Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

'Turn off the TV... this is not a sketch. This show used to be cutting edge satire but it has got lobotomised... just change the channel'
Should have mentioned this show ages ago. Written by Aaron Sorkin who created the West Wing it is set in a Friday night live TV show in L.A. The context is the cultural faultlines that run through US culture, but fundamentally Sorkin's shows are about diologue and characters. And Studio 60 has them both in bucketloads.

You can watch the awesome opening scene here, and though the show is not available in the UK you can download it from the US with a little google know how.