So Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was on last night, a show I have been both addicted to and frustrated by. Having not watched much of West Wing, I'm new to the whole witty-quick-speak of Aaron Sorkin, and in general it's very appealing. Matthew Perry's really stepped up to make a great lead, he has great chemistry with co-star Bradley Whitford, and the stories are consistently entertaining. (I'm a bit of an SNL freak, through its good and bad, so watching the backstage drama is like looking at an idealized version of a future dream job.)

Unfortunately, now in its fourth episode, the show's flaws have been consistent, too. A lot of critics have griped about the decided lack of comedy in all the actual sketch comedy they show on the show, which doesn't really bother me so much. I wasn't expecting to see any more than the first and last 20 seconds of each show-within-a-show each episode, and I actually find it kind of admirable Sorkin's trying to showcase actual glimpses of the sketches. (At least now we know sketch-writing isn't his strong suit.)

No, the bigger problem: Harriet Hayes. The character just plain doesn't work. She's supposed to be the main romantic lead, the secret obsession of Matthew Perry, and she's an annoying bore. The "twist" is that she's a born-again Christian, and hey, kudos to network television for realizing that Christians exist (even though they still haven't quite figured out that most of us aren't evangelicals). But contrary to actually humanizing her, Sorkin (with plenty of help from the actress Sarah Paulson), makes her a standoffish brat with a massive air of superiority and a so-so Juliette Lewis impression. (It's also not too hard to link the dots that while Sorkin was the showrunner of West Wing, he briefly dated and broke up with the also blonde, also talented, and also very Christian actress Kristin Chenoweth.)

Still, the only reason these flaws stand out so much is that the rest of the show is so good. Watch it yourself and make up your own mind.