Because my job involves teaching poetry writing to undergraduates, I’ve considered writing about what poets can learn from Seinfeld. This show that is famously about nothing is a great example of fidelity to its form; what the show is about is precisely its form–one funny line after another, alluding to images and lines from other episodes, all of it perfectly timed: no wasted beats, no needless exposition, just a streamlined comic machine. There’s an episode in which Jerry is deeply bothered because his dentist, who has recently converted from (if memory serves) Catholicism to Judaism, is now telling both Catholic and Jewish jokes; Jerry, concerned that this guy is trying to corner the joke market, seeks out a priest to talk about his troubles. The priest asks, ‘Does this offend you as a Jew?’ to which Jerry replies, ‘It offends me as a comedian.’ For devotion to comedy is the ethic of the show, devotion to its art form. After all, the principal characters of the show are pretty much psychopathic nut jobs. I’ve never watched the show for its exemplary representations of human beings; I’ve watched it for the perfection of its comedy. When I’m watching otherwise very fine shows–I think of Scrubs and The Gilmore Girls–something in me cringes when the life-lesson music comes up near the end of an episode. It’s not that I have anything against life lessons per se. As a matter of fact, I’m much in favor of life lessons, just not in the context of a show in which the life lesson is cheapened and the perfection of the prgram is compromised. On a given evening, to see an art form honed to perfection is edification enough.
But if I may adapt the words of Arlo Guthrie, this is not what I logged on to write about today. I’m lamenting the passing of a fine show that I understand has been canceled, Aaron Sorkin’s Studio 60: On the Sunset Strip, which I take it is down to its last few episodes. While I cannot claim to be a television maven (for example, I’ve never seen an episode of The Sopranos, and to date I’ve made it to the end of only one episode of one reality television show), I feel that I have a decent feel for television–having watched it pretty much all my life–and I think that Studio 60 is the most promising show I’ve seen in quite a long time. It’s smart, witty, fast-paced (featuring the walk-and-talk technique that Sorkin honed to perfection on The West Wing), and exquisitely self-aware. While Seinfeld perfected itself as a show about nothing, Studio 60 promises to be a show about pretty much everything: creativity, the business of television (the show is about the making of a show very much like Saturday Night Live, though this Studio 60 show airs on Fridays), First Amendment rights, pregnancy, relationships, the war on terror, faith, drug addiction, celebrity addiction, animal rights, and on and on. Perhaps this show is working toward something of a new form–a very fine mix, perhaps, of the best of Seinfeld and The West Wing–a very smart and witty show taking on ‘issues’ without being preachy, letting the form dictate where the issues go. It’s not that the show has been quite consistent, but at it’s best it is outstanding, and I was looking forward to seeing where it would go. Unfortunately, it’s going off the air.
Already I’m seeing members of the cast show up on other programs, and certainly some cast members (e.g., Matthew Perry and Amanda Peet) hardly need help with their careers. Here’s one wish I’ll voice in closing, concerning a member of the cast within the cast, that is, a member of the cast who plays a member of the cast of the SNL-like show, Nate Torrence. Readers might not recognize the name, though many would recognize him from his credit-card-commercial character, the hapless service representative playing opposite David Spade. I take the cue from these commercials, as well as his performances on Studio 60, that he would make a marvelous addition to the cast of Saturday Night Live. Torrence has a kind of Chris Farley innocence and sense of comic timing, along with–I suspect–a greater range. If SNL is looking for new cast members, I’m hoping they’ve had similar thoughts.