The Newsroom - Season 1 thread [edited title]

[ThelmaLou]

Originally Posted by diosabellissima

how about we forget the love stories and focus instead on the actual newsroom, since that's what makes this show interesting.

yesyesyes.

[Santos L Halper]

Did anyone else notice that Ron Ostrow (who's appeared in just about everything Aaron Sorkin's ever done) was sitting behind Don on the plane? I'm just surprised Josh Malina hasn't shown up yet.

[Fair Rarity]

This one felt more like an original show instead of TWW or Sports Night at CNN. There was definite Sorkin flavor, but less "He did THAT already too!" for me.

And Terry Crewes just makes everything better, as does Allison from Eureka.

[Bryan Ekers]

They sure are burning through 2010 and 2011 at a good clip. The first 7 episodes have covered over a year. At this pace, season 2 will be in real time and season 3 will be set in the future.

[drastic_quench]

Originally Posted by Bryan Ekers

They sure are burning through 2010 and 2011 at a good clip. The first 7 episodes have covered over a year. At this pace, season 2 will be in real time and season 3 will be set in the future.

That occurred to me, but like a lot of HBO shows, they'll have a long hiatus between seasons.

[Dewey Finn]

I really enjoyed that episode, particularly the way it captured the excitement of covering a really big story like that one. But it's kind of like how every episode of ER featured a six-car pileup on the highway or a plane crash. Few nights in the newsroom or in the emergency room are ever that eventful; mostly it's really dull. And presumably a later episode will confront Late For Dinner's relevation that ACN is hacking cell phones (as was News of the World).

[Bryan Ekers]

Originally Posted by Dewey Finn

I really enjoyed that episode, particularly the way it captured the excitement of covering a really big story like that one. But it's kind of like how every episode of ER featured a six-car pileup on the highway or a plane crash. Few nights in the newsroom or in the emergency room are ever that eventful; mostly it's really dull.

Time brought this up in their (largely negative) review - in the years before the series starts, we're told, Will McAvoy's laid back, non-committal, non-challenging style made him the most popular cable news anchor, analogous to the easy-going Jay Leno. In reality over the last ten years, though, it's the slow news days between major stories that led cable news to fill time with gibbering pundits competing to be the most extreme, and somebody like McAvoy would have been eaten alive in that environment.

Looking at the episode list:

#1 and #2 take place in the same week - when the BP oil spill started.

#3 is six months later (!) - and discusses the 2010 midterm elections.

#4 is two months after that, New Year 2011 and the Gifford shooting

#5 is a month after that, Valentine's Day.

#6 is two months after that, in the early days of the Japanese earthquake/tsunami/Fukushima disaster.

#7 is a few weeks later - the death of Osama bin Laden.


What the heck do these people do in the relatively slow periods between these stories? How do they fill airtime without giving excess attention to emotion-charged nonstories? Or does McAvoy's five-times-weekly hour of News Night supposedly focus solely on important news, with the implication that the rest of the fictional ACN network covers all the useless crap that we (as watchers of The Newsroom) are spared but real-life watchers of CNN and Fox News and MSNBC are not?

Anyway, fine, we don't need to see Will McAvoy fill an hour discussing flag pins or the use of "niggardly" or other piddling crap that actual news anchors waste time on because they have so much time to fill (unless, of course, he's covering them just to show us how uncomfortable he is in doing so), but since E.R. was invoked, those characters had personal lives that could be interesting and complex (far more so after George Clooney left, in my opinion). Watching the comparably maladroit romantic contortions of Will/MacKenzie and Jim/Maggie (they've all been working together for over a year, now - one would think these matters have a half-life somewhat shorter than that of Uranium)... that's become our time-filler, and I guess it's the tragedy of fiction that Will McAvoy can make promises to his viewers that Aaron Sorkin cannot extend to us.

[Shalmanese]

Yet again, twenty somethings relate to each other through reference to musical theatre, as twenty somethings are wont to do.

[Dewey Finn]

After thinking more about the latest episode ("5/1"), it occurred to me to wonder why they were having the one-year anniversary party on a Sunday night. Wouldn't Friday or Saturday night make more sense, so that they could sober up before work the following Monday? But of course, they all needed to be in the same place when they got word of the president's special announcement. Just once, I'd like to see an episode in which everyone is at home, on their way home, in the supermarket, etc. when big news occurs.

[Tangent]

I liked this episode, except that the plane stuff was a little much. Don is an entitled douchebag the entire time, but he is "redeemed" at the end by being sensitive to the pilots and giving them the news about Bin Laden, as though he is somehow responsible for it? I was SO hoping an Air Marshal would pop up and tase Don. OTOH, I did like the passenger "Lester" and his flirting with Sloan.

[PacifistPorcupine]

Originally Posted by Dewey Finn

After thinking more about the latest episode ("5/1"), it occurred to me to wonder why they were having the one-year anniversary party on a Sunday night. Wouldn't Friday or Saturday night make more sense, so that they could sober up before work the following Monday? But of course, they all needed to be in the same place when they got word of the president's special announcement. Just once, I'd like to see an episode in which everyone is at home, on their way home, in the supermarket, etc. when big news occurs.

I'd like to see one where they get something wrong. Not as in "fuck up the pre-interview" as Maggie did, but as in actually call something wrong despite their best efforts. They have developed a keen sense of the exact nature of developing news stories so far, mainly because they are reporting on 1-2 year old stories.

[ThelmaLou]

Originally Posted by Tangent

I was SO hoping an Air Marshal would pop up and tase Don.

Ooooo! I would have loved that!

[Bryan Ekers]

Yeah, I like his persuasion strategy - insult the flight attendant more, that'll convince her!

[WordMan]

Saw this past Sunday's about OBL's killing.

My wife kept saying "I hate the way women are portrayed on this show!"

Can't argue the point - Maggie's character and how her interactions with Jim are written are unrealistic, weirdly awkward and ultimately, annoying as all hell. Mac comes across as the opposite of the war-branded, take-no-shit veteran. Sloan seems like the most reasonable female character thus far.

And Will being stoned seemed like an unnecessary throwaway twist to give Daniels something to do that episode. At least he played a cool guitar (he's a great player and that was really him on that Martin OM-28 - my guess on the model based on what I saw )...

Jeez I want this show to be better than it is. I will complete the season, but...

ETA: after a quick Google, it was probably this, with a natural top: http://www.martinguitar.com/catalogs/OMJeffDaniels.pdf

[Anomie]

For people who dislike this show: What TV do you watch?

Since Game of Thrones finished, Breaking Bad and The Newsroom are the only two shows I look forward to.

On my DVR, you'll also find True Blood, Weeds, Louie, Colbert/Stewart/Letterman and some Australian stuff (Gruen, Good Game, Media Watch, Four Corners), but they mostly sit for a while.

Am I missing a heap of good stuff?

[ThelmaLou]

Originally Posted by WordMan

Sloan seems like the most reasonable female character thus far.

But what a name?!? All I can think of when I hear her name is "Black Sabbath." Does anyone in the world have the last name "Sabbith"?

[DiosaBellissima]

Originally Posted by WordMan

Sloan seems like the most reasonable female character thus far.

Except she's that old stereotype that a woman can either be social or smart-- she's shown to be basically autistic when it comes to dealing with human interaction and emotion, all while making her some sort of economic genius.

[Meltdown]

So I've got a question -- and quite possibly my interpretation is wrong -- but it seemed like the big "victory" of the episode is that ACN was able to report the news of Bin Laden's death about 15 seconds before the president announced it.

But who really does that help? Are the viewers somehow better informed because they learned the news 15 seconds before everyone else did? What was the real accomplishment here?

[WordMan]

Originally Posted by Meltdown

So I've got a question -- and quite possibly my interpretation is wrong -- but it seemed like the big "victory" of the episode is that ACN was able to report the news of Bin Laden's death about 15 seconds before the president announced it.

But who really does that help? Are the viewers somehow better informed because they learned the news 15 seconds before everyone else did? What was the real accomplishment here?

Journalists are typically portrayed as placing a lot of value to be first to break a story. Sometimes there is value because of the story - e.g., an emergency requiring listener action; sometimes because the journalist gets the buzz of being first and if the story is a long-term one, can be the "voice of the story" which is huge - look at Woodward and Bernstein; or sometimes it is just because they are competitive...

But in this case, no real value, no.

ThelmaLou - I hear ya; I guess I assumed the name was a variation on Jessica Savitch, the newswoman who ended up having a coke problem and drowning after a car crash...

[DiosaBellissima]

Originally Posted by Meltdown

But who really does that help? Are the viewers somehow better informed because they learned the news 15 seconds before everyone else did? What was the real accomplishment here?

Well, in this case it didn't do much, except that they can say they were the first. In reality, had Will actually not been high and checked his phone, he'd have seen the text from Biden and they would have been able to report it 20 minutes before the announcement, which obviously would have been a much bigger deal.

[Wheelz]

They weren't first, though (and I don't think 20 minutes would have changed that). Everybody else was already reporting it, but Charlie was insisting that they not do so until the White House said it was OK to. So it had something to do with integrity or something, I guess, but the point got a bit muddled along the way.

[DiosaBellissima]

Weren't the others just guessing? They had legitimate confirmation from the White House.

[Meltdown]

Originally Posted by DiosaBellissima

and they would have been able to report it 20 minutes before the announcement, which obviously would have been a much bigger deal.

Maybe I'm just being dense here, and I'm not a news junkie, so there's also that, but why is this obviously a bigger deal? Again, what would be the benefit to the public at large if they knew Bin Laden was dead 20 minutes before the president told them?

The whole mission of NewsNight 2.0, if I recall correctly, is to provide factual information to the public to inform them of the issues at hand so they can make intelligent voting choices. How does this further that end?

WordMan had some good answers on why being first can be important, but none of them really apply in this particular case.

[Typo Negative]

Originally Posted by ThelmaLou

But what a name?!? All I can think of when I hear her name is "Black Sabbath." Does anyone in the world have the last name "Sabbith"?

God, she's even hotter to me now!

[Wheelz]

Originally Posted by DiosaBellissima

Weren't the others just guessing? They had legitimate confirmation from the White House.

If I understood correctly, they did have confirmation, and from more than one source, which was why the Washington anchor was upset that she wasn't being allowed to report it.

What they were waiting for was the WH to say it was "reportable", which I took to mean essentially "permission". Charlie's Desert Storm anecdote was about being responsible with news that may potentially affect national security.

But meanwhile, Will was stoned, Maggie was being insane, Neil's girlfriend was being all angsty, and Don was acting like an ass on a plane, so I think much of the impact of Charlie's stand was lost in the crowd.

[Maserschmidt]

I just caught up on watching. My first two thoughts were that the zany Maggie simply doesn't fit in; the second is that I'm bored of the bipolar Don and his swings from asshole to human and back again.

Otherwise I still like this show a lot.

[Maserschmidt]

I just rewatched all the episodes with my wife, and I'm more okay with Maggie and Don. Really fun show.

[ThelmaLou]

The story is getting more interesting. Some good subplot development.

I just wanted to SLAP Maggie for going on and on and on about the need to cover the Casey Anthony story to bring ratings up. And her sulking pouty attitude about it was completely unprofessional. Everybody knows that advertising and ratings are the name of the game in commercial television. Wishing it weren't so doesn't make it not so. If you don't like it, work for NPR (which is where I get all of my news-- I've given up on TV news-- NPR and a few internet sites). What a big baby.

And the shouting. Must there be so much shouting?

I'm loving Will's bodyguard. He is waaay yummy, possibly the most attractive man on the show.

[pricciar]

I thought last week's show was pitch perfect, and I was surprised people were so down on it. (Did I already post that? I forget. If I did. Forgive me.) I think it was the best of the season. It handled the romantic subplot pretty well. Jim and Maggie were being pretty stupid for most of it, but the roommate was logical and made sense. The drug thing was sort of dumb, but they didn't go too far with it, and it had some gags that worked out. Great all around.

Tonight's episode had some excellent moments and the whole thing with the NSA is very interesting. (Loved the bit with Charlie in the library. Both the funny part and the dramatic one.) But, mixed in there was some glaring awfulness. Sloan shoving the other guy against the wall NOT for saying she had slept to the top, but for the fat ass comment. Come on, man. I know she is supposed to be clueless, but that doesn't even work in that context. Just stupid.

I'm still watching and looking forward to it.

[Tangent]

Originally Posted by ThelmaLou

The story is getting more interesting. Some good subplot development.

I agree!

I just wanted to SLAP Maggie for going on and on and on about the need to cover the Casey Anthony story to bring ratings up.

You mean Mac, right?

[ThelmaLou]

Originally Posted by Tangent

You mean Mac, right?

YIKES!! Of course, I meant Mac. My bad.

[Chefguy]

Looks like boss bitch and her evil progeny are about to take a beat-down. Kind of a clumsy plot device, though. Why would an NSA employee bother with a newscaster, or even care, for that matter? Or was this just more Sorkin exposition on the evils of government?

[ThelmaLou]

Originally Posted by Chefguy

Why would an NSA employee bother with a newscaster, or even care, for that matter?

This is a pretty cynical question. He would "bother" in order to get the story out. If you can't figure out why he would care, I can't explain it to you.

[Chefguy]

Originally Posted by ThelmaLou

This is a pretty cynical question. He would "bother" in order to get the story out. If you can't figure out why he would care, I can't explain it to you.

Well, it's happened so many times in the history of the agency.

[ThelmaLou]

Forgot to mention: I really liked seeing Will smoking. I grew up in a day when everyone smoked and it was the epitome of sophistication. A man lighting a woman's cigarette while locking eyeballs with her was blatantly and yet subtly erotic.

I know it's bad for us now (it wasn't then, right?), and today is about as politically correct as clubbing gay baby seals, but I enjoyed seeing it.

It must be hard to find actors who can smoke credibly onscreen these days--who know how to hold the ciggie and flick the ash with authenticity.

[Taomist]

Originally Posted by ThelmaLou

It must be hard to find actors who can smoke credibly onscreen these days--who know how to hold the ciggie and flick the ash with authenticity.

I remember hearing that even in high school acting class, 101. "If you don't smoke, don't bother trying to fake it."

What's funny is that I now DO smoke, and apparantly still look like I'm trying to fake it. I barely inhale, must hold it oddly because I've never had any kind of nic stains on my fingers despite chain smoking, and actively avoid even my own smoke. Apparantly it looks like I'm inhabited by a ghost trying to torture me with smoking. But I've only got 10 years in; gimme time!


BTW...Very glad to see David Krumholtz get some air. That man is just beautiful, rawr!

[YWalker]

For whatever reason, I never watched any of the earlier Sorkin shows, so this is all news to me. That montage that showed him repeating his favorite lines over and over was hilarious, though.

I've sorta liked it from the beginning, or, more correctly, saw that it had potential to grow on me. I gave it a 3 week hiatus during the Olympic coverage, and just caught up on the last 3 episodes on my DVR this weekend. I think it's starting to hit its stride for me, except for one very big thing: I hate the way he has accomplished, talented women frequently turning into 7th graders --- usually when it comes to matters of romance, but it also showed up with Sloane going nuts over the "does my butt look big" thing, and with Mac's failure to understand the concept of "Reply all" (Seriously? In 2012?). Women aren't going to reach their level of accomplishment if they're that stupid and childish. On the male side, we've only seen the Bigfoot thing come close.

I seriously love the interaction between Will and his bodyguard, though, and I also like the interaction between Will and his psychiatrist. If they can just stop treating women like they're children, I think I'll really like this show.

And, to weigh in on the opening credit music discussion ---- I really like it.

[DMark]

I like the show and it is growing on me.

Just wondering - I think I would like this show better if it didn't discuss real news from back in those days. I think it sort of distracts from the storyline, as you know how that news story is going to end. I think it would be more fun to watch with fictional news stories, so you didn't have an idea how that bit of news would grow or die, or how important bits of information might be. Using the real news sort of puts a damper on my interest in how that news is covered, as I know what will happen and how it ends.

Still, nice pacing and good actors and great characters. They could make the women a bit less needy and lose a bit of the romance subplots.

[ThelmaLou]

Originally Posted by DMark

They could make the women a bit less needy and lose a bit of the romance subplots.

Another wise voice rings in.

Also, could Mac go one episode without yelling? No? Okay then.

[Chefguy]

I know that it's just Sorkin preaching, but would any station looking to make money seriously think that the RNC or DNC would agree to such a debate format? As in ever? My fondest wish is that all networks would refuse to air such vapid events as presidential debates unless they could ask tough questions and hold people to specific answers. Ain't ever going to happen as long as ratings drive the material.

[WordMan]

Originally Posted by Chefguy

I know that it's just Sorkin preaching, but would any station looking to make money seriously think that the RNC or DNC would agree to such a debate format? As in ever?

Watching it now. Yeah, that was silly.

[ThelmaLou]

But it was fun to imagine how a serious, substantive debate might look and sound. <sigh>

[Rollo Tomasi]

Originally Posted by ThelmaLou

It must be hard to find actors who can smoke credibly onscreen these days--who know how to hold the ciggie and flick the ash with authenticity.

That's interesting, because I've been thinking this whole time what an incredibly fake-looking smoker Jeff Daniels is. He doesn't look convincing to me at all.

I thought last night's episode was the worst one so far. The idea that the new debate format would ever happen was just ridiculous, and as much as I hate to do it, I was completely with the RNC guy on that matter. A debate where the moderator is free to cut the candidates off and interrupt them at any moment? I'm all for debate reform, but that's just stupid. Sorkin does realize that the debate is not about the moderator, right?

That scene in the dress shop? Pure agony. And it just . . . kept . . . going. I was so incredibly embarrassed for John Gallagher Jr.

What does this troll storyline with Neal have to do with anything?

And Will can't put on his pants! Ho ho, how amusing.

I thought the show had been on something of an upswing for the last two or three episodes, but there were several giant steps backward with this episode.

[Bryan Ekers]

Originally Posted by Rollo Tomasi

I thought last night's episode was the worst one so far. The idea that the new debate format would ever happen was just ridiculous, and as much as I hate to do it, I was completely with the RNC guy on that matter. A debate where the moderator is free to cut the candidates off and interrupt them at any moment? I'm all for debate reform, but that's just stupid. Sorkin does realize that the debate is not about the moderator, right?

It's about THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, DAMMIT! But, yeah, it's hard to have sympathy for someone with an idealistic dream when they go about pursuing it in such a stupid way.

But don't forget - Will's a Republican! And he's pro-life! Therefore it's fair!

And Will can't put on his pants! Ho ho, how amusing.

Hey, even the great ones put on their pants two legs at a time.


And researching this "troll" thing is ridiculous. "There are jerks on the internet! Film at eleven! Also, water wet! Film at eleven!"

[Isamu]

Originally Posted by ThelmaLou

I'm loving Will's bodyguard. He is waaay yummy, possibly the most attractive man on the show.

Hey, that's Chris Rock's dad! I knew he had two job, but I never suspected this!

[Wheelz]

Part of my criticism of this show is that it can't seem to decide what it is. With both Sports Night (comedy with some dramatic undertones) and West Wing (drama with a sense of humor), Sorkin managed to strike just the right tone for what they were, and the tone stayed fairly consistent throughout those series. Studio 60 never seemed to find any tone at all; it was just a mess.

The Newsroom isn't as big a mess as Studio 60, but it alternately feels like both Sports Night and West Wing, and can't seem to settle on any point on the spectrum in between. The resulting whiplash undermines both the comedic and dramatic elements.

[Bryan Ekers]

Well, you know how Jon Stewart is a comedian who occasionally makes a serious point, and is very good at it?


This is the opposite of that.

[Isamu]

According to this GQ thread:

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/...d.php?t=161726

progeny of ambassadors are not considered subject to US law and are thus not automatically awarded citizenship for being born on US soil. So that whole backstory for MacKenzie "being a US citizen because she was born on US soil" is dubious. Of course she could have applied for US citizenship and got it any time later, but she didn't get it by, as several characters say, "being born on US soil".

[Chefguy]

Originally Posted by Chefguy

Well, it's happened so many times in the history of the agency.

Well, I have to retract this bit of snark in light of the video I saw today.

[standingwave]

Originally Posted by DiosaBellissima

Well, in this case it didn't do much, except that they can say they were the first. In reality, had Will actually not been high and checked his phone, he'd have seen the text from Biden and they would have been able to report it 20 minutes before the announcement, which obviously would have been a much bigger deal.

Marc Hirsh has some fun noting that the News Night crew isn't so much about doing the hard work of journalism as simply possessing amazing inside connections.

So as the show's first season galumphs to a halt with Sunday's upcoming finale, we wonder: What other unlikely relationships with folks embedded in the big stories of the past year will the characters on The Newsroom exploit in the episodes and seasons to come? Some predictions follow.

3. February 6, 2012: Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her Diamond Jubilee. Executive producer MacKenzie McHale once served as an apprentice to the Queen's corgi wrangler.

7. Spring-Summer 2012: Charles G. and David H. Koch become ever more financially invested in the 2012 presidential election. During an all-staff meeting, ACN news president Charlie Skinner sheepishly reveals that he can get a News Night scoop on the elusive Koch brothers, being the secret fifth Koch brother himself.

8. May 9, 2012: President Obama announces his support for same-sex marriage. Booker Kendra James has an uncle in the Secret Service who has surreptitiously whispered "Come out in favor of marriage equality... come out in favor of marriage equality..." nightly into the President's ear as he slept.