Background
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(l-r) Thomas Schlamme, Aaron Sorkin - NBC PhotoFrom Entertainment Weekly: “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip”
- “The inspiration for Studio 60 came during a West Wing casting session. Sorkin heard strange noises and singing coming from next door; it turns out, auditions were being held for a sketch-comedy show. The idea stayed with him, and years later he decided to write the Studio 60 pilot. ‘I like to show people who are very committed to each other and what they’re doing. I like backstage drama, and I love the excitement of live television,’ he says. ‘And it gave an opportunity to touch on the culture wars.’ Perry’s character, for example, is fond of going after the religious right, while Paulson’s Harriet is talented, insightful, sensitive…and devoutly religious, a combo rarely seen on series TV. ‘I was scared of this character,” says Paulson. ‘How can she hang out in this world where people make fun of things she believes in? [But] she’s complicated and multifaceted, just like everyone.’
“Sorkin has suggested that Paulson’s character is loosely based on his ex-girlfriend, Tony-winning Broadway star (and West Wing regular) Kristin Chenoweth, who is open about her Christian beliefs. That’s not the only thing the show has in common with his own life. Perry and Whitford’s partnership reflects his and Schlamme’s, and like Sorkin (who was arrested in 2001 at the Burbank airport for holding an array of drugs), Whitford’s Danny is a recovering addict who suffers a brief relapse. ‘I would stop short of calling Studio 60 autobiographical,” says Sorkin. ‘But it’s the most personally I’ve ever written…. The world of television and certainly the world of addiction is close to my experience.”’ - From N.Y. Times: “‘West Wing’ to West Coast: TV’s Auteur Portrays TV” (Aaron Sorkin. September 11, 2006)
- “What does Mr. Sorkin say about the speculation that his experiences are being reproduced in the series?
“’There’s a character in the show who’s had a cocaine relapse,’ Mr. Sorkin said, not even bothering to cite his own similar experience. ‘There are two characters who were fired from their last sketch-comedy show in the wake of 9/11 because of the feeling that they were too liberal — that has echoes of ‘The West Wing.’ And you know, people are saying the character played by Amanda is supposed to be Jamie Tarses.’ (Ms. Tarses is a former NBC and ABC program executive.)
“Then there is the character of Harriet, a former lover of Mr. Perry’s character, who is devoted to her Christian faith. Mr. Sorkin said people are presuming the character is based on the Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth, whom Mr. Sorkin once dated.
“His reaction to the speculation: ‘All of that is true.’ He laughs quickly before adding qualifiers. ‘There’s no question that this is the most personally I have ever written, simply because I don’t live in the world of the White House or a sports TV show or a Navy courtroom. And there are real people who were jumping-off points for the characters. But by Page 4 everything is fiction. When I write this show, I am not writing about myself.’” - Other mentions of the background behind the series in the media:
- “Who inspired whom on ‘Studio 60?’” - September 18, 2006 By Rob Owen, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
