Kristin Chenoweth and why it all makes sense now...

Harriet Hayes was a mystery to us all. We were constantly told that she was incredibly talented and genuinely funny, because that's the way she was written. However, the audience could not see it. All we saw was this average-looking, not particularly talented or funny girl. Yet she was the object of our protagonist's affection, and "in theory" we could understand why, but we never liked her.

Not very long ago, I read here on imdb that Aaron Sorkin had created Harriet Hayes based on his relationship with Kristin Chenoweth. Holy crap, Harriet Hayes is supposed to be Kristin Chenoweth, one of the funniest women in Hollywood; not to mention, unbelievably talented. It all made sense. And now I can't blame them for not achieving it, haha. Poor Sarah Paulson, she was given HUGE shoes to fill.