List of Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip Characters - Major Roles

Major Roles

Danny Tripp (Bradley Whitford) is a producer who takes over show-running duties with Matt Albie, his long-time friend, and who worked on the show four years prior, before leaving with Matt over disagreements with network executives. In the pilot, it is revealed that he has a history of drug problems, specifically with cocaine, and recently suffered a relapse after 11 years of sobriety. Danny has to complete 18 months of clean drug tests to pass completion bonds as a film director; while this information was confidential, Jordan McDeere discovers this via a personal contact and offers Danny a two-year contract of convenience on Studio 60 - "...this way, it works out for everybody". He is twice-divorced and is apparently an alcoholic; in "The Long Lead Story", he tells Jordan it's okay for her to drink alcohol in front of him. Danny claims to be the smarter of the Matt and Danny duo, a contention Matt doesn't argue with.

Matt Albie (Matthew Perry) is a former head writer for Studio 60 who in the show's pilot episode, is asked to return when executive producer Wes Mendell is fired. With Danny, Matt has gone from strength to strength, with the pair going onto films and Matt even winning a Writer's Guild Award on the night featured in the pilot. It is because of his loyalty to his friend and his history with Studio 60 that Matt accepts the position back on the show. This also puts him in an awkward position; he has recently ended a relationship with Studio 60 star Harriet Hayes, for whom he still holds strong personal feelings. He is Jewish (although he appears to be an atheist) and has liberal political leanings. In "The West Coast Delay", it is revealed that he was forced out of the show originally for supporting talk show host Bill Maher in the light of comments that Maher made following the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Jordan McDeere (Amanda Peet) is the recently promoted President for Entertainment Programming for the network NBS (National Broadcasting System) of which Studio 60 is the flagship show. She is described in the pilot script as an "instantly likeable 30-something" and "someone who every man's wife can find an irrational reason to hate". While Jordan's previous credentials are impressive, she knows that confidence in her is not very high (on the pilot, she mentions that on the day of the announcement of her hiring, the share price of NBS's parent company instantly took a 3/8 point dip) and the pressure on her to deliver is strong, with particularly intense scrutiny coming from network chairman Jack Rudolph. In the pilot, Jordan is responsible for the hiring of Danny and Matt, knowing of the pair's abrasive history with the show (and Jack). In "The Cold Open", Jordan proposes a network policy of charging a 20% "cowardice fee" surcharge for advertisers who had acquiesced to boycotts by the Christian right but came back after the boycotted show in question turned out to be successful. Jordan clearly delights in the challenge set to her and almost deliberately courts confrontation, confident in the skills of the people around her. In "The Focus Group", Jack reveals that her ex-husband is working on a tell-all book about her. At one wrap party, Danny told Jordan, "You look like one of them but talk like one of us", due to her willingness to side with the talent in arguments. She may have attended Amherst College, as she wore a sweatshirt from there in "The Long Lead Story". On October 20, 2006, Peet revealed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno that McDeere is loosely based on Jamie Tarses.

Harriet Hayes (Sarah Paulson) is a "multi-talented" performer and one of the "Big Three" main stars of Studio 60. As she describes to journalist Martha O'Dell in "The Long Lead Story", Harriet was born in Brighton, Michigan — and uses her middle name because a Hannah Hayes was already registered in the Screen Actors Guild. She is an evangelical Baptist and has recorded a successful album of spiritual music. In the pilot, the recent ending of her romantic relationship with Matt Albie is suggested to have been caused by her appearance on The 700 Club, where she promoted her album. In the pilot, Harriet stood by the controversial "Crazy Christians" sketch and its contents, demonstrating fierce loyalty to the show. She tells Tom that rather than being offended by "Crazy Christians", she was more upset about not being in the sketch. However, later in her confrontation with Matt she confessed to also being upset about the sketch. She received her undergraduate degree from Rutgers University. Harriet's character is based on West Wing alumna Kristin Chenoweth, whom Sorkin once dated.

Tom Jeter (Nate Corddry) is another of the show's "Big Three". While his comedic skills and gifts for character parody are acknowledged, he is self-critical and often looks on the Internet at critics' appraisals. According to the pilot script, "when he's not crafting a joke in his head, he's not sure what he's supposed to be doing". In "The Wrap Party", Tom's parents drive from Ohio to visit him, and demonstrate their lack of understanding of his work. In the same episode, Tom mentions that he sent body armor to his younger brother Mark's unit in Afghanistan. In the "Nevada Day" episodes, we find out that Tom's younger brother is in fact a part of an elite group of armed forces that construct buildings incredibly fast, such as "a hospital in three days" (quote taken from the episodes).

Simon Stiles (D. L. Hughley) is the final member of the "Big Three". After attending the Yale School of Drama, and frustrated about parts lost to other prominent black performers (Jamie Foxx, Will Smith and Denzel Washington are named as examples), Simon was recruited to the cast of Studio 60. He feels limited by his skills as a comedic performer, unable to do "voices". However, it is seen by his subsequent place in the "Big Three", the enthusiastic response of the audience to his warm-up to the show, and the respect shown to him by Danny in the initial episodes that Simon has rightfully earned his place in the Studio 60 cast. He may be based on black SNL player with a long tenure but a low comedic ceiling, Tim Meadows. Tom and Simon are united by their "mutual respect, their dedication to their show and nothing else." As he told Matt in "The Wrap Party", Simon grew up in South Central Los Angeles and risked death or imprisonment as a teenager.

Jack Rudolph (Steven Weber) is the chairman of the network NBS and Jordan's boss. Jack has a history of controversy with Matt and Danny, having caused the pair to quit Studio 60 four years earlier (in the wake of 9/11), when he ordered the two to apologize for a Karl Rove sketch he had expressly approved following pressure from conservative Christian groups. While his frustrations at the re-hiring of Matt and Danny are evident, his main focus of administrative swagger is over Jordan, upon whom he places enormous pressure to succeed. In the pilot, he says, "I'm not like the other heterosexual males in the show business, Jordan. I don't find you charming." Jack has a quick and intense temper which he frequently brandishes, but is also a man of conviction, coming to Jordan's defense in a period of personal turmoil and vehemently defending the independence of the nightly news. Jack reports to Wilson White, Chairman of TMG, NBS's parent company.

Cal Shanley (Timothy Busfield) is the technical director of Studio 60. He has two children he is putting through private school. In the pilot, he allows Wes to rant unscripted for 53 seconds on live television, despite threats from network Standards and Practices executive Jerry; Danny so highly approved that he told Cal he would have earned a raise had he let Wes rant for 54 seconds. Cal is thoroughly upbeat with an equally fast-and-fluid sense of humor. (Busfield had a recurring guest role on The West Wing and also directed six episodes of Studio 60.