Critical reaction The show received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Television critics named
Studio 60 their "Best Overall New Program" in a poll conducted by
Broadcasting and Cable, The erosion continued through episode 5, with a
43% viewer drop off from its premiere, but subsequently leveled off. On October 27, 2006, NBC gave a conditional "vote of confidence" by ordering three additional scripts on top of the initial order of 13. This was denied the next day by an NBC representative who stated that the show "is profitable at this point" and that, rather than a cancellation, it was more likely that the timeslot would change. On November 9, 2006, NBC announced that the show had been picked up for a full season, citing its favorable demographics as the reason. According to NBC's press release: "
Studio 60 has consistently delivered some of the highest audience concentrations among all primetime network series in such key upscale categories as adults 18–49 living in homes with $75,000-plus and $100,000-plus incomes and in homes where the head of household has four or more years of college." In its December 17, 2006, issue,
Time listed
Studio 60 as one of "5 Things That Went From Buzz to Bust", sharing the distinction with other "phenomena that captivated the media for a spell, then turned out to be less than huge."
Entertainment Weekly named
Studio 60 the worst TV show of 2006. Comedy writers were largely disdainful of
Studio 60, with comments like "People in television, trust me, are not that smart", "[Sorkin] wants to get big ideas across and change people's minds. No comedians work that way. They go for the laughs first and the lesson second", and "[
Saturday Night Live] is so dark, they could never show what actually happens there."
The New Yorker described the short-lived
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip as a show people loved to
hate-watch, as "it was bad in a truly spectacular way—you could learn something from it, about self-righteous TV speechifying and failed satire and the dangers of letting a brilliant showrunner like Aaron Sorkin|[Aaron] Sorkin run loose to settle all his grudges in fictional form". On July 19, 2007, the
Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced their nominations for the 2007 Primetime
Emmy Awards.
Studio 60 was nominated in five categories. The pilot episode earned three nominations: Outstanding Directing (
Thomas Schlamme), Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series, and Outstanding Casting in Dramatic Series. Both
John Goodman and
Eli Wallach were nominated Outstanding Guest Actor in Dramatic Series.
Studio 60 Emmy nominations surpassed several other shows, such as
Friday Night Lights and
Dexter, which got two and three, respectively. The show also tied with
CSI and
24.
U.S. scheduling On December 2, 2006, NBC announced that
Studio 60 would be sharing the Monday at 10 p.m. timeslot with
The Black Donnellys; as a result,
Studio 60 was
on hiatus from December 4, 2006, to January 22, 2007. It then aired intermittently until February 26, 2007, when it was scheduled to take another hiatus. On February 13, 2007, NBC announced that
Studio 60 would go on hiatus one week early, and that the last episode would air on February 19, 2007; at least partially due to the show's delivering its lowest ratings to date on the Monday preceding the announcement. During the hiatus on NBC,
The Black Donnellys (premiered February 26), ''
Thank God You're Here (premiered April 9), The Real Wedding Crashers (premiered April 23, after Thank God You're Here
moved to Wednesdays), and Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' (aired its last two episodes of the season starting May 14) occupied the Monday 10 p.m. time period. On April 2, 2007, NBC announced that
Studio 60 would not reclaim its Monday at 10 p.m. time slot at the conclusion of
The Black Donnellys run and that
The Real Wedding Crashers, a reality show based on
the popular movie, would occupy the timeslot from April 23, 2007, through the end of the TV season. However, on April 26, NBC announced that
Studio 60 would return from its hiatus on Thursday, May 24, at 10:00 p.m.
Studio 60 was canceled on May 11, 2007, during the NBC
upfront presentation.
After cancellation In a 2011 reference to the cancelled
Studio 60, Aaron Sorkin appeared in "
Plan B", a fifth-season episode of
30 Rock; he played himself, depicted as looking for work alongside an also-struggling
Liz Lemon. He refers to his achievements, such as
The West Wing and
The Social Network, but when Liz Lemon mentions
Studio 60, he quickly replies, "Shut up!" During the March 2012 promotion of
Bent, an NBC romantic comedy series starring
Amanda Peet, Peet commented on what the issue was with
Studio 60, saying it was "too expensive and there was too much anticipation. I guess all together we seemed like this arrogant monolith, but individually, none of us felt very arrogant." In later years, the show gained more positive recognition, with critics praising Perry's performance in particular following the actor's death. Writing in
The Guardian, Jack Seale said Perry "was better than anyone at nailing Sorkin’s turbo-speed dialogue and adept at finding subtler, gentler notes in the gaps between the lines than was possible in a sitcom. But the soul of Perry’s performance was in its closeness to his own personality." ==Television ratings==