Studio 60's Summer Job

Mon., Apr. 30, 2007 4:05 PM PDT by Joal Ryan

Last fall, NBC launched two Saturday Night Live-inspired series. One went on to draw more viewers than The Office and Family Guy. One went on to draw more crickets than Celebrity Duets.

Guess which one's not looking long for this world?

Studio 60, once considered the struggling network's great new ER hope, has been sentenced to a working summer, rolling out new episodes on Thursdays starting May 24, the network noted, not announced, on its Website.

The timing couldn't appear to be worse for the long-benched Aaron Sorkin series. May 24 is one day after the conclusion of May sweeps, and 10 days after NBC unveils its fall schedule. In other words, Studio 60 isn't auditioning for a second season; it's burning off its first season.

The show, an hourlong drama about the behind-the-scenes machinations of an SNL-esque sketch show, was pulled from the air in February. Through its first 16 telecasts, it averaged 8.5 million viewers, more than some series that have already had their tickets punched for the 2007-08 season, including NBC's own The Office (8.3 million).

Studio 60, starring Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford, also significantly outpaced its like-minded network relation, 30 Rock.

Going into last week's season finale, the half-hour Tina Fey sitcom about the, well, machinations of an SNL-esque sketch show was eking by with 5.7 million diehards, and fending off star Alec Baldwin's stated intentions to depart.

Beleaguered or no, 30 Rock has the security of a fall commitment. Studio 60 doesn't, and isn't expected to.

Studio 60 suffered from initially looking competitive—its premiere was tuned in by 13.4 million—and then slumping. 30 Rock took the cult-cultivating route of opening small, and getting smaller.

One thing Studio 60 might have working in its favor is NBC's inability to find anything bigger to fill its old 10 p.m. Monday shoes. The Black Donnellys bombed there, averaging 6.7 million viewers. Ashton Kutcher's The Real Wedding Crashers did slightly better in last week's debut, but only slightly, bringing in 7.1 million, per network figures.

If Studio 60 gets the ax, does that mean two other hourlong NBC series, Medium and Crossing Jordan, both with comparable-size audiences, are going to get the ax, too? And if so, how will the network fill those three vacancies? Can Howie Mandel possibly host that many Deal or No Deals?

Could be a plot for Studio 60. If any new ones were needed.