Thank you Mr Sorkin

Another boxset has bitten the dust. Yesterday we binge-watched episodes 10-22 of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Aaron Sorkin's brilliant show set backstage of a late night comedy sketch show (just like Saturday Night Live, in fact). Again, there was that sense of loss as the credits rolled on the last episode but, this time, that loss is all the greater as we have now watched all of Mr Sorkin's TV output as a writer: Sportsnight, The Newsroom, The West Wing and now, Studio 60. Aaron Sorkin's thing is dialogue: whip-crack sharp, brilliant dialogue. Sure, it's often slightly preachy liberal dialogue, but I love it. The verbal rhythms, the actors he uses to deliver the lines, the contaxts in which he explores wider issues are all sheer genius to my mind. And, for now at least, that genius is missing from our screens.

Sorkin writes for television as if the medium has worth and the viewers of that medium are not dumbed-down, infantalised and passive consumers. His writing is saying that we can do so much better than endless talent shows and celebrity gee-gaws: we can be entertained and think a bit at the same time. Revolutionary stuff, huh? As one of his characters in Studio 60 puts it, 'the people who watch TV are no dumber than the people who make it'. No lesser person than Quentin Tarrantino recognises the brilliance of Sorkin's writing as he states in this quote:

However, brilliant dialogue delivered by great actors as part of interesting story lines are still not enough to win the day. Studio 60 was lauded by critics who saw the pilot episode and 13 million viewers watched when it aired. By episode 3, that was down to 9 million, still a massive number to you or I but a loss of one third of viewers overnight became the blood in the water that attracted the critical sharks. Advertisers, the life blood of the majority of US TV, began to drift away while the network who screened it in the States, NBC, put two hiatuses into the run, further breaking up viewer 'loyalty'. The 22 episodes that were made became the first and only series of Studio 60, the only one of Sorkin's TV shows not to get a second (or more) season. Interestingly, an article in the Guardian that appeared when Studio 60 was about to air in the UK in 2007 noted that in the States, many viewers were watching episodes that they had recorded to view later. At that time, viewings made in this way did not get included in the ratings. Had they been taken into account, the 'low' viewer numbers might have looked a whole lot healthier and Season 2 might have made it to screen. Perhaps it was just ahead of its time?

At this time, Sorkin has said he is "unlikely" to write for television again. Having scripted several successful films, he has no need to write for the small screen. Unfortunately, that makes the small screen even smaller to my mind. One fewer passionate, liberal and intelligent writer in TV land leaves us at the mercy of the celeb and talent schlock that is the new bear-bating for the 21st century. I'm sorry that he has made that choice but, boy, did he leave us with some gems!