Filed under: Cinematic Stylings, Misc | Tags: aaron sorkin, hbo show, keith olbermann new show, oscar nominees, the social network
Before I even start with this post, I guess I should explain who Aaron Sorkin, who is going to be the star of this post, is. He’s a beloved and respected writer in Hollywood best known for:
- Writing The American President and one of my all-time favorite movies, A Few Good Men. He’s also up for an Oscar this year for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Social Network.
- Being the creator, writer and driving force behind The West Wing.
- Drawing and quartering Sarah Palin via blog post on the HuffPo.
Now Aaron Sorkin is brewing up a new TV series for HBO, hoping to capture “the same kind of idealism and romanticism that made government sexy on The West Wing.”
…”sexy” isn’t the first word I’d use to describe The West Wing. While it was a good show, I think The West Wing was one of those shows you watched while rubbing Bengay on your arthritic joints and waiting for your vanilla ice-cream to thaw. And his other two shows, Sports Night and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, fared well critically, but were not on the air very long.
A move to a premium channel where you can be sexy as you wanna be could be what a Sorkin-show needs to actually hang in there. Sorkin himself said that he thought HBO is were people are turning for “more literate programming.” And with a history of airing shows like the iconic Sex and the City, the awesome bro-fest that is Entourage, the introspective and darkly funny Six Feet Under and the only halfway decent product of the neo-vampire phenomenon True Blood, he’d be 100 percent right.
However, the true test will be set up of the show itself. Just because a show is on HBO doesn’t mean it’ll survive (R.I.P. John from Cincinnati). Sorkin is known for his “show about a show” style, and it looks like this show is going to take on that format. But I guess I’m wondering if it’s the network choice or the actual “show about a show” set-up that is responsible for the demise of Sorkin shows.
I guess only time will tell, but I’m rooting for ya, Aaron! The show about a show thing works for 30 Rock!
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Lingua Mea Vita 
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Writers Wanted
Comment by Writers Wanted February 6, 2011 @ 12:03 pm[…] the dialogue and flow of the movie out of this world, it was written by Aaron Sorkin, Movie Great (whom I mentioned in a previous entry). No other movie deserved it as much. End […]
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