The Newsroom

[Freya]

There is a brand new show on HBO that just started this past week. I just watched it (had it set to record and forgot about it oops!) It is amazing! Take this clip from it!



If you are too lazy to watch that just have a graphic.



Anyone else catching this show? It's awesome and I'm really looking forward to the rest of the season of it!

HBO was nice enough to put it on youtube. The first episode that is. I'll youtube link it here but it's an hourish long!

here it is!

[Jinx]

Haha, I love that little picture thing. So true!

[Freya]

It seems the critics are very, well, critical of this show. A lot of people are disapproving of his last bit of that diatribe that's not in the graphic. They are taking his comment of "worst generation ever" and his comment full of nostalgia about america prior. What I think people are failing to realize is the character of Will, couldn't even get his younger assistants name right. I didn't take his "worst generation ever" statement to be fact but more of sarcasm and even if it wasn't, it's not like he's that tuned in with the younger generation anyway! The general concept of his rant is very much right. America is not the greatest anymore, but we could be! And I love that.

Apparently this series did better in it's opening than Game of Thrones! Ratings wise that is.

[Bunny]

I forgot this aired but I am definitely going to watch it. Aaron Sorkin makes solid shows and with the backing of HBO it should be prime boobie time.

[Nice]

Will certainly look out for this masterpiece.

[The Man]

Caught the pilot. It's good. Very good. Possibly the best thing Sorkin has done since The West Wing, even. (And I wasn't one of those people with an irrational hatred of The Social Network because it was about Facebook; I thought that was great too).

[Freya]

I was very impressed and i'm looking forward to tonights new episode!

[Del Murder]

Shoot, I forgot to tape this show.

The begining and the ending of the pilot episode were pretty good. The middle kind of bored me, to the point where I played PSP while listening to it because there was nothing on screen I really needed to see. The crap with Don Quixote was just wtf? I also didn't like the character the Law and Order guy played.

But it has promise and we'll see if it can smooth out the rough edges. Ease up on the preachy monalogues for starters. I mean, it's Sorkin so that's mandatory, but only have like 1 or 2 per episode.

[Freya]

I really enjoyed the new episode. It was more character driven than preachy with the news points thing. I like the maggie/jim dynamic. I don't care what people say Neal is my favorite though. People are always talking in front of him and he's all "Uhhhhhhhh o.o"

[Miriel]

I smurfing loooooove The West Wing, so I've been eagerly waiting for this show.

I thought the pilot was great/not-great. If that makes any sense. The parts that were good were REALLY good. But there was so much... Sorkin-isms. He over Sorkined himself. There were points where the monologues just got laughably bad.

But I have faith! I think this show could be really really good. But I don't mind that the critics are spanking Sorkin with the reviews. Maybe those criticisms will help reign him in.

[charliepanayi]

Well it's been renewed for a second season so interesting to see if Sorkin does decide to tone things down a bit.

Or maybe he just needs to get back on cocaine like he was for the first few seasons of The West Wing!

[Freya]

I really liked this episode. The formatting of it that is. After the last scene where he gets the text/email for the meeting that had been overarching the whole episode I was like "Oh damn."

[Del Murder]

I don't know about this show. It's trying to hard to be The West Wing and not even coming close. It should try to be its own thing. Way too preachy for a show about news. It's just a damn news show. It works a lot better when it's about the president because that actually matters. The first few minutes of this episode bored me and were completely unrealistic.

I also wish they didn't follow actuall events because that's boring. I don't want to watch a show making fun of Republicans for what they did in 2010. I already got that by watching Jon Stewart as it was happening. West Wing was cool because everything was fictional, so there could be some pretty crazy situations created.

The characters are also not that great. I cannot stand Maggie. I just want to crack her egg-shaped face every time I see it. Will is actually better now that he's less grumpy, but he's no Martin Sheen. Newsroom Jim is ok, but he's not as endearing as Office Jim (almost the same situation). Law & Order guy is overacting way too much. McKenzie is not that bad but she needs to tone it down. The rest of characters are bleh. Except for the Indian/Middle Eastern guy. I like him the best.

[Freya]

I like Neal the best too. i like how they are always having convos in front of him and he's all "O.O"

[Miriel]

This show is getting worse instead of better.

BE THE INTEGRITY was probably one of the worst lines of dialogue I've ever heard on a show.

And this third episode was such a mess. Did they really just zoom ahead 6 months into the timeline which is already 2 years behind our current time?

It got so damn preachy that I zoned off and read a book while it was playing. I NEVER do that when watching a show. It got really really bad. The stuff with Jim and Maggie is really bizarre just because it's pretty much the EXACT situation as Jim and Pam in The Office. Like, identical. It weirds me out. I loved Sam Waterston in Law and Order so seeing him just overact and ham up every scene in this show is really startling and bizarre. Tone it down man!

In fact, pretty much everyone has to tone it down, except Neal who really is the best. And oddly enough I think Olivia Munn is doing a great job too. I haaaated her on the Daily Show but she's really fabulous here. Pretty much the only competent, non-crazy female we've seen so far.

The monologues are achingly bad but the lightening quick quips are still delightful. I think I'll keep watching just because there is a chance it will get better.