Aaron Sorkin and Consistency

June 29th, 2008

Like most of the non-big-brother watching world, I loved the West Wing. When I heard that Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was written by him as well I dived into that with much enthusiasm.
It was amusing to see how much Sorkin re-used from the West Wing. Bradley Whitford (Danny and Josh) was in both shows as is Timothy Busfield(Danny and Cal). A smaller appearance is made by John Goodman and Evan Handler. Matthew Perry headlines in Studio 60 but also had a few episodes in the West Wing.

Thomas Schlamme once again produces and WG Snuffy Walden does the music. The law firm Kari Matchett works for is the same law fim Rob Lowe worked for in New York.
This was all kind of amusing until I started watching Sports Night which is Sorkin’s first TV series.
It’s amusing but has many rough edges though you’ll recognise the obviously young Sorkins hand in every word, the camera work, the story structures and characters. Let’s go through them in detail:

• The Music is once again by mr Walden
• Thomas Schlamme once again produces it
• Now we have the venerable Joshula Malin playing much the same character he plays in the West Wing
• Felicity Huffman appears in the West Wing and is one of the main characters in Sports Night
• Teri Polo is a love interest in Sports Night and is Mrs Helen Santos in the West Wing
• Again the phantom Shearson law firm appears
• Unrequited love is a constant theme in all three series. The main stars all have a smouldering relationship that almost never happens.
• Greg Baker appears in the WW and SN but I don’t actually remember seeing him in either
• Timothy Davis-Reed appears in all 3 series
• Jeff Mooring appears in SN and WW but I’ve no idea who he is
• Ron Ostrow is in SN and the WW
• Ted McGinley is the somewhat slimy fiance of Dana in SN and appears in the West Wing
• William H Macy’s character goes off at some length in Series 2 about a guy called Farnsworth who invented television – Sorkin has a broadway play on called “The Farnsworth Invention”
• Minor SN appearance of Nina Siemaszko who also play Ellie Bartlett
• Also Lisa Edelstein appears in SN and the WW and for no reason I’ll mention House as well since I like that show

It’s clear I’m in danger of becoming some kind of obsessed fan so I’ll stop here and will only return to add things to this list when I see new ones. The good news is that when a Sorkin show gets cancelled, he clearly just carries on doing the same show in a new setting – luckily they all seem brilliant so I’m not complaining.

Entry Filed under: Uncategorized