Amph The Newsroom

Anyone (else) anticipating the start of season 2 (which is tonight)? Despite the flaws of the first season (certain story lines & characters that got annoying really fast, what's very likely an idealized version of an actual newsroom), I still very much enjoyed this show, in large part due to Jeff Daniels, Sam Waterston & the fast paced nature of the writing.

 

"very likely idealized" lmao. how could anyone watch anything written by alan sorkin and mistake it for realism?

 

Yeah this show is where Sorkin finally went off the deep end with his own self righteousness. The more I think about it, the only TV series of his that I really like are Sports Night (a bit) and the West Wing (despite all the crazy preachiness that develops sometimes, the characters and the acting are just too good to deny).

 

i like sorkin, but its a fairytale world of glib fey-people that never tire

i like sorkin-created stuff because i always sit there the whole time and think: "wow, wouldnt life be great if i was that super career-driven and hyper-competant and i lived my life in constant motion, taking breaks only to quip and have confusing interpersonal relations with my high-powered co-workers?" i always feel really good watching his stuff and then afterwards i get really depressed about my life

 

For all the negative thinking that I do, I don't feel that way after this/another Sorkin work... it's just fluffy entertainment (most of the time). Relax.

 

oh dont get me wrong. i acknowledge that its fluff. his work really is the lowest common denominator of faux-intellectualism for shallow technocrats

 

Definitely looking forward to it.I enjoyed the first season even though the first five minutes of the pilot sum up a Sorkin series perfectly. There is no way any human being should be able to rattle off so many statistics so fast on the fly. Aside from that and the sometimes preachy nature of the characters, I've always enjoyed Sorkin drama: Sports Night, West Wing, Newsroom and the cancelled far too soon Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

My favorite scene from last season definitely had to be when Sam Waterson is reaming out Olivia Munn's character and every other word out of his mouth is a swear. I almost wonder if Sam's contract specifically stated that his character had to use the f word once per episode. For his part, Sam seems to enjoy every minute of it.

 

Studio 60 was worse.

 

Yeah, definitely, but at least Studio 60 didn't involve Sorkin basically lecturing the media in retrospect, using actual events, about how it should have done its job if it were perfect.

 

That's a fair criticism, Billy, but for me I can overlook it (for now) because there are enough entertaining elements. Entertainment can't always be perfect.

 

Oh rogue, never change.

I dunno, Tunick. I agree it can't always (or ever) be perfect, but it can at least not be smug, and be devoid of glaring problems like that one.

 

Umm, if they're good at their job they should. I know for my field I can rattle off stats at that pace if I'm somewhere that I've had to prep to be talking to customers.

 

Then we pretty much agree.

 

Somebody should da a tv series about Sorkin's life to give him a taste of his own medicine.

 

I find it funny that this show is considered some kind of left wing paradise. The forces that placed the United States where it is, the folks who ripped us off, the folks who bet on market losses and then caused the market losses are neither right or left but pretend to be The Right because that side claimed things like God and the Constitution to be their side and it worked.

 

It's not that I don't think a news anchor would know some of that. But to know the exact figures and to be able to literally spout them in a rant strains credulity. It's a staple of Sorkin's writing and that's more my issue. If this were the first time a Sorkin character was doing that, that would be different. But it's a common part of his shows.

In the pilot of Studio 60, the Wes Mendell character is doing pretty much the same thing but at least his isn't filled with exact statistics like Will McAvoy is. In the Season 2 finale of The West Wing, President Bartlet does the same thing when debating the ghost of Mrs. Landingham. And that's one where I could see the statistics making sense as he's bound to know them for stump speeches. But here, as I said, the pilot sums up the statistic spewing that Sorkin is known for. It's not a bad rant. It's not a bad scene. It's just hard to believe someone could recite that much data that fast, in a fit of anger, on the fly.

Now, that said, it's shown that Will is a very bright anchor and that he was a former prosecutor so I do believe he knows his stuff. And looking at it from a character perspective, sure that makes sense. And certainly after the pilot where he does the entire show without a teleprompter, its pretty clear that he's a bright guy. But after watching the other shows, it just feels more like a standard clue that you're watching a show by Aaron Sorkin.

 

Please tell me in which episode does he get beaten up by a chick.

 

I hope there aren't any more silly romantic subplots either, but you never know. I agree that it was a very solid episode... I wonder how long it will take before we know every detail about "Genoa" (perhaps, maybe next week); Neal's involvement with Occupy Wall Street should be an interesting storyline. I'm sure, obviously, you noticed the new/subdued opening credits... a vast improvement over the first season.

 

Yeah, last season's credits were too grandiose and self-important. Huge improvement this season.

Overall, a solid episode of the Newsroom. Is it self-important still? Sure but so what. It's good entertainment and the dialogue is top notch.

 

http://www.theonion.com/articles/nation-hoping-the-newsroom-ends-before-trayvon-mar,33135/

 

i liked the overthetop self-important credits last season. id always pose dramatically to the music while i was getting my snack together. at some point ill czechoslovakia out this season and see what the hubub's about