"Lock the doors and close the blinds -- we're going for a ride..."

We had a pretty good weekend thus far -- including a wonderful day downtown -- socKs, av, my Dad and myself. One of us will blog and post some pictures sometime soon.

socKs and I just watched the "leaked" pilot episode of the upcoming Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip which will air on NBC Monday nights this fall. It was truly amazing for a multitude of reasons. Here are just some of them:

• Aaron Sorkin and Tommy Schlamme. This is the team that made The West Wing a common household name. This show is being hyped as "doing for television what The West Wing did for the White House" -- which means that this is a behind-the-scenes tour of a television show -- the cast, the crew, the network and all of their agendas within the process of getting the job done.  Which is also exactly what the main goal of their critically acclaimed ABC show, Sports Night did. Except that very few people have ever heard of Sports Night. (It's out on DVD and is still one of my favorite TV shows of all time. Check out the cast and you'll know everyone who was involved.)  Now that they have the fame, this show (hopefully) will give a sense of quality back to good writing and directing.
• The premise.  Studio 60 is about a "Saturday Night Live" type of show and the crises and issues which come up and affect the actors, the writers and the network brass. Perhaps it's because I've been not only a fan (and critic) of SNL -- but also interested in all the backstage drama over the years.  Maybe I've been intrigued over the battle of network standards and censorship.  The first ten minutes of this episode are a huge adrenaline rush for those of you who live for this sort of thing.
• Matthew Perry. This isn't just run-of-the-mill Chandler Bing.  While he was still on "Friends," Perry had a small, guest-starring role on The West Wing as a smart, quick-thinking attorney in the White House Counsel office.  Here we see him as a quirky head writer with scruples, rage, a sense of humor and possibly a Vicodin problem. (aah, art imitating life...) He does extremely well here.   This show ain't no Joey.
• Amanda Peet.  She plays the new president of programming at the network. And she does an amazing job. I've liked her cutesy style since "The Whole Nine Yards" and her cold, heartless bitch in "Saving Silverman" and "Changing Lanes."   But this is something very different from what she's had before. And she delivers the part absolutely wonderfully.  They gave her some of the best lines of the show -- and she knocks 'em out of the park.
• Bradley Whitford, Timothy Busfield, Steven Weber, D.L. Hugley, Nate Courdry and Sarah Paulson, among others.  Great cast.  Bradley Whitford (Josh Lyman on The West Wing) brings it as Matthew Perry's co-head writer. Steven Weber is the network executive bastard you love to hate. The other three I've mentioned play cast members on the SNL-like show -- and they can turn on and off the humor when they need to. Brilliantly done.
• Judd Hirsch, Ed Asner, Felicity Huffman and Evan Handler. These four folks are exceptional -- and they're guest stars on the show!  Only Felicity Huffman plays herself.  Like West Wing, I'm anticipating some amazing star-power throughout the series.

This show has been getting a lot of hype -- I only hope the hype doesn't give folks a sense of burnout.  I don't think it will.  But find out yourself.  Head to http://www.studio60theseries.com/ and see for yourself. Or do a YouTube search on Studio 60 and see all of the clips NBC has already uploaded.

This is some good stuff.