The Friday Night Slaughter
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| “The Friday Night Slaughter” | |
|---|---|
| Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip episode | |
 |
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| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 15 |
| Written by | Aaron Sorkin (teleplay), Mellisa Myers & Amy Turner (story) |
| Directed by | Thomas Schlamme |
| Original airdate | February 12, 2007 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "The Harriet Dinner - Part II" | "4AM Miracle" |
The Friday Night Slaughter is the 15th episode of the series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
Matt is in his office observing the dress rehearsal of the night's show where Diana Valdes, the guest musician (played by Gina LaPiana), is performing. Depressed about his breakup with Harriet, he takes some pills that make him very drugged and distant and then goes about carrying out the 'Friday Night Slaughter' - a process whereby he has to decide which sketches stay on for the show for the live performance.
He is told by Cal and Danny that the show is Harriet-heavy and they ask him to remove some of her sketches. He stubbornly refuses, but eventually decides to do whatever is necessary to give "Singing Teacher", a sketch written by Harriet's current boyfriend Luke, some air-time.
Matt meets Diana Valdes after noting the depressing nature of her lyrics. He inquires on how she can work when under such a depressing mood and as they talk, Diana correctly guesses that Matt is high. She gives him some relaxants and warns him that he could suffer from hallucinations.
The drug's effects take their toll as he begins to become amnesiac and he has a hard time concentrating. He reveals to Danny that he broke up with Harriet the week before and constantly asks Danny and Cal on whether they remember a Tim Batale, a writer fired for taking prescription drugs and who preceded him in his office. No one seems to remember him and Matt is very annoyed and surprised by this (especially when Tim Batale apparently wore the same set of clothing for an entire year).
Meanwhile, Danny and Jordan discuss a dilemma regarding one of her reality shows. Jordan has to convince a paralysed medical student to appear on the show and forgive the man who attacked him, but his grandmother feels he is being exploited. Jordan talks to the grandmother and learns that although the grandmother made her decision some time ago, Hallie Galloway delayed telling Jordan, thus forcing her to accept the much more marketable proposal of a porn star forgiving the swim coach that molested her in the past.
Tom and Dylan continue to press their claims for their sketch to be aired even when Danny ignores them and they are unable to get an audience with Matt. Their efforts pay off when they are told at the end that the sketch will be included in the live broadcast.
In the backdrop of all these events, Matt's early days are shown in flashback. Matt is seen working as a staff writer for the show in 1999 and Harriet joins the cast. He tries to pitch a sketch to her about a crazy Christian radio host but is surprised to find that she takes offense with it. When he tells a young Luke, with whom he is sharing the office, about this, Luke decides to meet Harriet and proposes to write a sketch for her entitled "Singing Teacher".
The young Matt hears that a friend of his, Tim Batale, has been fired for abusing prescription drugs and after talking with him, he finds that Tim did this because of his girlfriend's decision to leave him to shoot a movie with another guy.
Matt writes his sketch for Harriet and shows it to Simon Stiles (who is waiting for an interview with Wes Mendell). Simon pokes fun of it, stating that it sounds as if he is trying to impress Harriet. Harriet herself wonders why Matt is so eager to write for her.
Eventually, Matt finishes his revised sketch and hands it to the head writer just as Luke finishes his own sketch. They are told by the head writer that it is highly unlikely that both their sketches would be accepted. After the Friday night slaughter, Matt finds that his sketch did not make the cut but Luke's did. Harriet then proceeds to practice with Luke while a dejected Matt sits behind.
Matt, back in the present, searches for the photos of the writers from the past and is shocked to find that there was no Tim Batale and that he had been thinking of himself all this while. Furthermore, the fictional character was the by product of the drugs that he took and was instead a reflection of his current problems with Harriet.
Deciding that he needs to rest, Matt then takes the pills that Valdes gave him and then promptly ceases working.
[edit] Trivia
- The music for the opening credits for this episode is not the one normally used in the show.
- Tim Battale is an anagram for Matt Albie.
- On the NBC website, the photos for this episode are entitled "Friday Night Massacre".
[edit] Quotes
- "You graceless homicidal bastards. I think if you go check the stage, you'll find jokes lying on the floor where you left them to die" - Andy, when criticising Tom and Dillon about their performance.
[edit] References
- Schlamme, T. & Sorkin, A. (Executive Producers). (February 12, 2007). Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip [Television program]. Burbank, California: Warner Bros. Television.
| 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 | |
