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The Newsroom: first review

"If you’re not put off by some of those Sorkin traits.... then The Newsroom might be a drama that hooks," says a first review.

The Hollywood Reporter already has a review in on Aaron Sorkin’s new HBO drama series, The Newsroom.

Featuring Jeff Daniels and Jane Fonda, this one will air in Australian on Showcase sometime this year.

So The Newsroom comes to HBO, which isn’t worried about advertiser backlash or lack of ratings. What the channel gets is pure Sorkin; you can take that any which way you want, depending on your thoughts about Sorkin. Are the characters exceptionally quick-witted and do they dabble in fast-paced repartee? Yes. Do characters often talk in what could best be described as elaborate, heartfelt and intellectual monologues? They do. Sorkin has historically been prone to what’s called monologueing. But perhaps it should be called soapboxing in his case because there’s always that nagging feeling that you’re listening to a lecture. And finally, is The Newsroom earnest? Yes, because pretty much everything Sorkin does is earnest — and if you didn’t know that before, you’ll know it when you hear the swelling orchestration in the introduction and at the end of some, well, earnest scenes. If you’re not put off by some of those Sorkin traits — and honestly, they are ever-present — then The Newsroom might be a drama that hooks you with what it’s ultimately trying to say about some complicated issues. It stars Jeff Daniels as Will McAvoy, the anchor and managing editor of the News Night newscast on the fictional ACN cable news channel, who is both described and derided as “Jay Leno” because he’s afraid to alienate anyone, preferring to live in the ratings-friendly middle ground. The conceit of Newsroom is that Will wasn’t always that vanilla, that back in the day he was more devoted to real news and facts, not worrying about if either of those offended anyone in either political party.

One Response

  1. Should be good. Unless we start seeing plots from The American President, Sports Night, The West Wing and Studio 60 rehashed, or at least rehashed too much…

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