Studio 60: "The Friday Night Slaughter" Review

Unable to cope with the finality of his break-up with Harriet, Matt starts taking pills.

It's a flashback episode! As groan inducing as that might sound given Studio 60's track record, this episode gets it pretty much right. This is probably the heaviest episode since the pilot, and the first to take a slightly darker turn in the lives of these characters. Matthew Perry gets a chance to show his chops again, providing a strong emotional core to the story and finding the right balance between funny and sad.

Thomas Schlamme handles the episode masterfully, reminding everyone that despite its failings, Studio 60 still has one of the best directors in television. In transitioning the story from the present and back to 1999, Schlamme uses a visual sleight of hand that invokes Matt's own chemically induced state of mind.

The 1999 material goes beyond just giving Matt a baseball cap and having him dress in like he's still in high school (a criticism he leveled to the writing staff shortly before they quit&#Array;). N*Sync is the musical guest, laptops look like they weigh about 15 pounds, and sketches are about the Republican primaries before anyone had to say the words "President Bush."

Most notably however is that the writers' room looks like a writers' room. It's full of actual writers scrambling to get sketches on the air. The environment is far less congenial and ruled by chaos. Matt is routinely mocked for not having sketches on the air, and is eventually bested by Luke, who proves to be a thorn in his side from the beginning.

When it turns out that Matt isn't remembering a guy named Tim Battale, but a version of himself, it's a revelation that he's not just taking a few pills to get the show done, but he's in real trouble. It's not clear if this also means he was taking pills back when he was a struggling staff writer, and this is a question that will most likely be answered later. This is also the first time that Sorkin reveals how difficult it is to deal with a drug problem in an environment like Studio 60. When he asks the guest singer (played by Gina La Piana, singing her own music but using a pseudonym presumably to differentiate herself from the pill pushing character she plays here) how she copes with being so depressed she prescribes a combination of prescription meds and drink. She also points out that Matt's high now, and suggests eye drops to cover it up.

There's also a nice moment when Matt tells Danny that he could have used his help on the Neve Campbell sketch. He's of course referring to a sketch from seven years ago, but isn't talking as much about the sketches as he is the downward spiral he knows he's on. Danny is a recovering drug addict, but is too wrapped up with Jordan to even notice his partner and best friend's pupils are dilated.

"Friday Night Slaughter" feels like the kind of TV show Studio 60 should be, but sadly isn't. The darker tone makes the comedy funnier, and the characters more believable. It's a more fully realized version of this world. Even though this was one of the better episodes of the season, it's another frustrating moment as a viewer. It reminds you that the show has an A-list cast and crew, but only rarely seems to achieve its potential. It's most likely too late for Studio 60 to be saved, but it's nice to know that Sorkin and Schlamme can still make some fine television.

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