If Studio 60 is your top - you might want to point this out to a few people.

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The Class just took a huge downturn (if that's possible from the gutter) with this week's show. Ugh.

The Nine, Studio 60, and Friday Night Lights are all very good and the numbers they pull aren't "horrible". There could be a miracle or two to save them.

30 Rock, 20 Good Years, and Help Me Help You can be ditched now and nobody will care.

And I will disagree with you about Two And A Half Men until the cows come home. The majority of the episodes are funny and I hate missing a single one. (I'm really picky, although I admit to having liked "Joey".)

Studio 60 strted its very first show by declaring loudly over and over again that it existed strictly for the purpose of offending conservatives, specifically Christians. No one is watching. Meanwhile the king's crew still tries to insist his clothes are beautiful but everyone else is sitting back declaring him naked. I got the message - I was offended - not coming back for more. Studio 60 just give up and go away. After this much time, an apology wouldn't be accepted if any one had the brains to offer one.

Louise - good link, hopefully that can help a little bit.

Joan - Fair point on Two and a Half Men. Thanks to Arrested Development, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Entourage, Scrubs, and The Office, I just can't bear to suffer through a laugh track these days. That said, I shouldn't lump all traditional sitcoms together. I took a shot at Charlie Sheen and Co. out of sheer laziness, because I couldn't be bothered to think of a truly crappy sitcom. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of the show, but I'm sure there is a lot worse out there. Probably on the same network and the same night, no doubt.

I think The Nine and Friday Night Lights truly need a "miracle" because of the ratings, while Studio 60 is kind of in a different boat. Production costs seem really high for that show and with so many film actors on board, I can't imagine this running for more than a year or two, even under good circumstances. Throw in some ratings issues and now my concern is that it won't even get a full season order. Hopefully NBC will want to remain in Sorkin's good graces and will give it a longer leash than normal.

The funny thing is that Studio 60 kind of seems to be telling its own story (or at least a version of it) as it goes. The way Matty and Danny came on board seems like it could have mirrored how many key figures on the show got involved. There is the Sorkin/Danny coke habit parallel. They've discussed offending particular religious groups while possibly offending particular religions groups. They've talked about "writing smart" versus "writing dumb" and took the stance that the audience can keep up (expressed by Amanda Peet's character in, I believe, episode two). They've talked about ratings and what kind percentage they need to retain week to week. They've talked about bloggers and credentials and all of that. And they've even served up the very good argument that niche advertising directed at quality ("alpha consumers," I think was the term) over quantity was the way to go. It's been really fascinating to watch them grapple with all these issues under the guise of a sketch comedy show, when nearly all of them apply directly to their own, fledgling new drama.

As for them attacking the religious right, I can understand your point and, as a Christian myself, was personally taken aback by it. I wondered what the impetus was and I do think it was way too heavy-handed, especially the first two weeks. But putting aside my own personal views and concerns and giving the benefit of the doubt, I think they were trying to establish dramatic tension between art/social commentary and the power of America's conservative viewing audience. Do you pull your punches for ratings or do you let things fly? I think that would be the best reason for the device. Because if some version of "artistic integrity" isn't the rationale for the subplot, than it means that Sorkin really is just taking shots at a an entire group of people, which seems extreme.

One thing I found kind of odd is that the characters on the show don't display much savvy or nuance when it comes to religion and perhaps this is a reflection of the creators themselves. Are people in Hollywood that insulated that they don't realize how complex religion is? Christianity is a massive world religion, not some strange little cult, and the people who practice that faith have various and unique world views. To hear the characters of Studio 60 tell it, everyone that falls under the enormous umbrella of Christianity (I think you can include most denominations here, including Catholicism) is a crazy Pat Buchanon clone running around demanding censorship. It seems obvious that this is not the case and the show's inability to deal with that was kind of shocking.

This was a fun read, but I have to say I was confused since I missed the first edition. I thought ... "power"? Shows that are sinking in the ratings (Studio 60) and completely doomed (Friday Night Lights) have "power"? So it might be nice to explain what you mean by "power rankings" in each round. And maybe link to the previous posts?

This week's Studio 60 was even better than the copyright infringement one, I think. I really hope the ratings pick up.

Diane Kristine - you are right, linking to the first edition would have been a good idea. I will make sure to do that in the future. For now, you can find it here.

As for the "power rankings" name, that is just a play on the fact that power rankings are everywhere now - mainly in sports. It doesn't actually refer to the amount of power the show has. It could just as easily be called the "Hot List" or something equally cliched. I just needed a gimmicky name, so I went with Power Rankings.