...of course, the second part of that headline should probably be "...but it probably won't be renewed."

There have been rumors going around that Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip had stopped production, but that's not the case. In fact, they just finished filming episode 19 earlier this week, and filming of episode 20 started earlier today. So it looks like they'll film the full 22 for the season, but after that...well, they'll probably burn off the episodes during the summer and the show will not see a second season. That's Ray Richmond's take on it, and I agree with him.

Which is really too bad, because...well, for all the reasons I've mentioned several times here at the site before. And it's too bad that NBC abandoned the show, even though other shows that have premiered since Studio 60 was put on hiatus haven't done any better in the ratings. It would have been really nice to see what the show could have done in another time slot, another night. But I guess we'll have to be happy with a one season DVD set, hopefully with extras.

[via TV Tattle]

(S01E05) So let me get this straight. Sting has been around so long that he can just decide to make an album of songs based on the writings of a 15th century poet, play it with a lute (!), and get a guest star gig on a major network TV show? Nice. I can't wait for the day when Keith lets me write just about obscure game shows from the 1960s, in Latin.

I was wondering if Sting was going to play one of his classic songs after he played his new song at rehearsal. I wasn't the only one: Harriet says the same thing at the end to Matt, and he tells her that he wasn't going to but Matt asked him to play it and he did. (Oh, and curse you NBC once again for tricking us into thinking that Matt and Harriet were going to get back together. Damn previews!)

(S01E03) I'll get to the review in a moment, but first, a confession.

When I was a struggling writer who lived from paycheck to paycheck (when I had a paycheck), I signed up to do a lot of focus groups. They were easy, they paid $75, and all you had to do was sit around for an hour or two with a bunch of other people and talk about a product or a service. The thing is, and anyone who has gone to a focus group will admit this if they're being honest, is that they are filled with liars. Including me. They talk to you on the phone and ask you a bunch of questions about the focus group they're having, to see if they need you. Do you like Austrailian wine? Sure, I drink it all the time! Are you allergic to anything? Yup, I'm allergic to peanuts! Do you have kids? Oh yeah, I have five!

Anything for the $75.