The Newsroom (2012-2014)
As I've been binge-watching recently, I began to wonder why I didn't talk about it on here at all. There's some really cool gems that people might not know are on Amazon Prime or Netflix, and I want to let people know what I think of them. So, welcome to Chronicles of a Binge-Watcher, the story of a college student with way too much time on his hands. In this first installment, I will cover an HBO show that I've now watched completely twice in the past year: The Newsroom.
I first heard of this show through its opening scene which has more or less become an internet sensation. In it, Jeff Daniels's character Will McAvoy, a popular cable news anchor, is asked what makes America the greatest country in the world. His response caught me more than a little off-guard, and I think you'll see why if you watch it. It is without a doubt one of the most honest moments I have ever seen on American television. In fact, watch it here before reading the rest of this post. It's worth your time.
Finished? Great. Let's continue.
Needless to say, any show that does something like this gets my attention in a big way. After watching the first season of The West Wing, which is also created and mostly written by Aaron Sorkin, I began watching The Newsroom on a hunch that I would like it.
And you know what? I was wrong. I loved it.
It's definitely not for everyone, but if you can get past Aaron Sorkin's soapbox moments, The Newsroom is an incredible thing to behold. It takes a few episodes to really get going, but even in the slightly messy first episode there's two incredible moments with the aforementioned opening scene and the way it closes with the BP Deepwater Horizon incident.
That's another really cool thing about The Newsroom, especially during its first season: it uses real events as the backdrop for the entire show. You get to see how this particular team uses the sources they have to craft the stories they air. Now, this structure does get a little tiring during the course of the first season, as it almost feels like the show relies on these events as a narrative crutch of sorts. Thankfully, the other two seasons don't fall into this trap and let the events pose as a backdrop to some other larger story arcs. This is definitely the way they should have been used from the start, as we get to see more character development without these current events clouding our vision.
There's two more potential problems with The Newsroom, and both revolve around Aaron Sorkin. The first is the fact that Sorkin wears his political views on his sleeve throughout the entire show. Granted, I would expect nothing less of the man who created The West Wing, but if you don't agree with him or don't like people on soapboxes, then you shouldn't touch this show with a ten-foot pole. The second regards his construction of the news program itself. It is so heavily idealistic and optimistic about what a news program can be, so if you want a realistic depiction of an actual cable news network, then I would look elsewhere. However, if you want to realize what a cable news show could be in its best possible state, then there's nowhere else to look.
Sorkin's writing for The Newsroom is top-notch as usual; however, I wouldn't consider that to be the best reason to binge this show. No, you do that for the acting. Jeff Daniels turns in the best performance I've ever seen him give as Will McAvoy. He is charismatic, intense, layered, and candid in a way that I didn't think he could be. Emily Mortimer and Sam Waterston complement Daniels really well, and their scenes together are some of the best-acted moments of television I've seen in a long time. Alison Pill, John Gallagher Jr., Thomas Sadoski, and Dev Patel round out the supporting newsroom staff quite well, with all at or near the top of their game.
However, my favorite part of this entire show is the character of Sloan Sabbith. I'm not sure whether this is a product of Sorkin's writing of the character or Olivia Munn's performance, so I'll say it's a mix of both. Munn is in her wheelhouse playing a fast-talking, drop-dead gorgeous but incredibly awkward yet subtly witty financial reporter. She gets so many amazing moments, especially as the show progresses. This is the perfect example of how to properly write a supporting character with comic relief. Munn's performance is an absolute revelation.
Now, here's the real question underlying all of this: is it as good as The West Wing? I hate answering this question because that is an unfair comparison in almost any scenario, but every Aaron Sorkin show since that absolute masterpiece has to be compared to it at some point. My answer is no, but there's a catch: The Newsroom is nothing like The West Wing. It's a completely different kind of show. Yes, there are some stylistic similarities, but for the most part, besides the similar political stances of the two there's almost no way to tell that the same person created and wrote both. And that might be this show's ultimate saving grace.
My recommendation: give it a few episodes before passing on it.
Grade: 71
Finished? Great. Let's continue.
Needless to say, any show that does something like this gets my attention in a big way. After watching the first season of The West Wing, which is also created and mostly written by Aaron Sorkin, I began watching The Newsroom on a hunch that I would like it.
And you know what? I was wrong. I loved it.
It's definitely not for everyone, but if you can get past Aaron Sorkin's soapbox moments, The Newsroom is an incredible thing to behold. It takes a few episodes to really get going, but even in the slightly messy first episode there's two incredible moments with the aforementioned opening scene and the way it closes with the BP Deepwater Horizon incident.
That's another really cool thing about The Newsroom, especially during its first season: it uses real events as the backdrop for the entire show. You get to see how this particular team uses the sources they have to craft the stories they air. Now, this structure does get a little tiring during the course of the first season, as it almost feels like the show relies on these events as a narrative crutch of sorts. Thankfully, the other two seasons don't fall into this trap and let the events pose as a backdrop to some other larger story arcs. This is definitely the way they should have been used from the start, as we get to see more character development without these current events clouding our vision.
There's two more potential problems with The Newsroom, and both revolve around Aaron Sorkin. The first is the fact that Sorkin wears his political views on his sleeve throughout the entire show. Granted, I would expect nothing less of the man who created The West Wing, but if you don't agree with him or don't like people on soapboxes, then you shouldn't touch this show with a ten-foot pole. The second regards his construction of the news program itself. It is so heavily idealistic and optimistic about what a news program can be, so if you want a realistic depiction of an actual cable news network, then I would look elsewhere. However, if you want to realize what a cable news show could be in its best possible state, then there's nowhere else to look.
Sorkin's writing for The Newsroom is top-notch as usual; however, I wouldn't consider that to be the best reason to binge this show. No, you do that for the acting. Jeff Daniels turns in the best performance I've ever seen him give as Will McAvoy. He is charismatic, intense, layered, and candid in a way that I didn't think he could be. Emily Mortimer and Sam Waterston complement Daniels really well, and their scenes together are some of the best-acted moments of television I've seen in a long time. Alison Pill, John Gallagher Jr., Thomas Sadoski, and Dev Patel round out the supporting newsroom staff quite well, with all at or near the top of their game.
However, my favorite part of this entire show is the character of Sloan Sabbith. I'm not sure whether this is a product of Sorkin's writing of the character or Olivia Munn's performance, so I'll say it's a mix of both. Munn is in her wheelhouse playing a fast-talking, drop-dead gorgeous but incredibly awkward yet subtly witty financial reporter. She gets so many amazing moments, especially as the show progresses. This is the perfect example of how to properly write a supporting character with comic relief. Munn's performance is an absolute revelation.
Now, here's the real question underlying all of this: is it as good as The West Wing? I hate answering this question because that is an unfair comparison in almost any scenario, but every Aaron Sorkin show since that absolute masterpiece has to be compared to it at some point. My answer is no, but there's a catch: The Newsroom is nothing like The West Wing. It's a completely different kind of show. Yes, there are some stylistic similarities, but for the most part, besides the similar political stances of the two there's almost no way to tell that the same person created and wrote both. And that might be this show's ultimate saving grace.
My recommendation: give it a few episodes before passing on it.
Grade: 71
Comments
Post a Comment