New Fall TV on NBC: Will Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip be NBC's Hit?

Matthew Perry and Amanda Peet are under pressure to use their movie-star power to create a new fall tv hit for NBC. They are starring on the new fall tv drama Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (Monday at 10 p.m.)

Of course, Perry is no stranger to the small screen or NBC. His 10-year run as Chandler Bing on NBC's Friends paved the way to his movie career. In fact, he starred with Peet in The Whole Nine Yards and its sequel, which was creatively named The Whole Ten Yards.

Perry's character in those movies was Nicholas "Oz" Oseransky, a nervous dentist whose life is turned upside down by the arrival of a mobster played by Bruce Willis. Perry played a similar nervous guy opposite Elizabeth Hurley in Serving Sara.

Peet played Oz's dental assistant, Jill St. Claire, in Nine Yards. In the sequel, Jill has become the wife of Willis' character. Peet also has experience on the small screen, as she starred in Jack and Jill on the WB.

Peet usually plays strong, confident women - most notably in Saving Silverman. On that movie's box, Peet's boyfriend is being crushed by her enormous thumb. In Australia and Europe, that movie is simply called Evil Woman.

Peet and Perry need to bring their star power - but not those familiar characters - to Studio 60. They need to blend in with the ensemble cast in order to make the show work.

On the new show, Perry plays Matthew Albie, half of the creative team that is supposed to revive the comedy show. Peet portrays Jordan McDeere, a network executive who tries to juggle the personalites on the program to keep it afloat.

Of course, many viewers will look at Perry and first think of Chandler Bing. Not only was Friends a huge hit, its DVDs and reruns are still all over the place. However, this isn't an insurmountable issue. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who was Elaine on Seinfeld for nine years, just won an Emmy for her work on The New Adventures of Old Christine.

NBC is counting on Studio 60 to be a success, as the network is absolutely starving for a hit show. CBS has three CSI shows that are doing well in the ratings, along with Cold Case and Without a Trace. ABC has had three big hits in the last two years: Lost, Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy. ABC is using all three shows in the 9 o'clock hour to draw viewers toward other shows. NBC really needs a show like that, and with Perry and Peet on board, Studio 60 could finally end NBC's ratings drought.