Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (fictional show)

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This article is about the fictional show. For the NBC program in which the fictional show is portrayed, see Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
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Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Fictional Show

Studio 60 Logo
Genre Sketch comedy
Creator(s) Wes Mendell
Starring Harriet Hayes
Simon Stiles
Tom Jeter
Jeannie Whatley
Samantha Li
Alex Dwyer
Dylan Killington
Country of origin Flag of United States
United States
No. of episodes Approx 400
Production
Executive producer(s) Matt Albie
Danny Tripp
Running time 90 Minutes
Broadcast
Original channel NBS
Original run 1986 – Present
Links
Official website

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is a fictional television show within the NBC show of the same name. The fictitious show first went to air (within Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip continuity) in 1986 and is a sketch comedy show in the style of Saturday Night Live, which is referred to as one of the show's main competitors.

Studio 60 resides on fictitious television network NBS, which is owned by Tunney Media Group.

Contents

[edit] History

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Up until its twentieth season in 2006, Studio 60 was helmed by creator and senior executive producer Wes Mendell (Judd Hirsch); however, during an episode in the 20th season's live cold open, Mendell finally snapped, interrupting the broadcast and launching into a tirade against the network (much like in the film Network) until he was cut off by the censors. Shortly afterwards, Mendell was – unsurprisingly – fired by NBS Chairman Jack Rudolph (Steven Weber).

Meanwhile, a young up-and-coming executive Jordan McDeere (Amanda Peet) was celebrating her recent appointment as President of NBS. Unfortunately for McDeere, her first day was not to run as smoothly as planned; faced with crisis at Studio 60, her first decision as network president was to enlist two new executive producers, Danny Tripp (Bradley Whitford) and Matt Albie (Matthew Perry). The latter had been fired from the show's writing staff several years earlier by Rudolph and the former had resigned from the production team soon after in protest. With this in their history and an award-winning feature film to their names, the pair made a controversial, "splashy" choice for the new executive producers.

The show's co-executive producers Ricky Tahoe (Evan Handler) and Ron Oswald (Carlos Jacott) were already stinging after having lost out on the top jobs to Tripp and Albie. Following several altercations with the new executive producers, the two left the show to produce a new sitcom based around Studio 60's "Peripheral Vision Man" character (described by nearly everyone on the crew as unfunny) for the FOX network - taking almost the entire writing staff with them (13 of the 15 writers).

Presently, the writing staff consists only of Matt Albie, Andy Mackinaw (a former Studio 60 writer called in to help out) and two untried writers, Darius Hawthorne and Lucy Kenwright.

The show airs Friday nights from 11:30pm to 1:00am. The show's announcer, Herb Sheldon, opens the show with the line "Live from Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, it's Friday night in Hollywood", much like Saturday Night Live's "Live from New York, it's Saturday night!"

While in charge of the show, Mendell never permitted a Christmas-themed show because the show is filmed in Los Angeles and Chistmas-time is notoriously hot in LA, claiming it would be tacky to do so. Albie, however, promotes the idea of a Christmas-themed show, despite being of Jewish descent and being a self proclaimed atheist.

[edit] Crew

[edit] Current Crew

Executive Producer (2006-)
Senior Director (2006-)
Co-Executive Producer (????-2002)
Segment Producer (????-????)
Executive Producer (2006-)
Head Writer (????-2002, 2006-)
Co-Executive Producer (1997-2002)
Staff Writer (1997-????)
Director (????-)
Staff Writer (2006-)
Staff Writer (2006-)
Staff Writer (????-2002, 2006-)
Let go by Ricky and Ron after Matt and Danny left
  • Lilly Rodriguez (Diana Maria-Riva)
Assistant Director (????-)
  • Herb Sheldon (John Carpenter)
Announcer (????-)

[edit] Notable Previous Crew

Senior Executive Producer (1986-2006)
Original Creator
Writer
Co-Executive Producer (2002-2006)
Head Writer (2002-2006)
Staff Writer (????-2002)
Co-Executive Producer (2002-2006)
Head Writer (2002-2006)
Staff Writer (????-2002)
  • Luke Scott (Josh Stamberg)
Staff Writer (1996-????)
Staff Writer (????-2006)
Staff Writer (????-2006)
  • Elliot (John Cabrera)
Staff Writer (????-2006)
  • Karen Salisburg
Staff Writer (2004-2005)
  • Connie Bryer
Staff Writer (????-????)
  • Benjamin Barkley
Staff Writer (1991-1992)

[edit] Cast

[edit] The Big Three

Versatile character and impersonations actress. (1999-)
Co-hosts "News 60". (????-)
The "Leading Man" player. (????-)
Classically trained Yale Graduate actor. (2001-)
Co-hosts "News 60". (2006-)

[edit] Other Cast

A sultry actress with a clever streak. Is often used by the show's crew for leverage. Writer and star of the high-brow Italian comedy sketch "Commedia dell'arte". (1997-)
Highly trained and professional impressionist. Plays Nicolas Cage in a popular recurring sketch. (????-)
A rookie member of the show's ensemble. Though he has been offered the spotlight, he has turned it down due to fear of rejection. (????-)
A member of the show's ensemble. American born, but Asian in appearance, is aptly typecast as the "fish out of water" when necessary. (????-)

[edit] Episodes

The show began with Studio 60's 20th season (2006-2007).

[edit] Season 20

Episode # Host Musical Guest Actual Episodes Notes
1 Felicity Huffman Three 6 Mafia "Pilot" (Season premiere; Wes's last episode; Lucy's first episode)
2 Mark Wahlberg (mentioned only, does not appear) Los Angeles Philharmonic "The Cold Open" (Matt and Danny's first episode back; The White Stripes drop out as musical guest after Jack White gets laryngitis)
3 Rob Reiner Gwen Stefani (mentioned only, does not appear) "The Focus Group" and "The West Coast Delay"
4 Lauren Graham Sting "The Long Lead Story" and "The Wrap Party"
5 Jessica Simpson (mentioned only, does not appear) Jessica Simpson (mentioned only, does not appear) "Nevada Day Part I," "Nevada Day Part II," and "The Option Period" (Ricky and Ron's last episode; Darius's first episode)
6 Howie Mandel Corinne Bailey Rae "B-12" (Andy's first episode)
7 No Host Mentioned A Tipitina Foundation Band "The Christmas Show" (Special Christmas episode)
8 Masi Oka John Legend (mentioned only, does not appear) "Monday," "The Harriet Dinner - Part I," and "The Harriet Dinner - Part II" (First episode back after Christmas break)
9 Peyton Manning (mentioned only, does not appear) Diana Valdez "Friday Night Slaughter" (The White Stripes drop out as musical guest a second time, and Diana Valdez, an unknown is the guest).

In a flashback to 1999, in the episode "Friday Night Slaughter", the episode is hosted by Jennifer Love Hewitt with musical guest N*Sync.

[edit] Notable Segments

[edit] Regular Segments

  • The cold open - The first sketch of the night which varies from episode to episode.
  • Guest monologue - The guest hosts monologue to the audience. Much like SNL, each episode of Studio 60 features the monologue following the opening titles, which follow the cold open.
  • "News 60" - A fake news segment. Currently anchored by Simon Stiles and Harriet Hayes, who begin anchoring it in "The Focus Group."
  • Musical guests - Each episode typically features a musical guest who performs twice during each show, introduced by the guest host.
  • "The Nicolas Cage Show, et al" - A popular recurring sketch in which the famous actor, as portrayed by Alex Dwyer, takes on a different profession each time the sketch airs, including such varied roles as a couples counselor, a shop teacher, and a talk show host.
Episode: "The Focus Group," "The Long Lead Story," "B-12," and "The Christmas Show"
Episode(s): "Pilot" and "The Focus Group"
Cast: Tom Jeter as George W. Bush
  • "Peripheral Vision Man" - A lowbrow animated sketch about a superhero who has strong peripheral vision. Everyone on the show but Ricky and Ron seem to not like the sketch and to not find it funny.
Episode(s): "Pilot"
Written by: Ricky Tahoe and Ron Oswald
Additional info: In "The Option Period," Ricky and Ron leave the show with all of the writing staff (except for Lucy, Matt, and Darius) to turn "Peripheral Vision Man" into a series at Fox. Fox ordered six half-hours for mid-season. The sketch is discontinued when Ricky and Ron leave the show in 2006.
  • "Singing Teacher" - A sketch in which Harriet Hayes plays a terrible singing teacher whose prize students are Buckner & Garcia, the one-hit wonder duo who wrote "Pac-Man Fever" in 1982.
Episode(s): "The Friday Night Slaughter"
Cast: Harriet Hayes as the Singing Teacher
Written by: Luke Scott until he left the show, Matt Albie afterwards
Additional info: The show was first featured on the show in 1998 when Harriet was hired and still appears on the show today.
  • "Juliette Lewis" - In "The West Coast Delay," the sketch is a parody of Meet the Press, hosted by actress Juliette Lewis instead of normal host Tim Russert. In "The Friday Night Slaughter", it is mentioned that there is another Juliette Lewis sketch. In the same show, a flashback to when Harriet is hired for the show, it is mentioned that Harriet is working on the impression.
Episode: "The West Coast Delay" and "The Friday Night Slaughter."
Cast: Harriet Hayes as Juliette Lewis. Dylan Killington and Jeannie Whatley play Donald Rumsfeld and Hillary Clinton, respectively, in the sketch in "The West Coast Delay."
  • "Julia Roberts" - Recurring sketches featuring Harriet as actress Julia Roberts.
Episode: "The Friday Night Slaughter"
Cast: Harriet Hayes as Julia Roberts

[edit] One-off Sketches

  • "Crazy Christians" - A controversial sketch parodying Christianity.
Episode: Scheduled to appear in the episode during the "Pilot" episode, appears in the "The Cold Open"
Cast: Harriet Hayes. Other cast members not discussed.
Written by: Matt Albie.
  • "Commedia dell'arte" - A highbrow sketch about extemporal Italian concept comedy also known as "Commedia dell'arte", but places the standard characters of the structure into a modern day fast food restaurant (however, with Whatley in the original period costume).
Episode: "The Focus Group"
Cast: Jeannie Whatley
Written by: Jeannie Whatley
Additional info: The sketch bombs with a focus group, but does well live on the air.
  • "Science Schmience" - A game show parody that pokes fun at the battle between religion and science.
Episode: "The Focus Group"
Cast: Tom Jeter as the game show's host, with Alex Dwyer as Tom Cruise and guest host Rob Reiner as a Jewish man named Shlomo.
Episode: "The Focus Group"
Cast: Simon Stiles
  • "Nancy Grace" - A parody of Nancy Grace, where the news host tries to locate a college girl's cell phone.
Episode: "The Long Lead Story"
Cast: Harriet Hayes as Nancy Grace, with Jeannie Whatley as the college student and Simon Stiles.
  • "The Weather with Pat Robertson" - A sketch parodying televangelist Pat Robertson and his claims that he can predict the weather.
Episode: Referenced in "The Long Lead Story" as being a past sketch, but the sketch is not shown.
  • "Jenny Doesn't Have a Baby" - A sketch in which guest host Lauren Graham and Jeannie Whatley play characters that try to pressure Harriet Hayes's character, Jenny, into having a baby.
Episode: Dress rehearsal of "The Long Lead Story", cut before air.
  • "Metric Conversion" - A sketch starring Tom Jeter and Dylan Killington in which Killington plays a Canadian person.
Episodes: Cut before the live show in both "The Long Lead Story" and "B-12". Finally makes it to air, after Tom and Dylan beg, in "The Friday Night Slaughter." In the episode, Tom mentions that they'd been trying to get it on air for the past six weeks.
Cast: Tom Jeter and Dylan Killington
Additional info: Also referred to as "Tom Jeter's Metric Conversion."
  • Other sketches that appear on the dress rehearsal board in "The Long Lead Story" include "Tyrone Cologne," "Tantric Watercolor Class," "Spiderman Party," "Al Qaeda Culinary Institute," and "Centaur the Courier." "Al Qaeda Culinary Institute" is cut before the live show. Another sketch mentioned is called "Sign Language", and Tom Jeter wears a lobster costume for a sketch that is not mentioned (though is possibly for the "Al Qaeda Culinary Institute" sketch).
  • "Jesus Christ as the Head of Standards & Practices" - A sketch in which Jesus Christ is the Head of Standards & Practices at the network and encourages the writers for sketch comedy shows to use his name in vain because he does not mind.
Episode: "Nevada Day (Part One)"
Cast: Tom as Jesus Chris, with Simon, Jeannie, Dylan, Harriet, and Alex.
Written by: Matt Albie.
  • "Judgmental Credit Card Rep." - A sketch in which an Asian woman named Ms. Jennings, who is a credit card rep. for Visa, calls a man named Mr. McCallister; and instead of talking about his account, she judges his purchases and criticizes his spending habits.
Episode: "Nevada Day (Part Two)"
Cast: Samantha Li as Ms. Jennings, Tom Jeter as Mr. McCallister.
Additional info: Tom Jeter was supposed to play Mr. McCallister in the sketch; but since he was stuck in Nevada, Alex Dwyer took the role for the dress rehearsal. Tom returned in time for the live show. The sketch is also referred to as "Visa Customer Service."
  • Other sketches mentioned in the episode "Nevada Day (Part Two)" as being part of the show that night include "Red Carpet of the Nobel Prize" and "Lifetime Television Movie Achievement Awards" (which stars Jeannie Whatley and Samantha Li, and parodies Lifetime movies). There is also mention of a sketch involving Dylan Killington playing a "Mexican Santa" described by Matt Albie as "demented." Harriet brings up a new sketch called "Cheeses of Nazareth", which was written by Matt Albie, but it does not seem to be a part of that night's show.
  • "Quentin Tarantino's Hallmark Movie Turkey Won't Die" - A Hallmark movie, directed by Tarantino, "about a mortally-wounded turkey that won't die, even while being served."
Episode: Mentioned in "The Option Period", in the episode from "Nevada Day (Part Two)"
Episode: "B-12"
Cast: Starring Tom Jeter as The Bachelor, with Harriet Hayes, Jeannie Whatley, Samantha Li, Alex Dwyer, and Dylan Killington (who's dressed as a woman).
Other info: Dylan passed out during the sketch due to the flu, which was common in the theater that week.
  • "Hostage" - A sketch about a criminal.
Episode: "B-12"
Cast: Harriet Hayes and Samantha Li
Written by: Lucy Davis and Darius Hawthorne
Other info: The sketch bombed at dress rehearsal, but Andy Mackinaw encouraged them to re-write it. It was put back in the live show. When a real-life man kills his family after holding them hostage right before the show, the sketch is cut and replaced with "Spit-take Theater."
  • "Spit-take Theater" - A sketch where five people do spit-takes onto Harriett.
Episode: "B-12"
Cast: Tom Jeter, Simon Stiles, Harriet Hayes, Alex Dwyer, and Dylan Killington
Written by: Matt Albie
  • Sketches mentioned in "B-12" that were cut before the live show were "Bedtime Stories," "Bad Clams," and "Prison Art Collector."
  • "Dateline To Catch a Predator" - The show's cold open, a parody of Dateline's "To Catch a Predator" series, in which Chris Hansen catches Santa Claus by waiting to ambush him, accusing him of having an unhealthy interest in children.
Episode: "The Christmas Show"
Cast: Tom Jeter as Chris Hansen and Dylan Killington as Santa Claus.
  • Sketches that Matt mentions wanting to cut in "The Christmas Show," include "Immaculate, My Ass" and "HBO's Ho Ho Hos and Hookers at the Pole."
  • Sketches mentioned in "The Friday Night Slaughter" include "Wake Up, Idaho," "The Fisherman" (a sketch in which Tom Jeter plays a fisherman), and a "Celebrity Poker" sketch.
STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP
EPISODES   |   CHARACTERS   |   CATEGORY   |   AWARDS
Primary
Characters		 Matt Albie | Danny Tripp | Jordan McDeere | Harriet Hayes
Tom Jeter | Simon Stiles | Jack Rudolph | Cal Shanley
Secondary
Characters		 Ricky Tahoe | Ron Oswald | Wes Mendell | Martha O'Dell
Jeannie Whatley | Samantha Li | Alex Dwyer | Dylan Killington
Darius Hawthorne | Lucy Kenwright | Andy Mackinaw | Wilson White
Organizations National Broadcasting System | Tunney Media Group
Fictional Studio 60 The Studio | The Show | News 60
Key Creators Aaron Sorkin | Thomas Schlamme | W. G. Walden
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