Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip/4 A.M. Miracle

4 A.M. Miracle
Season 1, Episode 16
Airdate	February 19, 2007
Written by	Aaron Sorkin Mark McKinney (story)
Directed by	Laura Innes
← 1x15 The Friday Night Slaughter	1x17 → The Disaster Show
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip — Season One

4 A.M. Miracle is the sixteenth episode of the first season of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and the sixteenth episode overall.

Guest Stars: Mark McKinney (Andy Mackinaw), Merritt Wever (Suzanne), Kari Matchett (Mary Tate), Josh Stamberg (Luke Scott), Lucy Davis (Lucy Kenwright), Columbus Short (Darius Hawthorne)

Co-Stars:

Plot Overview

A former writer for the show is suing NBS because she felt that she was placed in a hostile work environment where she was forced to be "one of the boys." After being terminated from the job, she filed suit against the network but none of the people who worked there are even with the show anymore. Despite this, a lawyer named Mary Tate is in the pre-deposition stage of the lawsuit and is tagging along with Matt to watch how the writers work. This is a very short meeting where Matt rambles about the poem "Kubla Khan" and the "4 AM Miracle" which he expects to happen so that the show won't be without sketches. He uses this time to reject all of their pitches and send them back to work.

Meanwhile, on the set for the Rolling Stones movie, Harriet is being held over past when she was promised back. Though there's only one scene left to shoot in the day, Harriet keeps interrupting because the screenplay misconstrues the events of Anita Pallenberg's actual life and the incident which killed a 17-year-old boy. After interrupting the take, she gets a call from Danny but has no interest in enlarging Matt's ego for the good of the show. Back in the studio, Jordan and Danny are meeting for dinner but because the show is in a holding pattern, they can't go anywhere for a couple of hours. But in this time, Danny discovers Jordan's "practice baby" and proceeds to mock her for falling into a scam perpetrated by someone who actually sells them for a living. He reassures her that she'll be fine and doesn't need a 600-dollar plastic baby to be a good mother. She agrees, but bets Danny that he can't keep the fake baby alive for a day.

Both Matt and Harriet are having problems with their respective crafts because of their relationships. Matt reveals to Mary that he's having trouble writing because of his relationship with Harriet and that has affected the ratings for the past four episodes as well. Harriet, on the other hand, is struggling with the scene because of her fight with Matt at her awards dinner. Harriet is in far more trouble, however, because Luke has no interest in anything but getting the scene right. She tries to talk to him about Matt but he blows her off. She eventually leaves the set when she realizes that Luke is purposefully messing with Matt by holding the shoot over for four hours.

Danny, now posed with the responsibility for the fake baby, takes it downstairs to Tom and Simon who instantly show a total disregard for the fake baby's safety. At one point, Cal comes in with a prop guillotine and asks the two to use it, but they instead use the baby and accidentally behead it. Danny demands that Cal resurrect the baby and fix its head. He also makes them face the lawyer, so that Simon can admit to sleeping with the former writer but it turns out that he slept with a totally different writer. Satisfied with how things have gone, Mary leaves and asks Matt out on a date. Danny calls him insane for saying no and gets the fake baby back from Cal, who promises that it's fixed and completely unaware of the beheading. He takes it back to Jordan and after making the hand-off, its head pops up like a Rock 'Em Sock 'Em robot and its eyes pop out of its head. The prop master and head of special effects apparently enjoy a practical joke.

Trivia

The Show

• Crossover: The firm which Mary Tate works for is Gage Whitney. This is the same law firm which Sam Seaborn worked for in The West Wing. This isn't the first time that the series has crossed into the West Wing universe, in the pilot episode, there was a "Bartlett for President" poster hanging on a wall back stage.

Allusions and References

• Sacco & Vanzetti: Danny refers to two anarchists who were implicated in the killing and robbery of a shoe factory paymaster who was taking the factory payroll of over $15,000 to a bank. They were eventually tried for his murder and sentenced to death. However, years after their deaths, the case was re-examined and found a significant bias against immigrants and anarchists on the jury. Michael Dukakis apologized for the error 50 years after the execution.

Danny: And I was doing fine until Sacco & Vanzetti...