Open Mike

'Studio 60' divides readers

The problem with Studio 60 (The Robins Report, “A Show About Show Biz,” Oct. 2) is that Aaron Sorkin is writing it as though it were The West Wing. A show about TV shouldn't have the same reverent tone as a show about running the most important nation in the free world. The self-important characters on West Wing were tolerable due to the importance of the subject matter. Not so with Studio 60.

Stephen Powers

Boston

One of the most telling comments about today's Hollywood is that it is not cutting-edge but actually well behind where the nation is. Studio 60 fits that category. It thinks it is a brave new look at the TV industry, but is actually spinning madly and turning what was gold into dross.

Bill Truesdell

Bath, Maine

Thank you for your article. For once, a reasonable view. I have seen three episodes so far, even though Australia isn't scheduled to get it until next January.

I am really loving the show. It doesn't seem too inside for me. I am appalled at the knee-jerk reaction people are having over this issue. For Christ's sake, it's only been three episodes! It's like telling your baby you are putting them up for adoption because he can't play Brahms yet!

Yoli Lawrence

Perth, Western Australia.

I wholeheartedly agree with “A Show About Show Biz.” I'm not interested in Celebrity Duets or Dancing With the Stars. I especially don't want to see Supernanny or Cops.

I realize that the country for whatever reason, loves these shows, but I spend money on the crap that they are advertising, too. So I'd like an intelligent, well-written drama that has good acting and some taste. I know I'm not alone.

Nancy Alexander

Seattle, Wash.

In your article, you relate the conventional wisdom that “People in the so-called flyover states just don't care about the inner workings of a bicoastal biz.” That's not the issue at all.

I tuned into Studio 60 because I appreciate good writing, good acting and complex characters. Studio 60 has that. However, I live in a flyover state and I adhere to traditional conservative beliefs. And while I do not expect, nor require, Hollywood to share my beliefs, I do not care to be mocked, ridiculed or preached at by entertainers. The contempt that Mr. Sorkin has for people like me oozes through.

I am tuning out not because I don't “get it” but because I do.

Paul Hanson

Tulsa, Okla.