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NBC ripped up its fall schedule shortly after unveiling it to advertisers last spring to protect the network's hefty investment in Aaron Sorkin's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip." It looks as though the fourth-place network has been ripped off to the tune of $3 million an episode. The most-hyped show of the new TV season has become the biggest disappointment. "Studio 60" is a bust. The drama about backstage intrigue at a "Saturday Night Live"-esque show from "The West Wing" auteur Sorkin that NBC outbid its rivals to land, is dying like one of those mirthless "SNL" sketches shoe-horned...

Matt and Danny may be pulling good ratings with their fictional TV show, but in real life, NBC's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" is another story. "Studio 60" stars Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford as a bickering writing duo that presumes to rescue a once-funny late-night comedy show a la "Saturday Night Live." But it's become clear that writer Aaron Sorkin's backstage drama needs a lifeline of its own. On Monday the show slipped to its lowest rating so far in the critical adults aged 18-49 bracket, with a 3.1 rating/8 share (7.8 million total viewers), according to early...

NBC, I feel your pain. When I saw the overnight ratings last Tuesday for the network's new Aaron Sorkin drama, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, my heart sank. NBC has pinned its hopes for a turnaround in large part on this show, with aggressive marketing and a whopping $3 million-per-episode budget. But my disappointment isn't about the network's fortunes. I just love the show. Studio 60 spins first-rate, textured stuff from the backstage drama behind a Saturday Night Live-style sketch comedy. Much as I liked the pilot, last week's episode was even better. But there's always a morning after....

Pasadena, Calif. -- Aaron Sorkin, the acclaimed wordsmith behind "The West Wing" and the upcoming "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," was left wishing Friday he could reclaim one public remark. "I do think television is a terribly influential part of this country and when things that are very mean-spirited and voyeuristic go on TV, I think it's bad crack in the schoolyard," Sorkin told a meeting of the Television Critics Association. He paused briefly, then asked: "Why did I use that word?" In 2001, Sorkin was arrested at a Southern California airport and charged with possession of cocaine, mushrooms...

NBC’s The West Wing left office for good on Sunday night, airing the pilot episode at 7 and the show’s final episode at 8, but the TV audience didn’t vote it a ratings winner. The final airing of Wing scored just a 2.8 rating/7 share in the key 18-49 demo, according to Nielsen Fast Affiliate numbers, beating only The WB’s Charmed (1.5/4) in the time slot. Originally, a clip show was going to air in the first hour, but the retrospective was scrapped in favor of the re-airing of the pilot (which earned a 1.7/6), reportedly for financial reasons. Wing...

LOS ANGELES, California (Hollywood Reporter) -- Alan Alda is returning to series television. The five-time Emmy winner will join the cast of NBC's White House drama "The West Wing" next season, playing a Republican from California with presidential aspirations. Also joining the series is Marley Shelton ("Uptown Girls"), who will play a former feature reporter mentored by Danny Concannon (Timothy Busfield) who becomes White House deputy press secretary.

Last weekend's hatefest in New York City, in which John Kerry endorsed the vicious attack of Hollywood hacks on the Commander-in-Chief, provides a sad portent of things to come. Leftist hate group MoveOn.org announced last week that it has enlisted the help of the Hollywood elite in its partisan campaign to smear the president and stigmatize America’s War on Terror. According to a Time magazine story (“I’m Rob Reiner, and I Approve This Ad”), such Hollywood powerhouses as Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Errol Morris, Rob Reiner, “West Wing” creator Aaron Sorkin, Ed Asner, Danny Glover, Al Franken, the ubiquitous Kevin...

I finally got around to reading this week's issue of TV Guide. Pg. 46: Left-wing poop drama "Mister Sterling" has not been renewed. Also, Ted Danson (he and his wife, Mary Steenburgen, are major Clinton brown-nosers)'s show "Becker" has not been renewed, but could return in mid-season. With The West Wing's ratings dropping and Sorkin leaving, The West Wing could be the next show gone.

The snappy New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd went on the record this week, answering those who asked her recently about whether she and 'West Wing' creator Aaron Sorkin are an item.Said the redhead: 'I never talk about my personal life. I dont even discuss it with the person I am dating.'But this is nothing new.Maureen has been giving me this feint for the last two years as I asked her this same question with regularity.For your info, I think the answer is yes. They are an item.

Continuing our Washington Post/Lloyd Grove gossip thon we note that His Excellency tries to get MoDo (New York Times Columnist Marueen Dowd) to discuss AaSo. ('West Wing TV creator Aaron Sorkin)No go.'I never discuss my personal life. I don't even discuss it with the person I am dating.'Drip..Drip.. Drip..

CBS LIVE 'STAR SEARCH' [9.4 RATING/14 SHARE OF ALL TV'S] WINS HOUR.ABC'S 'BACHELORETTE' [11.6/17] WINS VAUNTED WEDNESDAY 9PM EST TIME SLOTNBC WINS OVERALL NIGHT WITH REGULAR FARE BOOSTED BY 'LAW AND ORDER' AT 10PM EST [15.9/25] AND WEST WING [11.3/16]DEVELOPING..