LogFAQs > #947599713

#108 - Jack Rudolph
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (NBC; 2006-2007)
22 Episodes (First Appearance: "Pilot", September 18th, 2006)

An embattled and embittered network executive, Jack is presented from the outset as the Studio 60's primary antagonist. In a world of idealistic optimists, as courtesy of Aaron Sorkin at his most Sorkinian, what Jack amounts to is the obstacle that must be overcome. Or, at least, that's how the show presents him at the start. But in a slow, subtle turn of perspective, the more of Jack we witness, the more it becomes clear that Jack is tired, haggard thanks to the unending diatribe of advertisers and shareholders he must keep happy while he tries to play interference for naive writers and stars who only see his actions as confrontational. No wonder he drinks in the middle of the day and starts conversations with non sequiturs. In Jack's mind, he's nothing but a sturdy linebacker, trying to provide the glancing blows necessary to divert the angry waters of a tidal river of opinion from flooding the pristine landscape of Studio 60 (the show in the show, not Studio 60, the show itself).

Something about a character being unapologetic in their unpopular decisions appeals to me, and what's more, once you recognize that Jack is begrudgingly on the side of the cast makes his more difficult decisions more sympathetic. It actually turns Matthew Perry's character, Matt Albie, into something of an anti-hero, a cloudy shade of gray who is just as much to blame for the problems of Studio 60 as anyone else. Bringing the rest of the cast and their flaws into stark contrast, Jack suddenly is this unlikely heroic figure that, by the end of the show, earns my respect. It surprised me.

Studio 60, of course, is the least popular Sorkin show by a mile, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention a host of other great characters on the show. The cast was filled with a murderer's row of talent: Harriet Hayes was played by Sarah Paulson, who has gone on to play about a hundred great characters across all sorts of American Blank Stories, Amanda Peet played new TV exec Jordan McDeere (a delightfully charming character), Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford starred together as the pairing of Danny and Matt, and all sorts of minor characters got the star treatment from everyone from Timothy Busfield to D.L. Hughley to Nate Corddry. Hell, even cameos from Sting and Allison Janney filled out this excellent little one season wonder.

Hint for #107: The star of a classic music/television hybrid.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful