Aaron Sorkin: '30 Rock' Guest Star

Aaron Sorkin is returning to NBC. If only very briefly.

Sorkin, who, with NBC, had tremendous success with his political drama "The West Wing," will guest star on a March or April episode of "30 Rock," Entertainment Weekly reports. And the meta implications are positively delightful for a writer of Sorkin's depth.

"30 Rock" is the "SNL"-inspired show-behind-an-NBC-show that competed with and eventually outlasted Sorkin's own "SNL"-inspired show-behind-an-NBC-show, "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," which lasted just one season. Not that he's been suffering since then.

Sorkin has been racking up awards this season for his screenplay for "The Social Network," including the Golden Globe and most recently the BAFTA. He's the favorite for Best Adapted Screenplay heading into the Oscars, which are given out on February 27th.

The writer is currently working on a pilot for HBO, focusing on the behind-the-scenes drama of a political news broadcast, a sort of hybrid between his last two shows. He also blogs for The Huffington Post, including a recent, prominent entry discussing Sarah Palin's hunting in her show "Sarah Palin's Alaska."

For more on the guest appearance, click over to EW.com.

Comments

[Lucida]

08:15 AM on 02/16/2011

Studio 60 was an awesome show. America is in the toilet... The Real Hosewives franchise has undone every advancement made toward women's rights.

[justlw]

05:36 PM on 02/15/2011

They've already parodied the "walk and talk" on 30 Rock; I'm hoping they'll go further and do something like Sorkin's plans for a "TGS" competitor, starring Arianna Huffington and Henry Louis Gates Jr.

[pbnyc59]

03:03 PM on 02/15/2011

Very talented man, West Wing one of my all time favorite written and acted shows. But the drugs and drinking have done a real number on his face.

[rezna]

02:01 PM on 02/15/2011

Yeah I really miss Studio 60, it was becoming a great show.

[Tom Payned]

03:36 PM on 02/15/2011

At our house, we gage the likelihood of making it by how much we love it. We loved Studio 60, knew it wouldn't last, but were grateful that the network let it finish it's season, and have an ending.

[Brett Tonaille]

12:52 PM on 02/15/2011

Damn, this guy is a good writer. He could have stopped with "You can't handle the truth" and been immortal.
Can't wait to see him act.

[trweste144]

02:22 PM on 02/15/2011

Didn't see The Social Network? He plays one of the possible New York investors for facebook that Eduardo introduces to the Zuck.

[Untitled]

12:42 PM on 02/15/2011

Oh, this should be a good episode.

[itzy8940]

11:57 AM on 02/15/2011

LOVED Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip. One of my favorite writers. Can't wait!!!

[DennyCrane]

11:43 AM on 02/15/2011

Most overrated writer ever. His characters speak in a way that sounds clever, but no one in real life talks like. He usually has one character give a long speech where he gets to preach to the audience about his (Sorkin's) views and his plots treat the audience like a bunch of children who need to be educated. The West Wing was a perfect example of this. His analysis of political issues is overly simplistic (and I say that as a liberal). A perfect example was his 9/11 episode, which was just his characters explaining to a bunch of students the root of tensions in the middle east. That's no doubt how Sorkin views his audience. I prefer writers who assume the audience is intelligent, have their characters speak like real people, and don't oversimplify complex issues.

[justlw]

02:52 PM on 02/15/2011

"Most overrated writer ever. His characters speak in a way that sounds clever, but no one in real life talks like."

And you could say the same for David Mamet, William Shakespeare, Mark Twain, Damon Runyan... (William Goldman, Carrie Fisher, Cameron Crowe...)

I'm not nominating him for writing godhood, just saying I don't go to the movies to hear characters that "speak in a way people in real life talk like." I could go to the mall for that.

Or a blog site.

[Tom Payned]

03:38 PM on 02/15/2011

F & F for great comparisons.

[GoogleyEyed]

05:03 PM on 02/15/2011

How can you lump together a bunch of writers who share nothing in common--with each other or with Sorkin--and try to make the case that none of their characters can be understood as "real" people? DennyCrane is just stating his opinion, which he is entitled to. Not every writer works for every person. Your comparison is logically flawed.

[GoogleyEyed]

04:58 PM on 02/15/2011

I totally agree with you. I could never get into The West Wing, although god knows, I tried. And I was really disappointed with The Social Network, for the same reason. Hyper-fast talking (maybe the way Sorkin talks/talked when he's high?), actors talking over each other. Agree, too, that his characters frequently don't speak like "real people" do. Sound quality in Social Network was horrible ... not his fault, as he wasn't the director or editor. But after seeing the film, I was amazed at the acclaim it's gained for Sorkin's writing. Just don't get it.

[NateFisher]

11:38 AM on 02/15/2011

My writing hero on the funniest, cleverest show on TV?

Can't come fast enough.

[Tom Payned]

03:40 PM on 02/15/2011

Ditto.

I love David E. Kelly too, but his dialogues more simplistic & characters more predictable.

[trweste144]

10:53 AM on 02/15/2011

Tina Fey had a great line at the time. 30 Rock is the Hogan's Hero's to Studio 60's Schindler's list. Sorkin's not at his best when he writes comedy. I remember the pilot episode of Studio 60 when he had an opening monologue based on a Gilbert and Sullivan song. It would have fallen flat but Sorkin got to write how the studio audience would react too, so they exploded in laughter. The show just wasn't a good fit for him. He's one of my favorite screen writers, but I'm glad the show didn't get renewed.

[sobrien]

02:02 PM on 02/15/2011

Sorkin's comedy is clever. Sports Night showcased that. You will not get the knee slapping roll in the aisles comedy as much as the clever wit and turn of phrase subtle comedy. Studio 60 and Sports Night also demonstrated his comedy is maybe not for the masses, but for those who appreciate subtle - I think he is among the top writers. Subtle comedy seemed to work better in the context of a drama with West Wing where the laughs were not the expectation - just a bonus.

[trweste144]

03:35 PM on 02/15/2011

Your last point finds the place where our views reconcile. The West Wing is one of my favorite shows; a subtle humor style works well for it. I could see it working in Sports Night although it's the one Sorkin property I have yet to watch. Yet, Studio 60 is about the behind the scenes action at a late night sketch comedy show like SNL/Fridays/Mad TV/The Kids in the Hall/The Whitest Kids You Know/The State/Stella/Chappelle Show etc. Not one of those shows uses subtle humor, or at least not exclusively. It took away from the believability for me.

[Tom Payned]

03:41 PM on 02/15/2011

Hear Hear.

F & F for great taste & insight.

[justlw]

05:29 PM on 02/15/2011

I hadn't heard the Fey line before -- that's great.

No, you nailed it -- Sorkin was trying to write a show about sketch comedy, and sketch comedy is just not his thing. (And I'm saying this as a big Sorkin fan). So all the backstage stuff was great, but the show-within-a-show never worked. And the G&S sketch is a great example.

[KeyWestDan]

10:31 AM on 02/15/2011

I miss "Studio 60". Very underrated show.

[itzy8940]

02:19 PM on 02/15/2011

If you want to fell pissed off all over again, Netflix has Studio 60 and I just watched every episode a week ago. Man, NBC dropped the ball on that one. Didn't give it a chance.

[Tom Payned]

03:45 PM on 02/15/2011

Yeah, but at least they allowed the show to continue to the end of the season, even though they knew before the 1st 13 show aired that they were canceling it.

It gets so frustrating trying to support great new shows when they pull them early or announce they're canceling before they've allowed all of the original episodes to air. Cause you know people are going to stop watching a non comedy that isn't going to have a closing episode.

[ProgressiveAggie]

10:08 AM on 02/15/2011

I love both Tina and Aaron. I remember at the time thinking, poor Tina . . . when the shows were both announced. I also picked Cindi Lauper over Madonna. Glad to see Aaron being a good sport, though of course an hour long dramedy never truly competed with a 30 minute sitcom. Only goofy NBC would have to squeeze one out for more reality barf.

[dblan9]

10:15 AM on 02/15/2011

You were right, Cyndi Lauper is way better than Madonna. Maybe not as exposed but way better.

[Tom Payned]

03:46 PM on 02/15/2011

Hear Hear.

[HannaSchmitz]

10:03 AM on 02/15/2011

And OCD freak. Takes 8-10 showers a day (The View 2010)

[dblan9]

10:14 AM on 02/15/2011

Yeah because you don't have one quirk that is odd.

[Sunflo]

10:16 AM on 02/15/2011

Unbelievable. Just how does one manage that?