Studio 60 on The Sunset Strip: "Monday" and "The Harriet Dinner Part I"

The thing about "Studio 60" is that I feel exhausted after watching an episode of "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip." Not because there is so much action and suspense, but because almost nothing seems to happen but there is so much to say. I mean, I'm a pretty smart girl, and I'm still not 100% sure if Jordan returns Danny's feelings for her. Then again, I'm pretty sure that Jordan isn't sure of that, either. In this double-recap, I'll update you by character, as opposed to by episode. We'll see if this works or not. Normal recapping format to return next week.

• Matt: Matt, convinced that formal "Studio 60" castmember/romantic rival Luke Scott is bidding on-line to win a date with Harriet, pays several thousand dollars only to tie for first. Showing up at an event for Catholics in Media (who are presenting an award to Harriet), Matt discovers that his fellow winner is not Luke but a teenage snowboarder. While the snowboarder collects phone numbers from female fans at the event, Matt is called on a few things by a livid Harriet: if he really cared about her, why didn't he start bidding until he believed that Luke was in the competition? Harriet declares them officially over. So does this mean Matt will get a new love interest in time for sweeps?
• Harriet: Harriet is in rehearsals for Luke's Rolling Stones movie. Luke seems to press the relationship issue quite a bit, which has Harriet feeling even more confused in light of Matt's recent attentions. Unfortunately, a girl chat with a similarly troubled Jordan is of little help.
• Danny: Still in love with Jordan, Danny spent most of the Christmas break calling Jordan while she was out of town. Back in town, Danny is inspired to collect letters of recommendation from notable figures (such as NBS chair Wilson White) to send to Jordan. Jordan is mortified, and asks Danny to stop. He says he won't, and doesn't reconsider until the two of them get stuck on the theater's roof with no rescue in sight.
• Jordan: Jordan finds herself outperformed by Hallie, the new Vice President of Alternative Programming, who comes through with a winning pitch when a production green-lit by Jordan stops indefinitely. Jack assures her that Hallie is just there to head the newly created division, but that being said, Jordan had better look out.
• Jack: Jack realizes that NBS has too much money at stake in the Macao deal, so the only way he can get them to back Wilson in fighting the FCC (who want to charge NBS millions of dollars for an expletive uttered by a soldier in Iraq who was thisclose to getting blown up on camera) is to get Zhang to not sign the deal if the board doesn't fight.
• Zhang: Zhang is dismayed to learn that his daughter Kim, a Juilliard viola prodigy, wants to drop out of school and study improvisational comedy. If Jack can get Kim to return to Juilliard, then he'll back Jack's support of Wilson. Jack has until the end of the week, when the Taos leave Los Angeles, so he promises Kim she'll be Tom's date to the Catholics in Media dinner for Harriet.
• Tom: Tom finally gets the nerve to ask out "Studio 60" writer Lucy, but then has to cancel when Jack prevails upon him to take Kim to the dinner instead. Tom lies to Lucy about cancelling, and gets busted when Lucy finds him at the dinner with a tipsy Kim practically in his lap. Tom, did you think that when Harriet is the guest of honor at an event that she would not get spare tickets for the show's writers? Idiot.
• Simon: Simon pitches a sketch about a militant Fruit of the Loom fruit to Darius, so that the two of them could work on the sketch together. Darius, not so wisely, gives it up to Lucy. Simon accuses Darius of not wanting to work with him because he is Black, and he's not really wrong about that. Simon is not about to let Darius off the hook anytime soon.
• Darius and Lucy: They are having really crappy weeks. I wouldn't be entirely surprised if, by the end of this particular arc, they end up quitting or running away together. Now that would be romantic.