PASADENA, Calif. — When Aaron Sorkin heard that NBC had picked up Tina Fey's "30 Rock," he sent her flowers. She didn't respond.
"I was kind of surprised by that," he says, "but the business being what it is, you just never know."
Sorkin, creator of "The West Wing," and Fey, the former head writer of "Saturday Night Live," find themselves colleagues — and competitors — this fall. "30 Rock," a sitcom, takes place behind the scenes at a late-night TV sketch-comedy series. So does Sorkin's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," an ensemble drama also airing on NBC.
NBC believes there's a place on the network for both shows. So does Sorkin. But Fey?
At an NBC party, the two writers bumped into each other. "Did you get my flowers?" Sorkin asked.
Fey was mortified. "She thought it was a joke and had called everyone at 'SNL' trying to find out who'd done it," says Sorkin, who appreciates a good story even more than a thank-you note.
People are also reading…
He shared that anecdote before picking up the Heritage Award from the Television Critics Association for "The West Wing," which ended its run on NBC in May. Earlier, he and Fey had appeared separately to introduce their new shows to TV critics who were meeting in Pasadena.
Fey was flanked only by her fellow executive producer, Lorne Michaels of "SNL" fame, and co-star Tracy Morgan. Alec Baldwin, also a regular, was away at a high school reunion.
Sorkin was joined by producing partner Tommy Schlamme and their cast of thousands — including Matthew Perry, Bradley Whitford, Amanda Peet, Sarah Paulson, Steven Weber and Timothy Busfield — but still got almost all the questions.
After NBC ordered "Studio 60" way back in January, "30 Rock" seemed doomed. Winding up with two shows so superficially similar "was really one of those weird show business coincidences," says NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly.
"But what would you do? You've got Tina Fey and Aaron Sorkin. I couldn't imagine saying, well, one of you will just have to go elsewhere. So we said let's make both shows, and if they both deserve to get on the air, they will. Not surprisingly, they were both worthy of getting on the air."
Sorkin wrote the "Studio 60" pilot on spec — that is, without any network deal — before he and Schlamme shopped it around, with interest from both NBC and CBS. Fey and Michaels developed "30 Rock" for NBC and not (as one Hollywood rumor had it) in reaction to "Studio 60."
"This show was in development before we heard about the Aaron Sorkin show," Michaels says. "This show came first."
The pilot of "30 Rock" originally was supposed to be shot last summer, Fey says, but was delayed because of her pregnancy. (Her daughter, Alice, is now 10 months old.) Meanwhile, loud buzz greeted the word that Sorkin would return to TV with "Studio 60."
"I had friends saying to me, 'Oh, I'm so sorry that your show is not going to happen,' " Fey says. "But Kevin Reilly called very, very quickly and assured me that he believed in both shows and really wanted to pursue both of them."
While Fey awaited word, Sorkin got the go-ahead to begin work on "Studio 60" in January with a small team of writers. Acknowledging his famous problems in keeping "The West Wing" on schedule — one of the factors that led to his departure from the show — Sorkin says, "I got a head start on production and was able to bank some scripts. Hopefully, that will at least prolong a little bit the time before the wheels come off the wagon."
Sorkin and his 10-person writing staff are already on episode seven, but he quotes David Mamet, the playwright turned TV producer ("The Unit"), about the stresses of television: "Doing a play or a movie is like running a marathon. Doing a television series is like running until you die."
But Sorkin seems rested and ready for the challenge, looking healthier than he has since "Sports Night." He's even able to joke, if inadvertently, about his drug arrest and court-ordered treatment during "The West Wing."
After comparing "mean-spirited and voyeuristic" unscripted TV to "bad crack in the schoolyard," he's the first to call attention to his slip.
"Why did I use that word?" he says, to laughter. Later, he adds, "Seriously, I will go person-to-person giving each $100 if we can just get the crack quote out of the papers tomorrow."
"Studio 60" may be a grueling hour, rather than a simple half-hour, but at least Sorkin doesn't also star in his show, as Fey does.
"The one thing I have going for me is I do not understand the train that is about to hit me," she says. "We're trying to get as much done as possible in the writers' room now before we start. We're going to literally try to have the writers' room physically very close to the set, so that I can go back and forth, and we're just going to do our best."
Michaels has this deadpan suggestion for a way to tell the two series apart: "They are the hour show, and they have a '60' in it. We're the half-hour show, and we have '30' in it."
But so far, the potential confusion is just the making of a good quip for Sorkin: "My intention is to take Tina's ideas, use twice as many words and turn them into our show."
And remember, he says, that the "West Wing" producers all have new series this year. "John (Wells) has 'Smith,' " a drama on CBS. "And Tommy and I have '30 Rock' — or whatever."
