It's no secret that Aaron Sorkin used the late Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip to work out some of his career and personal issues by creating very thinly veiled versions of real-life people and populating his show with them. But although some characters' real progenitors are easy to identify, others may not be as obvious. To you. Don't worry -- we've laid it all out for you. Character: Matthew "Matt" Albie (Matthew Perry) Occupation: Screenwriter Thinly Veiled Fictional Gloss On: Studio 60 creator and scribe Aaron Sorkin, also a TV writer with a stunted ability to delegate to other people (who are, by definition, not going to be as talented, dedicated, or righteous as he), a poorly concealed drug habit, and an annoying haircut Character: Danny Tripp (Bradley Whitford) Occupation: Producer Thinly Veiled Fictional Gloss On: Thomas Schlamme, beloved Sorkin intimate (who left The West Wing along with Sorkin, probably due to an overabundance of integrity) who, if his real-life relationship with our genius auteur is as homoerotically charged as what we saw between Danny and Matt, probably should just leave his wife, Christine Lahti, and move to Vermont to set up housekeeping with Sorkin, because damn. (Also: points deducted for not calling the character "Danny Schlanny".) Character: Jordan McDeere (Amanda Peet) Occupation: Network President Thinly Veiled Fictional Gloss On: Jamie Tarses -- once the youngest TV network president ever, now a sad footnote of history (like so many "youngest-ever" Hollywood wunderkinds before and since) Character: Harriet Hayes (Sarah Paulson) Occupation: Sketch comic/Christian recording artist Thinly Veiled Fictional Gloss On: Kristin Chenoweth, sometime West Wing co-star/Sorkin girlfriend, about whose pandering to the Christian ultra-right, willingness to pose for men's magazines, and mixed messages about The Gays Sorkin apparently had a lot more to say after they broke up Character: Ricky Tahoe (Evan Handler) Occupation: Comedy writer
Thinly Veiled Fictional Gloss On: Sorkin feud partner Rick Cleveland, a TV writer who had the temerity to suggest that maybe Sorkin was not solely responsible for every single word that fell from the lips of his West Wing characters, and that the rest of the West Wing writing staff wasn't just there to ensure an even wear pattern in the office furniture Character: Darius Hawthorne (Columbus Short) Occupation: Comedy writer Thinly Veiled Fictional Gloss On: Dulé Hill, an African-American person Sorkin totally knows. Personally. Character: Tom Jeter (Nate Corddry) Occupation: Sketch comic Thinly Veiled Fictional Gloss On: Patches, an extremely adorable Scotch terrier Sorkin had as a child Character: Jack Rudolph (Steven Weber) Occupation: Network chairman Thinly Veiled Fictional Gloss On: Oddly enough? Tim Daly. Character: Suzanne (Merrit Wever) Occupation: Assistant Thinly Veiled Fictional Gloss On: Barbara Moxley, an assistant assigned to Sorkin by ABC circa Sports Night, who gave him lots of sensible advice and was a very capable worker despite being just a little chubby Character: Martha O'Dell (Christine Lahti) Occupation: Journalist Thinly Veiled Fictional Gloss On: A sexy real-life journalist about whose sometime romantic link to Sorkin we've all heard about ad nauseam -- geez, we GET it, Helen Thomas! Character: Andy Mackinaw (Mark McKinney) Occupation: Comedy writer Thinly Veiled Fictional Gloss On: Composite of notorious depressives Emily Dickinson and Anne Sexton, introduced by Sorkin out of fear that without a character dealing with tremendous personal tragedy, the serious, dramatic elements of the show would be overwhelmed by all the riotous comedy Character: Jeannie Whatley (Ayda Field) Occupation: Sketch comic Thinly Veiled Fictional Gloss On: Oh, some whore Character: Cal Shanley (Timothy Busfield) Occupation: Director
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