People were criticizing her decision to air a show about the UN, in part, because Americans (supposedly) have an unfavorable opinion of the UN.

Her point was that Americans (claim in polls that they) dislike doctors and lawyers, but still watch TV shows about doctors and lawyers.
So what people (claim to) dislike in reality does not dictate what they'll watch on TV.

Sorkin would be familiar with this argument because it was said that people hated Washington and politicians, and thus they would never watch a TV show set in the White House.

yep, she said that doctors and lawyers were the most "reviled" professions by Americans, but they still love doctor and lawyer shows.

this show is really hitting a stride. the last two episodes have been really good. mckinney was awesome.

as for the harriett/joke thing. it's obvious she can handle comedy, news/comedy, probably observational humor and other stand-up stuff. she just can't tell a straight-forward old-fashioned joke.

Well, she's half right.
Actually, since the Time magazine interview was intended to be a train wreck, it's probably a good idea not to pick apart what she said. I just hope when the upfronts come around, that a network president does a better job of selling a new show than "You like doctors and lawyers? You'll love UN deputy ambassadors!"

In "The Focus Group" she told that stupid bear joke twice from memory. Now she stumbles over the "Orange you glad I didn't say banana" knock-knock joke?

but that was a joke specifically written for the news segemnt, and told in a news-style delivery. probably a joke she wrote, too, as opposed to trying to re-tell a joke she heard.

i agree it's a stretch to make her unable to tell a classic-style joke, but there really is a difference between the two.

I honestly don't have a problem with the change in Harriet's character, IMO, she's the one who's character needed the most adjustment, to give her something to do beside being the token Christian.

I liked this show even in the beginning and I REALLY like it now. Definately starting to hit its stride.

Seems like so many people like to nit-pick at so many things in these weekly S60 threads.

welcome to internet discussion boards, SoSpacey. :)

I loved McKinney after the dress rehearsal Darius and Blondie are despondent about their failure and Darius wants to leave, but McKinney says "wait, you need to get the metaphor" (paraphrased) and then the door smacks Darius as the crowd rushes out. :lol:

yeah, so many great mckinney lines/scenes. really strong performance.

Seriously. This week seems to have taken it to a whole new level, with the comments about the UN show and the inability to tell a "duck walks into a bar" joke -- both of which make complete sense within the context of the show.

i enjoyed this episode.

I feel like this show is really hitting its stride now. I thought the opening monolouge was actually humorous. Loved seeing Mark McKinney. I did think the "can't tell a joke" things was a bit of stretch for the supposedly most talented member of a comedy skit show, but I can let that slide.

The only thing about the joke bit I wonder about is who Sorkin knows in real life who has played a funny character somewhere but couldn't tell a joke to save his or her life.

Lol. I know.

It just seems like everyone i in search of whats wrong with show every week instead of focusing on how much better its gotten every week.

I wanted to watch more when the episode ended.