My love/hate relationship continues. NBC reportedly just gave Studio 60 a full season pickup. Which means the continuation of a good show, but my inner conflict over whether or not I actually like it is almost as dramatic as one of Aaron Sorkin's rapid-walk-down-the-hallway conversations.

How about this time instead of whining about how Sorkin makes every character a mouthpiece for himself, and pretends to give each side of the culture wars a fair shot but makes it ridiculously biased, I just talk about the episode? This'll be a fun experiment in will power.

One thing I noticed: how lame was that sketch about the cute courtesy call from the credit card company? (Holy alliteration, Batman.) I always kind of defended the show when people accused the comedy bits of being crappy, but...wow that was bad.

Anyway, in terms of actual plot, this was a continuation of last week's "Nevada Day", which means we got to see John Goodman play Sorkin's definitive vision of Middle America: an impossibly old-fashioned, heavily-Southern-accented, army-supportin', power-tripping jackass who somehow can banter very cleverly in a Sorkin-esque fashion. (There I go again...) But seriously: the point that everything outside of New York and LA "didn't wander in from the cast of Hee-Haw" is kind of ruined when the person who says it sort of looks like they wandered in from the cast of Hee-Haw.

In better, more optimistic news, I'm really liking Steven Weber's Jack Rudolph more and more. This episode we definitely got to see him at his high and low points. Low? Making a fool out of himself in Nevada and almost being arrested for being in contempt of the court. The high was his little bonding session with Danny and subsequent defending of Jordan from the Asian communists.

That scene was particularly shrewd: Jack was on his toes enough to know that yelling at the guy about Jordan's tabloid scandals would appeal to the guy's sense of honor. It was a gamble, but I liked it, especially how Jack got to stick up for Jordan while still just saving his own butt (from the menacing studio honcho Ed Asner). His comment to Danny about helping him get on the board in order to save Jordan was particularly interesting: is he just power-hungry or does he really like Jordan? I doubt he knows, either.

I must admit that Harriet grew on me a bit this episode. Usually she's annoying and the air of superiority bugs me; this time, since what's happening to her is legitimately unfair, I felt for her. After a seemingly neutral comment about her Christian views on homosexuality, she's finding herself spun in the media with a possibly Dixie Chicks-like fallout. The liberals accuse her of being homophobic, and the nail in the coffin, the Christian organization she's linked with accuse her of not being homophobic enough. As someone who personally adheres to the belief that moderation is key, I could relate to her.

Plus, she had Matt on her back the entire episode. Man, it seemed like his speechifying was getting a bit redundant. Matthew Perry has really stepped it up in this series and has my respect as an actor, but his character in the last few episodes has been little more than a shrill outlet for Sorkin's liberalism. I know the speeches are Sorkin's signature, but please, man: let the characters be characters.

Now that it's here to stick around for at least the next few months, here's to hoping: for improved ratings and an improved show.