# Studio 60 - 11/20 (The Option Period) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 21, 2006, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-60-11-20-the-option-period/381248 "2006-11-21T04:33:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-60-11-20-the-option-period/381248/61 "2006-11-22T04:24:54Z")
I enjoyed the rants against product placement as hands are reaching for Heinekin and Snickers… ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-60-11-20-the-option-period/381248/62 "2006-11-22T05:03:07Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] Then R&R got offered the deal from Fox to make a series out of Peripheral Man. [/QUOTE] Heh, Sorkin must be reading this board… > [@me](#): > > Personally, I think it would be amusing for sounds of protest to come from devout fans of the _Peripheral Vision Man_ sketches, showing that while Matt’n’Josh are allegedly hip and edgy and sharp, they don’t have perfect insight into what an audience will find funny. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-60-11-20-the-option-period/381248/63 "2006-11-22T05:10:37Z")
> [@](#): > > Not to mention, who ever heard of the _writers_ taking a sketch comedy character to a show (or more realistically, a movie) without also taking the damn actor who fills the role? Don’t most people associate the character more with the actor than the writer? I mean, let’s assume for a second that somebody other than Myers wrote the Wayne’s World skits. Would they have tried to make a movie without Mike Myers playing Wayne just because the skit writer felt like leaving SNL? Based on the few seconds we’ve seen, I had assumed Peripheral Man was an animated character like Ambigously Gay Duo. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-60-11-20-the-option-period/381248/64 "2006-11-22T05:14:05Z")
[QUOTE=Zakalwe] Not to mention, who ever heard of the _writers_ taking a sketch comedy character to a show (or more realistically, a movie) without also taking the damn actor who fills the role? [/QUOTE] Maybe Peripheral Vision Man is like Captain Universe. ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-60-11-20-the-option-period/381248/65 "2006-11-22T05:40:55Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] Based on the few seconds we’ve seen, I had assumed Peripheral Man was an animated character like Ambigously Gay Duo. [/QUOTE] If it were animated, Cal wouldn’t have been able to tell Ricky and Ron to stretch it another 45 seconds in the pilot (and we’d have been deprived of his great line.) “Tell Ricky and Ron we need Peripheral Vision Man to be 45 seconds longer, and I’m sure that was the missing element making it funny.” ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-60-11-20-the-option-period/381248/66 "2006-11-22T18:08:17Z")
[QUOTE=HeyHomie] And _It’s Like, You Know_. [/QUOTE] And West Wing. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-60-11-20-the-option-period/381248/67 "2006-11-22T18:10:16Z")
Can someone explain the “30 min format” thing? How the fact that the show ran 37 seconds short led to the realization that R&R were writing a sitcom? ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-60-11-20-the-option-period/381248/68 "2006-11-22T18:30:32Z")
[QUOTE=jsc1953] Can someone explain the “30 min format” thing? How the fact that the show ran 37 seconds short led to the realization that R&R were writing a sitcom? [/QUOTE] Yeah, good question. As soon as the show ended I decided I’d ask about it the next day on the SDMB, then promptly forgot. 40-second page? 42nd page? ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-60-11-20-the-option-period/381248/69 "2006-11-22T19:01:01Z")
I would guess it has to do with the amount of commercial time alloted. There would be different amounts of commercials in a half-hour show as compared to the amount in the one-and-one-half-hour _S60SS_. Length of the sketch is based on the number of words in it. So three one-half hour shows would have a different on-air length than one hour-and-a-half show. So my vote is for “40 second page” instead of “42nd page.” ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-60-11-20-the-option-period/381248/70 "2006-11-22T19:44:27Z")
Well, whatever it means, I find it odd that nobody noticed it until the end of the live show. Table read? Script check? Run-through? Tech rehearsal? Rewrites? The show is timed down to the second, and nobody noticed a 37 second gap until the moment Jessica Simpson went on to do her final end-of-show thank you’s? ---
**Author:** ![5que](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/3bc359/32.png) [@5que](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5que)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-60-11-20-the-option-period/381248/71 "2006-11-22T21:57:41Z")
Am I the only one to notice Harriet had a **great** set of abs? Anyone? Anyone? Beuler? ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-60-11-20-the-option-period/381248/72 "2006-11-23T04:10:50Z")
[QUOTE=5que] Am I the only one to notice Harriet had a **great** set of abs?/ [/QUOTE] No, you’re not. I nearly posted the same thing yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-60-11-20-the-option-period/381248/73 "2006-11-23T07:51:55Z")
[QUOTE=jsc1953] And West Wing. [/QUOTE] And _She Spies_. Which, turns out, was pretty funny… at least, that is, for the few episodes I caught late at night. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-60-11-20-the-option-period/381248/74 "2006-11-23T11:19:10Z")
> [@](#): > > Can someone explain the “30 min format” thing? How the fact that the show ran 37 seconds short led to the realization that R&R were writing a sitcom? I’m not involved in the entertainment business, but my understanding is that scripts are written in a fairly rigid format so that each page is supposed to indicate an equal amount of airtime. This allows the total length of a production to be easily assessed just by the length of the script. Part of this, apparently, is using a specific size font. Ricky and Ron would normally be using only whatever font is standard for writing 90 minute sketch shows. When it was seen that they had been using the font that was standard for thirty minute sitcoms, insiders like Danny and Matt would quickly understand the implications. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-60-11-20-the-option-period/381248/75 "2006-11-24T15:19:51Z")
… but you’d think that would mean that the font used for R&R’s script was three times the size of the standard one, and people might pick up on the fact that, hey, today’s script looks a little large. ---
**Author:** ![jacquilynne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jacquilynne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacquilynne)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-60-11-20-the-option-period/381248/76 "2006-11-24T15:30:46Z")
Scripts are always written in 12 point courier font. The non-word based differences between script formats are in things like margin sizes which aren’t necessarily as obvious to someone who isn’t paying particular attention. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-60-11-20-the-option-period/381248/77 "2006-11-24T23:49:57Z")
[QUOTE=5que] Am I the only one to notice Harriet had a **great** set of abs? Anyone? Anyone? Beuler? [/QUOTE] I came to the thread solely to say that I would like to see much more of Sarah Paulson. She looked damn good nearly naked. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-60-11-20-the-option-period/381248/78 "2006-11-25T00:30:13Z")
[QUOTE=McNew] Yeah, good question. As soon as the show ended I decided I’d ask about it the next day on the SDMB, then promptly forgot. 40-second page? 42nd page? [/QUOTE] I watched it with closed-captioning on and it said 40-second page. So does that mean each page represented forty seconds of airtime? ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-60-11-20-the-option-period/381248/79 "2006-11-26T02:29:15Z")
Yes **Dewey** , that is correct. TV and radio scripts are usually done for a fixed amount of time per line and per page. This is often done by using a fixed font with fixed margins, like \*\*jacquilynne \*\* says. Although movie scripts are done in courier, (like the one I’ve got in the mail yesterday for _Inside Man_ it’s not always the case. Advanced software will now time your script as you write it, and you can print it in whatever font and format you want, but there are certain standards eg. anchor format, control room format, editing format, etc… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studio-60-11-20-the-option-period/381248.md?page=3)