If anyone has any questions I'd be happy to answer them as best I can.

Had a question I've always wanted to bug Ian about but makes sense to ask the source -- one of the final episodes that aired of Studio 60 (great show -- the audience just wasn't smart enough for it I guess?) starred Allison Janney as the guest host of the fictional show -- a fantastic actress and will forever be "CJ" for me even when I hear her voice on the Kaiser Permanente commercials. Well this one episode was outside of the regular story arc and it was the episode that aired immediately after NBC pulled the plug on your fine show. When it was aired, at about 29 minutes into it the audio of the main characters dropped out completely, yet you could still hear 100% of all the background noises (chairs moving, side conversations by extras). This continued for about 20 minutes and then the sound was restored. I always thought this was some inside joke at how NBC silenced your show. If it was just my TiVo malfunctioning, then all the sound would cut out not just the main actors. It happened on my cable system as well as a friend's system. Maybe it was just the west coast satellite? I've just always been dying to ask -- intentional but subtle sign of dissent to the network or weird technical glitch? Or "no comment"?

Steven,

I've never heard of anything like that. It sure wasn't on purpose. (Is it possible one of your speakers kicked out for 20 minutes?) If you'd like a copy of the episode let me know.

Aaron

If you could do another season of one of your television shows and do it exactly how you wanted, which series would you choose and why?

Aaron
did you see the excellent article in Vanity Fair recently which interviewed these guys as well as the inventors of Google, Amazon etc.?
ps - THANK YOU for the inspired writing

Aaron,

I just moved to New York to pursue a career in professional comedy and was wondering if you had any recommendations of where to eat, grab a drink, or see a great show in the city.

And, if I can throw some embarassing adulation your way, your writing is the reason that I'm out here. I typiclly refer to it as the "ah-ha" moment, but Sports Night, The West Wing and Studio 60 all featured scenes in almost every episode that were so good they gave me chills. After only a few episodes of Sports Night I knew that I wanted to make people feel this way and began to write and perform as much as possible. I moved to Chicago to study at Second City and ImprovOlympic and now I'm in New York trying to write for television.

So thank you for these programs. Your writing has been an inspiration and I hope you keep up the good work. I've always wanted to tell you that - and if this is really you then I'm glad I actually got the chance.

Sincerely,

Mike Biette

Dave,

That's an interesting question but in answering I want to make sure that there isn't an implication that I've been the victim of network or studio interference--I haven't. That said, (and while there's nothing I've written that I wouldn't like to write over again) I'd love to be writing Sports Night right now.

Leslie,

I haven't, but thanks for the heads up. There's a terrific piece by Claire Hoffman in Rolling Stone a few issues back. One of the challenges is that no two people tell the same story about what happened. I doubt this movie will do a lot to clear up the confusion.

Aaron

Mike,

I live for adulation so thank you for your generous comments.

As for your question, every city has cheap food and cheap entertainment but New York is the only city that has good cheap food and entertainment. Grey's Papaya on 72nd and Broadway is where you'll get the best two hot dogs you've ever had and a coke for $3. They're open 24 hours. Every diner in NY (and they're on every block) is equally good. Eggs, bacon, toast potatoes and coffee for $3.99 plus tip. The worst slice of pizza you'll have there is better than the best slice of pizza you'll have anyplace else. H&H bagels on 79th and Broadway is also open 24 hours. They're constantaly maing fresh bagels and if stick a couple of slice of ham on a toastes sesame seed bagel you'll have enough left over from a 5 dollar bill to walk across the street to Zabars and by a mushroom knish. That'll tie you over till dinner and that's where the pizza comes in.

As for entertainment, check out the comedy clubs on Monday or Tuesday nights after 10. You'll see some good newcomers and 2am Seinfeld'll come in and polish up whatever he's going to do on Letterman the next night. There's some great theatre off-off Broadway (some bad theater too but that's to be expected and in the summer there's tons of free stuff.

Aaron

Have you any idea how you're going to approach the Facebook Movie project yet? Other than starting this page to see how it works? I suspect you'll soon get inundated and have to sign off. Will it be a Charlie Wilson type bio-pic?

Also, is there any chance of the Farnsworth Invention coming to London ?

Thanks for setting up a forum like this Aaron. While I know it's part of your research, this kind of interaction is rare with creators and artists of your calibre!

When thinking about getting back into the Television arena, what kinds of new show ideas have you tossed around? With your dramatic wit and love for the topical, I always thought that a "behind-the-scenes" drama at a cable news network was right up your alley. I really look forward to one day getting to know another set of your characters on a weekly basis.

And by the way, your use of "Jesus Christ" and the censors in Studio 60 was brilliant.

Aaron.

I've been a big fan going back to The American President. The West Wing was by far the most enjoyable hour I spent watching TV each week, one of very few must-watch programs for me (another: NYPD Blue).

Studio 60 failed for all the right reasons, as you have admitted yourself. I tried to love the show; I certainly loved the first several episodes, some of which were among your most brilliant work. I will go to my grave believing that things went wrong when you tried to find the audience, instead of letting the audience find you. Expectations were too high to start with, and panic set in almost immediately when week-to-weeks shrank.

I also think you perhaps fell into a trap that seems to especially nag you: the desire (need?) to make a moral point as often as possible. TV is entertainment first and all that other stuff last. I didn't watch West Wing to discover how I should feel about political issues; I watched it to see Josh banter with Donna, to watch Sam stick his jaw out when defending a position; to watch Toby growl at everybody but in such a lovable way. In other words, I watched for the human interaction, which looked to be exactly what you were aiming for with Studio 60.

I wish you had spent more time delivering on the promise that we would get to see a live variety show come alive, with an all-access backstage pass. Instead, you veered into issues rather quickly, and some of the comedy potential was lost. Then you started developing some ominous story lines, and the potential for comedy of any sort became even more difficult. I read that you said you were too angry when you wrote those scripts.

Your special gift is to make characters funny and interesting. I love your back stories, which really help to flesh them out and provide many interesting story possibilities. Studio 60 had all the pieces in place to accomplish all of the above.

Perhaps we live in an era where it is no longer possible to give a show two years to find an audience. I would hope that your next series is on HBO (the Grand Plaza for people like you) with a two year commitment, so you can relax and just tell your stories.

By the way, I too am a Sports Night junkie. I heard somebody mention that it might be interesting for you to do a backstage at a CNN type network. Maybe. How about an all-access pass to a show like Countdown? One big star, a constellation of regulars of all sorts, including the cue card guy or whatever he uses (teleprompter?). In other words, all the people who are involved in something like that. You have a built-in arc just like Sports Night: we need to deliver a show. Of course Studio 60 had the same potential...

Anyway, please don't be gone from TV for too long. You are one of the special people, and all you really need to succeed is less interference.

It says here...

Hi Aaron,

I'm really glad to be able to contact you directly and tell you how much your work has meant to my wife and I. Suffice it to say, when West Wing was released on DVD in the U.K. many months before it came out in the U.S., we sought out and bought a zone-free DVD player only for the sake of being able to watch one show-- yours. We watch very little TV, but anything of yours has automatic credibility. Thank you.

Anyway, I've been trying to think of a question which might stand in for many other questions we might want to ask you, and this is it: If you could only recommend one book on storytelling and one book on Hollywood and how it actually works, the good and the bad, what would they be?

No questions here, just wanted to say that although I don't watch much TV anymore, you're one of the few people whose work I will make a point of TiVo-ing. Thanks for the opportunity to let you know that.

I also enjoyed "Charlie Wilson's War" :)

Aaron-

If you are trying to understand Facebook (as opposed to how it was created) you need to think of it as the next 'killer app' after email. What I mean by that is that until email came along, computer networks were complex and expensive and delivered very little value to most people. With email, though, the ability to communicate so easily suddenly made it worth the hassle of networking computers -- a "killer" application. Facebook is another. It so dramatically reduces the hassle associated with staying in touch with groups of people in a way that previous web sites and portals couldn't. The experience of reconnecting - in minutes - with a long-lost friend, relative, lover etc is pretty amazing. I hope you have the opportunity to experience that while using Facebook and I hope you find some way of conveying that in your film.

I'm a huge fan - since SportsNight - by the way. Thanks for all the great work!

Anthony,

I honestly don't know how I'm going to write the movie yet. We're working on a West End production of Farnsworth and I appreciate your asking.

Aaron

Lawrence,

Funny you should mention that. At the suggestion of Peter Roth, the head of Warner Bros. Television, I'm thinking about a show about a Sunday morning news show like Meet the Press. Right now my head's pretty much in the movie but I appreciate the thought and your kind words.

Aaron

Walter,

Thanks for the generous comments (and sorry to let you down on S-60.) In the great thriller "Body Heat", Lawrence Kasdin wrote, "In any real crime there's about 50 things you can do wrong. If you can think of half of them you're a genius." I'd say roughly the same thing's true with a movie, play or television series.

Thanks a lot for putting so much thought into it and I'll keep your words in mind as I write in the future.

Aaron

Forrest,

First, thank you to you and your wife for watching. I appreciate it. The answer to the second question is easy and they're both the same book: "Adventures in the Screen Trade" by William Goldman.

Goldman is the two-time Oscar-winning screenwriter of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", "Marathon Man" (based on his novel), "All the President's Men", "The Princess Bride", based on his novel, "Misery" and many others. "Screen Trade" is a great read whether you work in Hollywood or Philadelphia . Let me know what you think.

Aaron

Rachel,

You're killing me. Or more specifically your TiVo is. (S-60 was the most time-shifted program on tv when it was on. Once you added in our TiVo audience our ratings grew nearly grew 20%. The problem is, Nielsen doesn't count viewers who watched the show at a different time on the assumption that you're fast-forwarding through the commercials.)

That said, thanks for your kind note and warm words about Charlie Wilson.

Aaron

Erik,

That's a pretty good observation and one I'll keep in mind as I move forward. Do you see any dangers in socializing by computer? That wasn't a leading question, I'm honestly asking.

Aaron

Honestly I do think that we have a limited amount of attention and can only spread it so thin. I think one of the dangers of having many electronic relationships is you don't have as much attention left to attend to face-o-face relationships. Some people make it work better than others. Thanks for the quick response!

Hi Aaron! Welcome to Facebook. I've been a big fan since about 1998, when Sports Night first debuted. (How does it feel to mingle with people who have been fans of yours for most of their cognizant lives? Haha.)

I don't have any hard-hitting, thought-provoking questions, but I am curious about one thing: What's your favorite song to karaoke and why? "I don't karaoke" is not an answer!

PS, I steal credit for a lot of your lines. I don't think it counts as plagiarism when it's used in everyday conversation, though. So thanks for making me look smarter. :)

Aaron,
As a recent Chicago high school grad turned Cal State Northridge Screenwriting student, I was hoping you could give me some advice; what's the best way to find an internship? It's hard to do so with no previous experience! Also, what do you personally like to write for more, television or film?
Thanks for the help/for inventing the Sports Night box set so my generation could fall in love with the show!

Marina Mularz

Aaron -
Are there any scenes in all your writing that you are more proud of than the Brothers in Arms scene in Season 2? Wish you could have done West Wing for 20 more years, but thanks for the best four!
Jeremy

"The problem is, Nielsen doesn't count viewers who watched the show at a different time on the assumption that you're fast-forwarding through the commercials"

Really? I had no idea. I'm sorry!

Ryen,

I'm compelled to answer these questions honestly and I've never seen a karaoke machine. If someone had a gun at my child's head and said, "Sing!" it would be "On the Street Where You Live" from My Fair Lady.

Aaron

Marina,

Good luck at Northridge. I'm going to get the answer to your internship question from some people who know better than I do (the people who hire the interns) and get back to you.

What I like about movies is that you have more time. What I like about television is that it's more immediate. I can write a funny line in a screenplay today and if everything goes perfectly I won't hear the laugh for about two years. In television you come to batter's box every week.

Thanks for the nice words about SN.

Aaron

Hi Aaron,

Just wanted to say thank you for answering questions, and for your work - I've been a fan since Sports Night. To this day, it's one of the few things my best friend and I can ever agree to watch together (The West Wing is one of the others), so thank you for resolving countless "What should we watch?" discussions, as well :) My question is pretty simple (or maybe not, if you're like me and can never choose): fiction, nonfiction, maybe something you re-read once a year, or maybe you read it once but it just had that much of an impact - what is your favorite book?

Thanks again for taking the time to read our comments/questions, and I hope this page and discussion board are helpful in your research!

Jeremy,

Not a lot, and the reason is it was a complete collaborative effort on the part of a lot of people at the top of their games (including Dire Straights.) Most of the sequence is visual and Tommy did his usual amazing job. The art direction and cinematography were beautiful and the cast--the best I've ever worked with--all came to play. Thanks for noticing.

Aaron