Wes Mendell
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Wes Mendell is a fictional character on the US television series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, played by Judd Hirsch.
[edit] Personal history
Wes Mendell is the former executive producer and creator of Studio 60. His power is dwindling and he is furious with the network for bowing down to the FCC and religious groups. In the events of the pilot, he is the catalyst that brings Matt and Danny back to the show, fired on the night for the hijacking of the live broadcast of Studio 60 and ranting an improvised tirade, similar to that shown in the film Network (which is commented on in the pilot itself), venting against bureaucratic control, the influence of minority groups in the censorship of the network, and the nature of the broadcast industry. It has been stated that he has worked with many of the great comedy writers and performers, such as Richard Pryor.
Listen to me, the man wrote for the Smothers Brothers. He wrote with Pryor and he wrote with Cosby. He invented Studio 60. He gave me my first job and lost his because he tried to put a sketch I wrote on the air.
—Matt
While Wes was generally regarded as a good showrunner and a good man, his policies are often stated to run counter to Matt and Danny's. For example, he refused to do a Christmas show while Matt insisted that they do, and he did not approve of Studio 60 staff dating each other, while Matt ultimately dates Harriet and Danny falls in love with his boss, Jordan.
He had a heart attack at the opening of the 2001-2002 season of Studio 60, so Danny and Matt had to act as executive producers. The dress rehearsal for the 2001 season premiere featured a sketch that was considered offensive by some sponsors, so Wes issued an apology from his hospital bed, which in turn resulted in Matt and Danny quitting.
[edit] On-air Tirade
| “ | Uh, it's not going to be a very good show tonight, and I think you should change the channel. Change the channel, go ahead, right now. Better yet, turn off the TV, okay? No, no, I... know it seems like this is supposed to be funny, but tomorrow, you're going to find out that it wasn't, and by that time I'll be fired. Now this, this is not sup- . . . this is not a sketch.
This show used to be cutting-edge political and social satire. But it's gotten lobotomized, by a candy-ass broadcast network hell-bent on doing nothing that might challenge their audience. We were about to do a sketch that you've seen already about 500 times. Yeah, no one's going to confuse George Bush with George Plimpton. Now, we get it. We're all being lobotomized by this country's most influential industry, that's just thrown in the towel on any endeavor to do anything that doesn't include the courting of 12-year-old boys. Not even the smart 12-year-olds -- the stupid ones, the idiots. Of which there are plenty, thanks in no small measure to this network. So why don't you just change the channel? Turn off your TVs. Do it right now. Go ahead. They say there's a struggle between art and commerce. Well, there's always been a struggle between art and commerce, and now I'm telling you, art is getting its ass kicked, and it's making us mean, and it's making us bitchy, it's making us cheap punks. That's not who we are. People are having contests to see how much they can be like Donald Trump? We're eating worms for money. "Who Wants To Screw My Sister?" Guys are getting killed in a war that's got theme music and a logo. That remote in your hand is a crack pipe. Oh yeah, every once in a while we pretend to be appalled. It’s pornography, and it's not even good pornography. They're just this side of snuff films, and friends, that's what's next, 'cause that's all that's left. And the two things that make them scared gutless are the FCC and every psycho religious cult that gets positively horny at the very mention of a boycott. These are the people they're afraid of. This prissy, feckless, off-the-charts greed-filled whorehouse of a network, I do believe, is thoroughly unpatriotic, mother— [show cuts to title screen] |
” |
| STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP | ||
| EPISODES | CHARACTERS | ||
| 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 |
|
| Key Creators | Aaron Sorkin | Thomas Schlamme | W. G. Snuffy Walden | |
