Anatomy (which sadly shall be taking the delightful Ms. Debora Cahn) which might be moved from it's 10 spot on Sundays. The other rumor is that ER will be moved from it's longstanding Thursday-night-10,-9-central slot it's held since 1994, due to slowly lowering ratings and the knowledge that the show just doesn't have much life left in it.

Smaller rumors exist that it might take up residence on Tuesdays against House or on Wednesday's in The West Wing's old 9/8 central spot. At any rate, we ought to know by Monday.

Personally, I'd like to see any of those days. I don't want it up against Greys' because although S60 will obviously be better Grey's is currently among the most watched dramas on right now, that said the idea of it on Monday doesn't sound so bad. Thursday might be good (even though I think S60's a 9:00 show and not a 10:00 one) as might Wednesday what with Lost losing stream. Thoughts on where you'd like it?

Cal, the lone one-named character, has finally been given a last name: Shanley. So, yay!

In other news, NBC has officially signed Studio 60 for the 2006-2007 season, not that anyone felt much danger of that not happening.

We have some more information on the production team of S60. Mark Goffman, writer of Shutdown and 365 Days, and story-developer of College Kids, Red Haven's on Fire, Han and No Exit has joined the team, as well as Mindy Kanaskie, a West Wing producers, and Lauren Lohman, Aaron Sorkin's long-time assistant.

News on other West Wing production notables (Debora Cahn, Eli Attie, Peter Noah and Christopher Misiano) remains unknown at the time.

Nate Torrence has been cast as Dylan, the Jack Black wannabe who offends Harriet in the pilot and Jayma Mays is cast as publicist Daphne.

Feel free to share any thoughts you have, personally I know nothing about either actor.