Tubegazing: Studio 60 on Sunset Strip

Studio 60 on Sunset Strip (NBC, debuts Sept. 18 at 10 p.m.): Aaron Sorkin, creator of "The West Wing," returns with a show boasting more words per minute than any other – except, of course, his earlier series set in the White House. But this time Sorkin goes behind the scenes of a "Saturday Night Live"-type sketch show, so it's okay if you miss a line here and there. This is comedy, after all, not foreign policy. Even so, Sorkin brings the same intensity and political sensibilities to the story about a live show so badly in need of an overhaul that a TV executive (Amanda Peet) rehires two writers (Sorkin favorite Bradley Whitford, and Matthew Perry) who had previously been fired.

Grade: A