"Nevada Day" was a two part episode, which concluded this week, and included John Goodman as a small town Nevada judge controlling the fate of several Studio 60 actors. The episode begins with Tom Jeeter (Nathan Corddry) and Simon Stiles (D.L. Hughley) sitting in a small sheriff's office waiting for Tom's arraignment along with several studio executives and an unknown Chinese businessman and his daughter. Through a carefully crafted flashback, we're shown how this all took place.
The basic conflict set up in the episode is over a quote of Harriet Hayes' (Sarah Paulson) in a magazine where she says that, according to the Bible, homosexuality is a sin, but also that "thou shalt not judge lest ye be judged," and it is something for people smarter than her to decide. The magazine only reported the first part of her comment. While in Los Angeles, a group of the Studio 60 actors are confronted on the street by a group of gay people upset over the comments, and while defending Harriet, Tom Jeeter pushes one of the men over, and then all the actors flee. The man who was pushed subsequently files a complaint, and Tom is arrested while wearing Simon Stiles' jacket -- Tom was cold and Simon let him borrow it, which had a half-smoked joint in it. Matters are complicated even further when it's discovered that Tom has an outstanding warrant against him for going 115 MPH through a small Nevada town named Pahrump.
This causes even more trouble because NBS is trying to close a deal with a distribution outlet in Hong Kong, and the only way the deal will go through is if the Hong Kong executive's daughter gets to meet her favorite Studio 60 actor -- Tom Jeeter, now in cuffs in Nevada. The group of executives and a lawyer make their way to Pahrump to throw their weight around and get Tom released, while Simon goes to try and fall on his sword. He wants the judge to know the joint was in his jacket and was his joint, and Tom shouldn't be charged for possession or use.
Things only get worse for the group since it's Nevada Day, which celebrates the day Nevada was admitted to the Union, and all public offices are closed. The fact that the judge (John Goodman) is pulled from a fishing trip by the Governor who received campaign contributions from the NBS chairman doesn't help. Of course, the fact that the judge is an old-fashioned small town judge who hates Studio 60, and its attitudes toward society, hurts even more.
Article comments
1 - Joan Hunt
Congratulations! This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net, which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States.
2 - Nick Schweitzer
Thanks Joan!
3 - sandyg
Excellent article. Have submitted it to Digg.