The cast of Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip need all their friends to tune in to the next seven episodes of the show or else the crew may end up on the unemployment line.

PASADENA, Calif. -- Even in Hollywood it is weird standing on a set within a set. That was the feeling earlier this week on a visit to Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip.

The series shoots on the Warner Bros. lot just a building or two over from where Matthew Perry worked for 10 seasons on Friends. From the moment you walk past the studio entrance, you are in a maze of foyers and rooms that lead to a giant auditorium that makes it seem as if you are actually in a vintage theatre.

Inside, a relaxed Perry was holding court in the bleachers. Upstairs, in one of the producer offices, Mark McKinney was shooting a scene. A very pregnant Amanda Peet, due in late March, was perched on a director's chair. Bradley Whitford, D.L. Hughley, Sarah Paulsen, Nate Corddry and Steven Weber were all in various corners of the auditorium.

Executive producer Aaron Sorkin was right where you'd expect to find him: In the writer's room. Behind him on the wall was a poster for an old western called The Dream Of Fools. All over the walls were cue cards.

The series resumes with the first of seven consecutive new episodes tomorrow night at 10 on CTV and Monday night on NBC. Sorkin says he'll be focusing more on the romantic aspects of the show and less on the "insider" biz, something Perry and others applauded. Hughley, in particular, felt the show was too inside for many viewers.

The numbers seem to bear that out. Studio 60 draws about eight million U.S. viewers a week, about half what it got in week one.

Sorkin tried to spin the numbers: He said the ratings were really 10.9% higher than they were; that they were great compared to his short lived series Sports Night; that the demos were among "the most upscale on TV."

The network was still behind the show, he said. NBC chairman Jeff Zucker told him he was already thinking in terms of seasons two and three.

Sorkin seemed bruised over harsh reviews for the series, singling out an L.A. Times report as "a piece of nonsense." The story suggested real TV writers were not fans. Sorkin said the people interviewed were all "disgruntled" and "unemployed." Peers like Tina Fey and Seth Myers, he said, were all fans.

They better tell their friends; the next seven weeks will determine the fate of this series.