Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

I know the critical love for this one is already at fever pitch, but having seen the pilot, I have to add my input: Believe all the hype and tune in Monday night.

Phil Ramati, the Telegraph's TV Guy, has a more in-depth critique of Aaron Sorkin's new "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," but he was also kind enough to give me a preview copy of the pilot, which has already debuted on the Web.

What's good? Well, almost everything. Think back to the first season of West Wing. When it was just President Bartlett's green staff trying to figure everything out. The dialogue was fast and funny, and it's just as good here.

The casting is also pitch-perfect. I've never appreciated Amanda Peet as much more than an extremely pretty face, but she really shines here. As the new studio president who finds her top show falling apart on her first day, she just has a look in her eye that keeps you guessing as to what she will from minute-to-minute. It's a real breakthrough performance.

Just as good are two very familiar TV faces, Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford, who are brought in to save the show. They share a professional and personal (though purely hetero) bond that you feel right from the outset, and you feel like you've known them for years. The only weak link is Steven Weber, who struggles to shed his lightweight "Wings" persona to play the heavy and can't quite deliver. Sarah Paulson and D.L. Hughley round out the main cast, and will surely be given more to do as the show unfolds.

The format should allow for a different "guest host" each week. For week one it's Felicity Huffman, and we know that Lauren Graham of "Gilmore Girls" is coming soon for more than one episode. It should be fun to see who turns up on what is easily this fall's most promising show. Welcome back, Mr. Sorkin.

"Horton" calls Carrey, Carell

I'm not sure what trauma Jim Carrey suffered in his childhood that drives him to keep ruining the best things from mine, but if therapy is what he needs I'll be glad to pitch in for the bill.

Already having conspired with Ron Howard to suck all the fun out of "The Grinch," he now has his eyes on another Dr. Seuss gem, "Horton Hears a Who."
Carrey has been cast as the voice of Horton and Steve Carell will join him as the mayor of Who-ville in a CGI-animated feature film of this classic tale from 20th Century Fox Animation.

For anyone who missed or has forgotten the original 1970 TV movie directed by the late, great Chuck Jones, Horton is an elephant who discovers there is a microscopic community of intelligent beings called the Who's living on a plant that only he can hear. Recognising the dangers they face, he resolves to keep them safe, even though none of the other animals believe his story.

Like many of the good doctor's best stories, it has a lot to say about how we treat the world around us, but I'm not hopeful any of that will make it into this new, thoroughly unnecessary version. Whereas Mr. Jones had the good sense to use a teleplay by the doctor himself, remake directors Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino will work from a script adaptation written by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio.

If anyone with more power than me is willing to step forward and stop this madness, please do so now before it becomes too late.

Meirelles to go blind

In much, much better news, director Fernando Meirelles is returning to Brasil to make his third feature film, "Blindness." It will be based on the 1995 novel by Portuguese Nobel Prize winner Jose Saramago about an epidemic of blindness that sweeps through an unnamed contemporary city and pushes society to the brink of breakdown.

The premise holds much promise, and Meirelles can do no wrong in my book. His debut, "City of God" was, without exaggeration, like nothing I had ever seen before. It's an ultra-real look at the life of street kids in Brasil that somehow manages to sustain an otherworldy look and feel throughout. If you haven't seen it, Netflix it now and thank me later. "The Constant Gardener," based on John Le Carre's novel, was a first-rate political thriller and a troubling look at what's happening in Africa today.

With this new project, set to begin shooting soon in Sao Paolo, Mr. Meirelles is certain only to garner more well-deserved acclaim.