Never let it be said that the TV Freak doesn’t respond to the will of the people. Logan Dobson, one of this blog’s most loyal readers, has been urging, pleading and prodding me to write a post on “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.” And so I comply. …

“Studio 60,” in case you haven’t heard, was pulled from the NBC schedule earlier than planned. Its time slot this coming Monday will be assumed by the new Irish mob drama, “The Black Donnellys.” (We’ll have a review on Monday). NBC has said “Studio 60″ will return later in the season, but I wouldn’t bet big money on that happening. And there is almost no chance Aaron Sorkin’s backstage drama will be back next season. Ratings for the show have been in a flaming death spiral ever since it debuted.

So what happened? I’ve already written about the woes of “Studio 60″ and I don’t have all that much to add, but being a former sports writer I tend to fall back on my sports analogies: “Studio 60″ was like a team full of highly paid all-stars that fails to win a lot of games because the coach can’t get the individual components to mesh. It’s that simple.

You had Aaron Sorkin, perhaps the best writer in television, working with an incredible cast (Matthew Perry, Bradley Whitford, etc.) and things never came together for a variety of reasons. The show, especially in the beginning, was too inside-television to be palatable for a mass audience. And Sorkin was too consumed with soap-box preachiness on issues that didn’t resonate with viewers. And I don’t know about you, but I never found myself truly caring about the characters the way I do with top-notch dramas.

I’ve talked a lot about “Studio 60″ with my editor and fellow TV devotee Ardua Harris and we agreed that we’d watch every week and be fascinated with some aspects of the show (we both loved Sarah Paulson’s performance) but also completely exasperated by others.

Like I said, the components just didn’t mesh. And that’s a real shame considering all the promise and potential “Studio 60″ had.

Ever since it aired on Dec. 4, I’ve heard from a lot of “Studio 60″ fans who fell in love with the show’s beautifully written holiday episode. That night, the show contained a very moving rendition of “O Holy Night” performed by a horn section made up of New Orleans musicians as a tribute to the city that was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina.

A clip of that section of the show is now up on YouTube and you can check it out here. If you didn’t catch the show, you miss some of the context that accompanied the scene, but, still, it’s quite stirring.

Also, on the NBC.com site, there is a link to Tiptina’s Foundation, a group that offers assistance to New Orleans musicians in need. In addition, it contains some information on the musicians who performed in the “Studio 60″ episode.

Finally, we should point out that NBC is re-airing the “Studio 60″ holiday episode at 10 p.m. Dec. 18.

You can hold off on those eulogies — for now. Aaron Sorkin’s “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” has been given a full-season order.

Despite dismal ratings, NBC entertainment chief Kevin Reilly recognizes that there is great quality — and promise — in the show. “The critical support has been rock-solid and there is a passionate core audience,” Reilly noted in an NBC press release. “We can’t wait for what’s going to come in the remainder of the season.”

One of the reasons NBC is sticking with “Studo 60″ is that its audience, though relatively unimpressive, largely consists of “upscale” viewers — homes with $75,000-plus and $100,000-plus incomes and in homes where the head of household has four or more years of college. Those are the kind of viewers advertisers drool over.

“Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” came into this season as television’s most-hyped new series. It topped nearly every critic’s list of must-see shows. It was the beneficiary of a massive promotional campaign. And with an amazing cast (Matthew Perry, Bradley Whitford, etc.) spouting lines written by an amazing writer (Aaron Sorkin), it seemed to have everything going for it.

Alas, “Studio 60″ has seen its ratings do a scary nose-dive since it premiered and though NBC executives continue to express their support, you have to wonder if the show can make it past this season.

Often in cases such as these, you sit there and wonder why America hasn’t embraced such a great show and you start to even question the taste of viewers. But while I believe “Studio 60″ is worthy of support, I also think it has hurt its own cause by failing to deliver on a few fronts. In today’s Times, we highlight some of the flaws of “Studio 60″ with the hope that Sorkin can right this ship.

Check it out and let us know if you’re sticking with “Studio 60″ — or if you’ve bailed out on it — and why.