rfduncan

They used to have it on Netflix with the pilot of Kidnapped. Now it is gone. Wierd.

vegasbaby

I firmly believe that since they've ditched the 'Sorkinish' dialogue, the show has come a LONG WAY.

Very good episode last night. As long as they avoid preachiness, they've got a good thing going.

Still cant understand half of what DL Hughley says, but ...

mrpayroll

These idiots need to be helping the poor and needy.

Chris

Cusm

That is not very Christian-like, especially compared to trying to control what the other 99.98% of the country watches.

Ayre

Fixed.

Groucho

They have?

auntiewinnie

Why can I find no evidence of this at either IMDB or Townhall? Can you provide a link?

Ayre

http://www.imdb.com/news/sb/2006-12-06/

At the bottom.

Here is the Town Hall link:

http://www.townhall.com/ref/sorkin2

auntiewinnie

Okay, thanks. The Townhall add seems pretty accurate to me.

Kal-El

One of the reasons I thought this episode was great was because the dialogue was vintage Sorkin. It may not have been the "roundabout" kind, but the way everything flowed had such a SN/WW feel to it.

Achtung

Uhhh...

Hypocritical much? Idiots...

I haven't been watching this show as regularly, only seen about 4-5 episodes, but I think this is the one that has convinced me to follow more closely. Fantastic all around, from the sight gags to the plot and character development.

wendersfan

Yes, only people who agree with the Heritage Foundation should be allowed to give money to political candidates.

auntiewinnie

The Townhall ad makes the following three claims:

1) Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is low rated. True. Monday's episode, for instance, had a rating roughly 2/3rds of that of the CSI show on CBS (which was a repeat). (source)

2) Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is "anti-Christian themed"/Aaron Sorkin is pushing "his radical agenda on television". I suppose one could argue this point to some extent, but it certainly trends that way given the portrayal of nearly all the Christian characters and organizations.

3) Aaron Sorkin supports left-wing causes. True. In the last three election cycles he personally donated about $100k to Democratic candidates and other related groups (source)

Additionally, the IMDB claim that Townhall.com is affiliated with "the conservative Heritage Foundation" is false. (source)

megashock5

It's funny. I've never found the show to be anti-Christian, just anti-Christian organizations who have nothing better to do than worry about what everyone else does. Like these Townhall folks.

Ayre

Talk about an agenda. Sheesh using townhall.com to prove an accusation against townhall.com. That is circular reasoning. Like using the bible passages to prove the bible is the word of God.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Townhall.com

In 2004 the Heritage Foundation Board of Trustees backed a proposal to end its direct role with Townhall.com. In a note in its consolidated financial statements for the 2003 and 2004 financial years the foundation stated "the separation was completed on March 15, 2005 and Townhall.com will operate as a separte autonomous for-profit company, with no shared governance." It reported that the the Chief Executive Officer of the new for-profit entity had previosuly worked for the foundation.

The Foundations received consideration of $100,000 for Townhall.com, based upon an indepnedent valuation, in exchange for accounts receivable and fixed assets with a book value of approximately $76,000. The Foundation has agreed to act as guarantor of a loan for Townhall.com for up to $1,000,000 and will receive 10% of Townhall.com free cash flow, calculated on an annual basis, as defined in the agreement, up to an aggregate of $1,500,000; however no payments are due until 2012," the note reports.

auntiewinnie

Off the top of my head: Matthew Perry dumps the blonde chick beacuse she appears on "The 700 Club"; the Crazy Christians sketch; the Jesus in the boardroom sketch from the beginning of the Nevada Day episode.

das Monkey

We don't know what Crazy Christians was about, other than the name and the fact that people will flip out over a name without context (something proven by this thread). The boardroom sketch was about censorship, the silliness of allowing "geez" but not "Jesus", the hypocrisy and misplaced priorities with regard to television violence and language ... and it was very pro-Jesus. And being anti-700 Club is a far cry from being anti-Christian.

The reaction to these bits just underscores why they're there in the first place.

das

lotsofdvds

Love does that to some people.

auntiewinnie

I'm not sure why you think that contradicts the URL to which I linked.

My point was that the IMDB statement "Townhall.com, a website operated by the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation..." is not true, and has not been true for a year or so. Townhall.com is a website that WAS operated by the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, but is currently operated by Salem. It is certainly fair to say that Townhall.com is right/center-right on the political spectrum, and I don't think I implied anything to the contrary.

megashock5

Exactly. Matt even went as far as to explain to Harriet that his problem with Robertson was that he thought he was a racist. I still see it as being against overzealous religious organizations, not Christ himself.

auntiewinnie

So you would then contend that in the first 11 episodes of this show there has been no content which could be construed by a rational person as being hostile to Christianity?

MEJHarrison

So you think "Crazy" Christians might have been a pro-Christian sketch?

I agree that we only have the name, but it's not that big of a stretch to assume that the "Crazy" part most likely wasn't intended to make Christians look good. And it's been a while now, but wasn't there concern on the show that Christian groups would be offended by the sketch? I don't think they pulled it because they thought Christians would be offended until they watched it and realized that "Crazy" was intended to be flattery.

I could be wrong, but it seems to me that 2 + 2 adds up to 4 in this case.

At any rate, I'm a Christian and I'm loving the show. I don't agree with all the politics on the show, but then again, I don't agree with everyone I interact with in real life either. And to complain that Sorkin is using his money to support causes he believes in is just too much.

adamblast

For myself, I would contend that one of the main *characters*--Matt--is hostile to Christianity, and is having conflicts in his lovelife because of it.

If anything, I think the show has tended to side with Harriet on the matter, not with Matt.

Ayre

When they single out specific groups, they are not attacking Christianity, but are just attacking those specific groups. They have not, in any of the shows I have watched (all of them) attacked ALL Christians or Christianity in general.

Crazy Christians does not signify that all Christians are crazy. We never saw it, so we cannot assume either way.

Is Christianity above satire? That is the real question. If the conservative agenda has its way .... Christianity will only be portrayed in favorable errrr ..... divine light.

megashock5

And you don't think it could be about some Christians who happen to act crazy - not necessarily saying that all of them are? You don't think there are crazy Christians in this world?

I would consider myself a Christian as well (although I have problems with the organized Church over a number of things and I'm totally anti-700 Club) and I have yet to take offense to anything said or implied on this show.