Monday... Studio 60... Ep. 1-15... "The Friday Night Slaughter"

I'm very iffy on flashback episodes on TV shows. Sometimes it works (Buffy/Angel, How I Met Your Mother) and sometimes it doesn't (this). Apparently Matt is on some kind of drugs now while Danny is a recovering cocaine addict. Or maybe he just got caught the one time, I can't remember. (This is why I started this thing. I can never remember anything!) While this might create some tension, I like Matt as just the stressed out sarcastic Chandler-like character. Especially with his new assistant, who plays dry comedy brilliantly. See a couple episodes ago, and the whole "$501? and $502 to the sex people?" banter.

Still, I wasn't thrilled with the flashbacks, even if it did explain his drug problem and introduce whats his name - the guy Harriet's doing (a movie with). I wanna say Scott but I don't think that's right. Maybe that's his last name. Luke Scott? And the writer who may or may not have really been Matt, or his subconscious, or whatever. I read a lot about Matthew Perry doing a good job, and I always think he does. But the episode, it was too drama for me. I realize it IS a drama, but they've been able to put some good humor in.

i miss Cal and the snake/ferret/coyote.

The flashbacks were just too dumbed down. And by that, I mean they did not want to take the risk of making anyone possibly think that this could be happening in the present. So they give Matt a backwards baseball cap (because no one does that anymore - remember when Chandler flashbacks used to have him in a baseball cap too? Weird.) and they play every single song that was popular in 1999 like "All-Star" by Smashmouth. Add to that numerous mentions of "Y2K," just in case anyone nodded off. It was a little insulting, honestly. The shaky handheld camera is good enough to tell me we're not in Kansas anymore, ok? I get it. Harriet has straight hair and there's 55 people in the writers room. Those're all the visual clues I need.

Danny and Jordan seem cozy now, except for the fact that she won't let him kiss her in public. I wasn't a big Amanda Peet fan, but she's getting some good lines. She suggests the only place to hide is under the desk, but she doesn't think they'll both fit. Danny had a good response that of course, I forgot.

Tom and Dylan were ok, my initial thought was that it was a filler C-plot, but since the episode surrounded the cutting of sketches, and T&D were wanting their sketch to make it just like Matt when he was writing, I guess it worked. Especially the subtle overacting of "BIG SKETCH!"

I guess none of this will matter if the show gets canceled, and I've read that more than once. Maybe Cal can get a spin off. Anyway, let's all cheer the lack of Steven Weber in this episode!