General Discussion

Editor's Note: When writing this article I really pondered if I should or even could keep it completely spoiler-free. I decided that I could not effectively make my point without vaguely talking about some specific events and moments. However, if you haven't been watching, I hope the few things that you will know after reading this will just help push you to watch and not affect your enjoyment of the show.

When I first started watching The Newsroom, I kept having mixed feelings about it. If you ready my thoughts on the first two episodes, you will know that at first I liked it but I didn't love it, and I had a lot of problems with it. However, I felt like I couldn't stop watching. It has never been appointment television like some other shows (hello, Breaking Bad) but I always wanted to eventually see it. This weekend, I had the opportunity to catch up on several episodes and I was surprised and impressed by how much I liked it. It felt like a lot of the problems with the show had begun to settle and go away, and I found much of it to be less annoying than I did at first and I am becoming something I never thought I would be…a true fan of the show.

Don't get me wrong, I still have some problems with the show. The characters have become slightly less annoying, but still could use some work. I would be really happy if Mackenzie would stop having a hysterical breakdown every other episode, because I just don't believe that a woman with her level of professionalism would allow this to happen…or at the very least she would do it behind closed doors and not in front of her colleagues. I also really like the stories that focus more on the "work" than relationships, and really hope they continue with Neal's current story, because it one of my favorites. I love the idea of seeing what journalists really have to go through to get stories and find that must more interesting than the office romance stories. Also, I find that some of the situations that they put the characters in are very convenient. How many times are they going to be at work on a Sunday, or all together at a party when breaking news just happens to well, happen? There are also moments that are very contrived, and I can really feel the writers inventing conflict and problems. It is not that things just happen, it is that situations are very obviously set up so they can hit certain moments and that frustrates me. I am not saying that you have to be shocked and surprised by everything that happens in a show, but I like it much more when things happen naturally.

However, I do have to say, that perhaps I shouldn't be so critical because when The Newsroom hits those moments that are set up they are usually very strong and emotional moments. One of the aspects of the show that I was the most skeptical of at first what the fact that they were using real stories. I was worried that that the stories and relationships would feel disjointed – which I do feel is true. You never know if Don and Maggie are together or not in a certain episode, and that makes it difficult to get invested in them and in their story. It doesn't feel fluid and lacks some punch. On the other hand, they make up for this in the emotional moments they are able to pull off with the re-living and re-telling of actual news stories. They are stories that we all lived through and have our own experiences with and connections too and one of the things the show is the most successful at is making those powerful. The one that sticks in my mind the most is the episode that revolves around the killing of Osama Bin Laden. They way they recreated that night and that story, helped me to relive that important moment in American history. I stopped for an hour to really think about it and think about all of the people that were affected and in the different ways it affected our country and once again said, I felt proud. I felt that same pride that seems to be lacking so much in our disenfranchised country and I said God Bless America for the fact we were able to pull that off. The way it ended made me think about the impact of that day and that event in a way that I otherwise wouldn't have. It was a beautiful moment and a beautiful episode and in many ways, I am thankful that I watched it.

In addition, it is a show that when I finish watching it, I feel smarter and more informed. I know that many critics have problems with The Newsroom because they believe that it is preachy and idealistic and a soapbox for Aaron Sorkin's worldview. This is probably true and if you don't believe that tabloid magazines are evil, that money corrupts, that news has become dumbed down, etc. it might not be the show for you. It is very strong in its principles and if you disagree with them, I can understand how it would be wholeheartedly annoying. On the other hand, at least it has a point of view. It is not that you have to agree with it, but for me it has become informative and entertaining at the same time. I wouldn’t say that it compares to The West Wing in this respect, and as I said before, has some very large flaws that I don't believe that show ever did. However, unless you want to re-watch every episode of The West Wing (which thanks to a few users is a venture I may be embarking on very soon) it is a good second option and has become more and more worth your time.

I must caveat this and say that it took me until the fifth episode to solidify these feelings, as I think perhaps took the show this long to really find its footing and for all of the writers and actors to really gel together. I am really looking forward to next season, because I hope and feel by then, they will have worked through some of the problems and really focus on the aspects about it that are great. It is rare to find good shows on television, and I was skeptical of this one at the start, but now, I believe it is worth the time and I hope that you do and/or will as well.

I don't think the show's gotten better. I mostly take issue with the preachiness you talked about. It feels like Aaron Sorkin is your parent, lecturing you on how we fucked up with the 112th Congress or should've paid attention to the debt ceiling debate. These are things we are currently helpless to fight against. Next election isn't until November and debt will reach its ceiling in 2013 I believe. They spend so much time dismantling the Republican candidates, without stopping to attack the one who's actually getting the nomination. We all know Santorum is a piece of shit. We all know Bachmann is crazy town banana pants. Your 20/20 hindsight offers us nothing Mr. Sorkin.

I started out really liking the show but have slowly turned to active dislike. The dialogue isn't as strong as it was in the first few episodes and the drama is failing on all fronts. Sorkin skipped 6 months to get to the midterm election. Given the point at which we were in the series, that really bugged me. Instead of trying to cover the infancy of NewsNight 2.0, we're just supposed to believe everything went peachy after the Arizona immigration law fiasco.

Also, Olivia Munn is terrible. Like, truly terrible, Her character is already unbelievable enough (a young, sexy, economist PhD who can speak fluent Japanese?), but the way she plays it makes me want to hit things. And it seems the show is focusing more and more on her every episode.

Like you also point out, the show is insanely contrived. Who has a party on Sunday when you have to work the next day? How and why does Charlie Skinner know that The Rock's cousin is a Navy SEAL? How did they think that getting the debate was (a) feasible (b) more important than the debt ceiling debate? You can say a lot of things about Michele Bachmann, one of them being that she will never be president or even get a nomination. Experienced news people should know this. Hell, people who know anything about politics should know this.

Basically, the show exists in fairytale land. Normally, I wouldn't have a problem with this. But this is a show that snootily tries to lecture us on responsible political action while not even trying to portray an active political landscape. Again, hindsight is 20/20. It's really easy to sound smart when the stuff you're talking about happened a year ago.

The only thing I consistently like is Don (I forget the actors name). He's funny and a real likable asshole. Him flipping out on Sloan during the tsunami interview is the highlight of the season so far.

So I've been slowly writing a what I'd want Newsroom to be like in Season 2. I have also been watching Sports Night, the first TV show written by Sorkin. It is a bit easy and reductive to say I want Newsroom to be more like Sports Night, but that is it in a nutshell! Characters are why shows stay with me and right now Will, kinda Don, and Neal are the only ones stand out as far as characters. The Jim-Maggie-Lisa-Don thing I don't care that much about because the show hasn't given me a bead on them. Jim seems like a fun character decent jokes can be same with Maggie. MacKinzie is just insufferable with her constant freakouts it would be unprofessional but more importantly it's annoying to watch every week.

I've got a bit of a man crush on Dev Patel and as Neal is mildly entertaining. Even the whole Bigfoot talk wasn't that bad, a bit overdone but that was the joke in the end. This is probably more do to my constant use of the internet but the whole Troll hangout story isn't really newsworthy but eh it could be interesting and at least the character of Neal gets do to do something.

The use of real news stories isn't as big an issue as I thought it could be. It isn't terrible but it brings up a problem that is irksome. Jumping weeks and months isn't inherently a bad thing only when it is made obvious with time stamps the already underdeveloped characters become worse.

The contrived nature of storylines or the fact that Charlie knows the Rock has a cousin who was a SEAL thing dosen't bother me. This is in the end a work of fiction, it is all contrived in the end if you pick at things. The show HAS problems, every show does. It isn' the greatest but isn't the worst thing ever. When this show works though it really does. It's preachy but man a good "big speech" is pretty good.

so sad that the season is ending on sunday=[. sort of wish hbo would lead in with game of thrones instead of true blood and have the best one-two punch on tv.

I was completely turned off by the show when this clip came out. It clearly isn't an intelligent, or insightful show, if that scene is in anyway representative of the writing. Is that character supposed to be some kind of Glen Beck-type charlatan?

@Martin_Blank: perhaps one should watch it all before making a snap judgement.

I will admit that the last two episodes have in fact been better, or maybe more accurately I should say that there have been better scenes in the last two episodes, or more scenes that are pretty good, whereas before each episode would only have one good scene and the rest would be almost unwatchable. However, despite the fact that there is now more good stuff in each episode, I still feel that the rest of each episode is just flat out bad.

The way that they still treat their female characters is practically unforgivable, and the less I care about their love triangle BS the harder they try and shove it down our throats. I love the news broadcast and I want a broadcast just like that, however every moment when they're not shooting the news all I can think is "How is it that the most incompetent people on the planet put together such a good broadcast?" And the way that they put the broadcast together is so lazy. Sorkin uses information that wasn't revealed until months after each story, making broadcast that would be impossible and then says "Wouldn't it be great if the news was like this?" "You mean Psychic?" And most of the news stories are created based on coincidences that involve ex-roommates or relatives. That's not what real newsmen do, real newsmen go out there and search for the story, they don't just go "Oh somebody I used to hang out with is the star of this story, he'll tell me all the secrets I need to know."

And I am the biggest liberal I know, I have no problem admitting that. So I have to point out that even though I fully agree with the message and the arguments they make each episode, I still have to call a spade a spade and point out that this show is just propaganda. They don't actually try to put the message into the story, instead they lazily just stop every five minutes, turn to the audience, and then have a character flat out state the message in a way that nobody would say it in a real conversation. Then they immediately flip from that to Mac complaining about why won't Will like her. Are you kidding me? It's been how many years? Move on, you've covered wars, you run a news show, stop acting like a thirteen year old girl who throws a tantrum when she doesn't get what she wants! And what's with all the time skips? How am I supposed to care for characters when I miss months of their lives? And shame on you Sorkin for what you have done to Alison Pill, taking one of the most talented actresses of our generation and turning her into a joke. And... and... sigh, I can't keep doing this.

You know I honestly did believe that this show was getting better, and it was giving me hope for season 2, and I was honestly planning on just writing that and nothing else on this post. But just thinking about the show and all that went on this season, and I've weighted those few good scenes with everything else and I have to say forget this show. I'll watch the last episode of the season this Sunday and then that's it, I'm gone. In fact next week's podcast is going to be dedicated to talking about Newsroom for anyone who wants to be on. (it wasn't going to be that but like I said, after thinking about it here I've got some stuff to say about it now)

@obscurefan: I can't disagree with a single thing you said. It is really interesting to me how it is such a polarizing show and it is - even within myself. I had this good experience with a few episodes, but if I had wanted to bend this article the other way I easily could have, and I knew it when writing. It is a fascinating show in that way.

@MrMazz: Because there are too many shows, and movies vying for my time. Is the character an idiotic charlatan or not?

@Martin_Blank said:

I was completely turned off by the show when this clip came out. It clearly isn't an intelligent, or insightful show, if that scene is in anyway representative of the writing. Is that character supposed to be some kind of Glen Beck-type charlatan?

My problem with that scene in particular is that Will (the man talking) is somehow able to pull the US's rankings in several fields, right off the top of his head. I think most people know we're first in prisoners and military spending, and lower in educational areas, but how is anyone able to pull all of these figures? Going into that debate, Will had no idea he was going to need those statistics. Does he just review those every night on the off chance he might have to lecture a college student?

@Martin_Blank: Well he can't put this one pair of pants on right. He isn't an idiotic charlatan that was his Network moment he got mad as hell and wasn't going to take it anymore. Will is one of the better written characters in the show at the very least. This show is pretty oddly polarizing just look at these comments or the ones on avcllub or any other site.