Finally saw The Newsroom on HBO. It’s the new Aaron Sorkin drama about a
fictional news network and what goes on behind the scenes as writer,
researchers and producers put together a one-hour program.
If you liked The West Wing, chances are you’ll like this.
The Newsroom has all the trademark Sorkin characters,
dialogue, issues and drama. Even the
music will be familiar to his fans.
In this endeavor, Jeff Daniels is Will McAvoy, the leader of the pack. He is a network news anchor who has so much passion and righteousness that he’s going
crazy.
Sam Waterston is the network news chief with a moral center and
the calm demeanor to counteract Daniels’ wackiness.
Emily Mortimer is the hero who rides in on a white horse to
save the day. Daniels’ ex-girlfriend, her Mackenzie MacHale has been embedded with the troops in Afghanistan and is ready for some R
& R. What better way to relax than to
swoop into the newsroom as executive producer, determined to right the wrongs of the
television news industry while helping her ex recover his sanity?
Together, they set out to create a serious broadcast that viewers will actually watch. (Presumably, news without puns, faux romance between anchors, puppy stories and hype. Good luck with that.)
Together, they set out to create a serious broadcast that viewers will actually watch. (Presumably, news without puns, faux romance between anchors, puppy stories and hype. Good luck with that.)
The supporting cast has all the requisite Sorkin know-it-alls - highly educated 20-somethings whose brains and tongues spew facts from
Wikipedia as quickly as humanly possible.
To complete the Sorkin stereotype, the program focuses on issues and
takes a firm (liberal) stand. The premiere
revolved around the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. There
were swipes taken (not wrongly) at the oil company, Halliburton and the U.S. government.
The first episode seemed long, as others have reported. And it was slightly more preachy than it was
entertaining.
If both those aspects change even a little bit, Sorkin, creator of The Social Network, The
American President, A Few Good Men, Sports Night, Moneyball, Charlie Wilson’s
War and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, will have another masterpiece on his
hands.
I certainly hope so.
The first episode likely seemed long because it had a run time of 72 minutes.
ReplyDeleteAs a fellow Sorkin fan, I believe that he has brought another piece of brilliance to the already strong HBO network. Yes, the show can be preachy. Yes, the dialog can be unrealistic since it portrays each character to be geniuses with both syntax and information, but these attributes are just ingredients in the formula that make up a successful Sorkin series (say that five times fast)! I was just discussing The Newsroom with a few Dish coworkers, and we all agree that the show is a great addition to HBO. In fact, I had to upgrade my DVR to the Hopper since it comes with tons of recording space to accommodate my addiction to HBO. I’m so intrigued with shows like Girls, The Wire and, of course, The Newsroom! If you haven’t checked out those series, I would definitely recommend them. Otherwise, I hope The Newsroom doesn’t disappoint us with the rest of the season!
ReplyDeleteAs a fellow Sorkin fan, I believe that he has brought another piece of brilliance to the already strong HBO network. Yes, the show can be preachy. Yes, the dialog can be unrealistic since it portrays each character to be geniuses with both syntax and information, but these attributes are just ingredients in the formula that make up a successful Sorkin series (say that five times fast)! I was just discussing The Newsroom with a few Dish coworkers, and we all agree that the show is a great addition to HBO. In fact, I had to upgrade my DVR to the Hopper since it comes with tons of recording space to accommodate my addiction to HBO. I’m so intrigued with shows like Girls, The Wire and, of course, The Newsroom! If you haven’t checked out those series, I would definitely recommend them. Otherwise, I hope The Newsroom doesn’t disappoint us with the rest of the season!
ReplyDelete