Two years after leaving "The West Wing" over creative and production issues, writer Aaron Sorkin is returning to NBC.

The network has ordered a pilot from Sorkin and fellow "West Wing" alum Thomas Schlamme about the backstage dealings on a network sketch-comedy show not unlike NBC's own "Saturday Night Live." The show, called "Studio 7 on the Sunset Strip," will deal with the conflicts between cast and crew and the larger corporate culture of the network, which is part of a larger conglomerate.

"Aaron Sorkin's work is truly in a class all its own, and Tommy Schlamme, time and again, has delivered exceptional television," NBC Entertainment chief Kevin Reilly says in a statement. "This project is a noisy, compelling combination of bold drama and laugh-out-loud comedy. We're thrilled to again partner with this team on their next great NBC show."

According to several news reports, NBC outbid CBS for the project, which will be produced by Warner Bros. TV, by agreeing to a big license fee for the pilot and virtually guaranteeing the show a spot on the 2006-07 schedule. Should NBC decide not to go forward with the series, it would have to pay Warner Bros. a hefty kill fee.

"Studio 7" will be set at a network called UBS -- the name of the broadcaster in the Oscar-winning movie "Network." The pilot opens with a producer of the show-in-the-show blowing up on camera and railing against the state of TV.

Sorkin has mined the off-camera politics of television before with his ABC series "Sports Night," and of course straight-up politics with "The West Wing," which won four consecutive Emmys for best drama series under Sorkin and Schlamme.

"Studio 7" is similar to another project NBC is developing with "SNL" head writer Tina Fey. That show is a comedy, but it's also about the goings-on at an "SNL"-like comedy show.

Sorkin and Schlamme left "The West Wing" in the spring of 2003 amid reports of creative differences with NBC over the direction of the show and tussles with Warner Bros. about late production. Sorkin wrote or co-wrote nearly all the show's scripts during his tenure, and the show was known for falling behind its production schedule.