The Newsroom

[Coys1882]

I don't care who dies as long as Sloan is fine.

[TurnedTheCorner]

Sloan is, in fact, fine.

[Mr.Coffee]

I can't handle the shows' cheese factor. Just so layered on... I feel like the only reason I'm watching is because I've already invested so much time into it.

The "why is the country the best in the world" thing and saying you do to that chick was just too much. Bleh.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

I can't handle the shows' cheese factor. Just so layered on... I feel like the only reason I'm watching is because I've already invested so much time into it.

The "why is the country the best in the world" thing and saying you do to that chick was just too much. Bleh.

But the rant on the tea party going through all of their positions and calling them the american Taliban was fantastic. As well as the differentiation between what you would call Regan / Bush 1 republicans with the current social conservative republicans was really well done.

Then you had Jim and Maggie, and the Mekensie train wreck dragging the show down. The news side of the show is so well done. I can see why Sorkin is re-tooling his writing staff. I'm assuming that the Sorkin rants are Daniels newscasts and the remaining fluff is filled in by the writing staff.

[Coys1882]

The shame in all this is that none of the people who these Sorkin diatribes are aimed at, will be watching this fataing show.

[The Goon]

I have just caught on to this show by watching a few episodes on a flight. I agree with what folks are saying here about the fluff dragging the show down, but I also know that that's the stuff that would get people like my wife into the show. She needs characters, backstory, romantic intrigue, etc. So maybe that stuff was put in to attract a larger audience.

It's really good, and I also like that I hadn't heard of 90% of this cast before. Some nice fresh faces.

[Senator Clay Davis]

So I had no idea this show was back on this Sunday until I saw an ad for it last night on HBO. I'll probably watch the first few episodes to see if it has improved much, with the hope the background stories (i.e. the romantic ones) are severely limited and we get more time to focus on the news stuff, the real strength of the show.

[VANFLAMESFAN]

Will singing Rebecca Black. 2013 TV highlight.

[TurnedTheCorner]

Originally Posted by VANFLAMESFAN

Will singing Rebecca Black. 2013 TV highlight.

https://vine.co/v/hZTbUDQpau2

[Oling_Roachinen]

Didn't know it premiered. I remember the finale took place during Summer 2011, not sure if it skipped ahead yet or if started off at that point but I really hope it gets to March 2012 to tackle the media manipulation of the Zimmerman trial this season.

[Arsenal14]

Season one ended with August 2011 and season 2 started a couple of weeks later. Looks from the first episode that it will hit the end of Arab Spring, the Occupy Wall Street movement and likely Kony 2012 as well as a fictional plotline covering some supposed coverup.

[smoothpops]

Originally Posted by Arsenal14

Season one ended with August 2011 and season 2 started a couple of weeks later. Looks from the first episode that it will hit the end of Arab Spring, the Occupy Wall Street movement and likely Kony 2012 as well as a fictional plotline covering some supposed coverup.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Tailwind
it's based on this

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Just my opinion, but I was pretty disappointed by the premiere. They completely switched gears on the romantic plot lines in a jarring fashion. The whole intrigue at the beginning with the lawyers wasn't explained in the slightest, and seems to be really dragged out if it's going to be revealed over multiple episodes. I just wasn't a fan of it as a premiere because it didn't intrigue me in any way to watch the next episode.

I really hope it gets better, otherwise I might not bother watching.

[Flash Walken]

These reviews are turning into hate rants, and I don’t want to do that, so let me start with something that The Newsroom is doing very right.

Operation Genoa. So far, The Newsroom has had little dramatic tension because we know how it all turns out. These are the perils of weaving real-life events into your narrative. Sorry, but The West Wing didn’t do that. Instead, it depicted fictional events that vaguely reminded us of real-life scenarios, and Operation Genoa is kinda like that. As a result, we’re invested in developments surrounding Genoa, but we don’t know how it ends. This is narrative drama 101, and it’s flabbergasting it took Sorkin an entire season to figure it out. Note: it also helps that the actor driving the Genoa storyline is the terrific Hamish Linklater, a smart, compelling screen presence. He’s such a transformative actor that I completely forgot he played Ralph Branca in this year’s 42, which was in itself a memorable performance.

So that’s what’s working in The Newsroom. What isn’t? Nearly everything else. For starters, Sorkin is stuffing way too many current events into each episode. In this one, we had Occupy Wall Street, the execution of Troy Davis, the assassination of Anwar al-Awlaki, and the Republican primaries, which obviously will be a season-long arc. I was pretty interested in how they would take on the Romney candidacy and the 2012 election, but so far it looks Sorkin is only interested in using it as a vehicle to continue the ongoing relationship drama between Jim, Maggie, Don, and whatsername. With the introduction of the cute, blonde reporter on the campaign bus, the love rectangle threatens to turn into a pentagon.

I say, bring it on. She can’t be worse than Maggie, who seems to be getting stupider with every episode. Forget about the way she has so badly mismanaged her love life. People do that in her twenties. Forget about the way she confused Georgia (the state) with Georgia (the country) last season; happens to the best of us. But I will always remember this episode because it is the one in which Maggie actually speaks these ridiculous words, “Can you think of anything about Africa that is relevant to Americans?”

http://reelchange.net/2013/07/23/the...n-2-episode-2/

[Yamer]

I liked the previous opening sequence much more than the current one.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Yamer

I liked the previous opening sequence much more than the current one.

Yeah.

The whole season has pretty much sucked from the opening seconds.

[smoothpops]

Way too cheesy! I actually let out an audible groan when that fax came through

[Flash Walken]

This show is ####ing terrible.

This is supposed to be the re-write?

Awful.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Yeah there is no doubt the show is regressing pretty hard. It still rates relatively well for HBO (and 3X better than Girls which got renewed easily) so I don't see it getting cancelled, but it isn't showing any signs of getting better anytime soon. The season seems to be crawling like a snail right now, and the new forced romantic storylines look like they'll be as painful to watch as last years.

[nik-]

I bailed on this one halfway through last season ... sounds like I made the right choice?

A little too much hindsight condescension and lame love triangle for me.