"I'm sorry. That was strange."

Finally, a reason for me to have cable. Although we get that station in pretty good, and neither Matthew Perry nor Bradley Whitford are so great to look at that I need crystal-clear picture.

I'm talking, of course, about Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Which from now on will be referred to simply as Studio 60 since that other name is way too long and kinda weird.

My thoughts? I'm thrilled about the show's existence. The lack of Aaron Sorkin made television pretty pointless. I think Matthew Perry is a comic genius when given the right material, and I'm glad he agrees that this is a good place for him. I mourned the death of The West Wing mainly because it meant that Bradley Whitford would be forced to return to the role of The Jerky White Guy that he has captured so well in the past (see Adventures in Babysitting, Scent of a Woman, Billy Ugh Madison, and many more). But hurray! Aaron Sorkin has resurrected him from the depths of hell once again! And I thought Amanda Peet was really funny in The Whole Nine Yards, and she and Matthew Perry certainly played well off each other, so this really ought to go well.

However. The reality was slightly different from my expectations. For one thing, it wasn't as funny as I thought a show about a comedy show was going to be. The fault in this lies mainly in Amanda Peet.

She was not funny. She was not likeable--in fact, she made me so uncomfortable that it was difficult to enjoy the show when she was on. I like machinations when I know they're on the side of right. Or the side of funny. She was neither.

I know pilot episodes are mainly set-up, and this certainly set a lot of stuff up. So let's just say I'm looking forward to next week.