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John Kiesewetter -- Cincinnati Enquirer -- Tuesday, October 25, 2005 Aaron Sorkin, the Emmy-winning "West Wing" creator and writer, will return to NBC next fall with a behind-the-scenes drama series set in a "Saturday Night Live"-like sketch comedy show. NBC has bought 13 episodes of Sorkin's "Studio 7," said Rick Ludwin, NBC's executive vice president for late-night and prime-time series, while speaking Sunday at Miami University. Sorkin's backstage series will be based on a fictional network comedy broadcast from Los Angeles. "But in every other way, it's clearly 'Saturday Night Live,' " said Ludwin, a 1970 Miami gradaute. "It's based on interpersonal relationships of the characters, like 'The West Wing.' " The show could be similar in tone and approach to "The Larry Sanders Show," Garry Shandling's HBO satire of late-night network TV talk shows, Sorkin has said, according to Ludwin. Before "The West Wing" premiered in in 1999, Sorkin created ABC's "Sports Night," a behind-the-scenes comedy about an "SportsCenter"-like show. (1998-2000). In other NBC news, Ludwin said NBC "is talking to some people now" about replacing Conan O'Brien, who will take over "The Tonight Show" in 2009 from Jay Leno in a deal announced a year ago. "It probably will be two years before we announce who it is taking over 'Late Night,' " said Ludwin, who has been NBC's vice president over late-night programming since 1989. |