Territorial Bloggings

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is quite possibly my favorite new show of the Fall TV season. Aaron Sorkin, for all his faults, is a gifted writer. His first show, Sports Night, was an outstanding show that ended well before its time, and while I didn’t like the political slant of The West Wing (and thus didn’t watch it), I have no doubt that it was technically quite good (The American President is similar, although I think not quite as partisan, but is one of those movies that can suck me in whenever it’s on the tube…). Suffice it to say that I “get” Sorkin’s densely wordy/literate/cynical/idealistic writing style.

One of Studio 60’s twists, however, is its inclusion of a major character that is a “committed Christian” — Harriet Hayes (Sarah Paulson). I was skeptical when I first heard/read about this, as reasonable, realistic portrayals of Christians in TV shows have been rare. It’s far too easy for easy generalizations/stereotypes to be trotted out for either some easy laughs, or an easy villain. Sorkin, however, has thus far avoided that trap, by writing Harriet as a nicely layered & realistic character that has both a strong sense of her core beliefs, as well as an understanding of carrying out her vocation (i.e., making people laugh). It was quite refreshing to see a scene in the 2nd episode where a pre-show prayer looked to be a regular part of the main cast’s routine, with the prayer being crystal clear in its confession of the Father and Jesus.

TV Squad has just posted a pretty good commentary about this subject — Why Christians should love Studio 60. The author of the post even admits to being Lutheran! It’s a pretty good read, although I would definitely take exception with the comment that “…Harriet knows that to truly love something, as she obviously truly loves her faith, you have to be willing to acknowledge its faults. Christianity does have its faults (it was created by humans and everything we create is, by definition, imperfect) but very few people can admit that and even fewer people who can do so are on TV.” Obviously, (1) Christianity was not created by man, and (2) Christians are imperfect, not Christianity. That we practice it imperfectly does not mean that it is imperfect, knamean?

Anyway, it’s a good show. Watch it.

-ghp