While it was previously believed that Aaron Sorkin's much-discussed, edgy reworking of Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Major-General's Song" in the cold open of the fictional Studio 60's first episode under the Albee/Tripp regime owed a creative debt to David Hyde Pierce's performance of the same musical number on SNL some years ago, we think we've now found the true source of Sorkin's inspiration. Given his recently observed love of animated slapstick and his demonstrated unfamiliarity with material one might actually see on sketch comedy shows (at least as evidenced by the "Science, Schmience," "Commedia Dell'Arte," and "The Curious Case Of The Not-So-Stolen Hot Pockets and Bombs Monologue On What Is Wrong With America" incidents), it seems much more likely that he was influenced by the song-and-dance talents of Yakko, Wakko, and Dot* rather than a long-forgotten SNL bit.

PrivacyWatch celebrity sightings are submitted by our readers, and are now posted several times a week—so start sending them in more often. Send yours to tips[AT]defamer.com (please put "sighting" or "PrivacyWatch" in the subject line) and let the world hear all about the time Aaron Sorkin betrayed his high-minded comic tastes for the hilarious, acorn-hoarding hijinks of a prehistoric squirrel.

20th Century Fox wins a bidding war for the rights to Moneyball author Michael Lewis' just-released football book The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, his latest sport-related tome that a studio hopes to one day figure out how to make into a movie. [Variety]
The Bourne Ultimatum began shooting this week without a bad guy, but an offer has gone out to Gael Garcia Bernal. Should Universal not close a deal with Bernal and fail to find another acceptable antagonist, the story will be hastily rewritten to have Matt Damon battle only his inner demons. [THR]
While the fictional Studio 60 triumphantly added 9 percent to its promising premiere numbers and temporarily got monotone, constantly half-smiling network president Jordan McDeere off the hot seat, the real Studio 60 was down 17 percent in the key demo from last week and 30 percent from its first episode. NBC president Kevin Reilly is probably not kissing Aaron Sorkin on the cheeks and thanking him for saving his job quite yet. [Variety]
· Democratic governor hopeful Phil Angelides pledges his support for the entertainment industry, but makes the crucial miscalculation of not working in memorable quotes from his action film career at every opportunity. [THR]
· Fans of international film financing deals will find find their naughty parts pleasantly atingle as they read the details of the $300 million in funding Paramount has lined up —just try not to get up from your desk until the erection subsides, money nerd. [Variety]

Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch blog notes that on an improv theater internet message board discussing the merits and missteps of frequent Defaker fodder Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip, an astute Sorkinologist had an acute moment of déjà vu when Sarah Paulson's character storms in on Matthew Perry during a writer's meeting:

Heroes premieres strong, beating CBS's comedy block of Two and a Half Men and Old Christine. Meanwhile, Studio 60 was down 16 percent from its premiere, a ratings drop-off that might force Aaron Sorkin to finally address the network's note that he find a way to replace Bradley Whitford's cocaine addiction with a superpower. [Variety]
Fox's new series are already "fading fast," (yup, sure seems that way), but no network really seems to have a breakout hit so far. [THR]
Once the season earmarked for Oscar contenders, the Fall is now ruled by horror franchises and genital-torture comedies. [Variety]
· Hollywood PanderingWatch: The Governator assures his entertainment industry friends that his reelection will give them a "built-in lobbyist" in office. To his credit, he did stop short of promising state subsidizes to guarantee all locally produced movies have healthy opening weekends. [THR]
North Korea's Pyongyang Film Festival continues to bar Hollywood movies or stars from its competition, a slight that will eventually be used as justification for a full-scale American invasion of the country. [Variety]

After months of hype declaring prodigal showrunner Aaron Sorkin as perpetually fourth-place network NBC's Nielsen Messiah, the (preliminary) ratings numbers for Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip's breathlessly anticipated premiere are finally in. And? While NBC seems to have edged out longtime tormentor CBS for first place in both overall viewers and the coveted™ 18-49 demographic, the Peacock's savior was proven to be the bald-pated, OCD-riddled ringmaster of their lowbrow, people-shouting-at-briefcases circus, not their troubled, celebrated dialogue-stylist. Reports Zap2it.com:

Not to put too fine a point on it, but next Monday's series debut of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, fourth-place NBC's extravagant show of faith in troubled-but-gifted West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin, is easily the most important moment in the network's history since an infamous 1949 episode of Texaco Star Theater, in which a clearly intoxicated Milton Berle scandalized a then-record live television audience by allowing his enormous manhood to "accidentally" dangle below the hem of his dress for a full three seconds, threatened the shutdown of their entire broadcast operation. The NY Times visited Studio 60's set recently, where NBC's commitment to Sorkin's exacting vision was apparent:

Shouldering the burden of a fourth-place network's comeback dreams must be a psychically draining undertaking for even the most stable television producer, to say nothing of one who once sought refuge from TV's pressures by curling up with a call girl and a warm, homemade rock of cocaine. At this morning's media session for Aaron Sorkin's Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, the series NBC hopes will help drag the net from the Nielsen basement to the foot of the stairs that it may one day use to climb out of that basement, the Peacock Messiah may have started to show the effects of that pressure with a Freudian crack, er, slip for the ages. Reports TV Week's blog from the TCAs:

Shortly, NBC will be the first network to announce its fall schedule at this week's "upfront" presentations to advertisers in NY, when it is widely expected that the network will formally anoint Aaron Sorkin, creator of The West Wing and the new, highly buzzed-about drama Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip Live From A Soundstage In Los Angeles, California, as the Peacock Messiah. But don't think that the folks at NBC didn't perform their due diligence (Executive: "So, Aaron, um...yeah...how are, you know, things?" Sorkin: "I'm not making my own crack anymore." Exec: "Welcome to the NBC family.") before putting their fate in the hands of the famously troubled showrunner. Reports the WSJ:

· In a move that surprised absolutely no one, NBC picked up Aaron Sorkin's behind-the-scenes-at-SNL pilot Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. leaving the network to decide whether or not there's also room on its schedule for Tina Fey's still untitled behind-the-scenes-at-SNL pilot. [Variety]
· Columbia buys an Ashton Kutcher pitch for a "modern-day Shampoo," but with florists instead of hairdressers, Kutcher instead of Warren Beatty, and brain-dead teenagers instead of the movie's original target audience. [THR]
· CBS helpfully subtracts themselves from our summer viewing plans by unveiling a line-up of "docusoap" Tuesday Night Book Club, Ricki Lake's Game Show Marathon, and the return of Big Brother and Rock Star. [Variety]
· CBS unveils its broadband channel, Innertube, with slate of "original, low-cost" (read: very low cost) shows. We expect one of the channel's initial offerings, Webcam Pointing at Les Moonves' Parked Car So That Fucking Valet Won't Scratch It Again, to be its first breakout hit. [THR]
· Oxygen's announcement of the "largest development slate in its history" leads us to believe that the network still exists. Further research is necessary. Developing... [Variety]

Hollywood PrivacyWatch celebrity sightings are submitted by our readers. Send yours to tips[AT]defamer.com (please put "sighting" or "PrivacyWatch" in the subject line) and let everyone know about the time you overheard Winona Ryder confide in a Barneys salesperson about her addiction to doing laundry.

The phrase "self-published book" is usually poorly concealed code for "stuff I made up to pay the rent this month" (the celebrity-ass-fucking oeuvre of a certain author comes to mind), but we're more optimistic about the upcoming opus from West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin's former call girl, which details the celebrated showrunner's crack-propelled, for-pay erotic adventures. Sorkin admitted to Page Six in January that "I knew Dimitra for a short time a long time ago," and the Sixies finally unload on him today:

NBC, America's Most Desperate Network™, won a bidding war with CBS for Aaron Sorkin's Studio 7, a Larry Sanders-esque drama about a Saturday Night Live-ish variety show. Sorkin's previous credits include creating The West Wing and Sports Night, writing A Few Good Men, and exploring altered states of consciousness through the intake of various hallucinogens and narcotics. This is how the LAT concludes its piece on the Studio 7 sale:

Today's Page Six outs West Wing creator/Psilocybin Aficionado coverboy Aaron Sorkin as the making-outingest writer in Hollywood. Sorkin was caught demonstrating his vaunted "overlapping dialogue" technique on back-to-back nights with different partners, including recurring WW actress Kristin Chenowith. If he can't keep his PDAs out of the tabloids (isn't this why God invented bathroom stalls and VIP lounges?) he might soon find himself running lines alone at home.