Comedy writers aren't laughing about '60'

It is generally accepted that doctors hate shows about doctors, lawyers hate shows about lawyers, and so on. So perhaps it's the order of things that many comedic writers appear to hate Aaron Sorkin's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," the dramatic series about a "Saturday Night Live"-like comedy show. But is it natural for them to take such pleasure in it?

Take Ken Levine, a seasoned writer who has worked on "Frasier," "Cheers" and "The Simpsons." His blog, By Ken Levine, has become the hub of an online community of viewers who loathe "Studio 60," thanks to his running commentary on the first several episodes.

"After watching Episode 2 of 'Studio 60' I must let you in on a little secret. People in television, trust me, are not that smart," he wrote. "And they keep talking about how unbelievably talented that Harriet [Sarah Paulson] is. Have you seen evidence of it yet? I haven't. But then again, I'm not that smart."

One week later he was less forgiving, writing, " 'Studio 60' is like the Rand Corporation Think Tank doing a late night sketch show." (Sorkin could not comment on this article because he was on vacation.)

After its debut this past fall, many pop culture commentators were quick to predict the NBC show's imminent cancellation as it steadily lost viewers. But as "Studio 60" enjoys a midseason break over the holidays, with a full-season pickup and the confidence of its broadcaster, for now it looks like there will be plenty of opportunities for comedy writers to continue to riff on their anger to anyone who will listen.

Amelie Gillette, a blogger for the Onion-affiliated A.V. Club website, composed a recent post called "Aaron Sorkin Thinks You're Stupid." In it, she wrote: "So did anyone else watch 'Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip' on Monday? Did anyone else wait a day to write about it so their boiling anger could slow down to a more manageable simmer?"

The love-to-hate feeling is fun for some, profitable for others.

A few months ago, the Los Angeles sketch comedy troupe Employee of the Month put on a show called "Employee of the Month Celebrates the Comedy of Studio 60."

The tag line was serpentinely Sorkin-esque: "A sketch comedy show about a sketch comedy show in a drama about sketch comedy."

Troupe member Megan Lynn said the idea for an evening of sketch devoted entirely to "Studio 60" came about because nobody in the group could talk about anything else for weeks. "Honestly, we were just wasting so much rehearsal time complaining about the show," she said. "We thought, 'We can't shut up about this, other people talk about this, let's put a show together.' "