The Newsroom

I watched the first episode last night. My opinion. EVERYONE needs to watch this show. Brilliant writing, a fantastic cast, it was completely electric, and my wife and I could hardly wait to see more.

Whoah.. this looks really good.
Will definitely check it out, I'd even buy the series on the strength of the trailer alone.

Not sure how it is with you guys, but the "quality" of television down here leaves much to be desired.

Thanks for the hook-up.

Just watched episodes 2 and 3 back-to-back, and they were just as awesome as the pilot (just don't ask how I'm up-to-date with the US when the UK premiere was only last night - 2.1million viewers btw - not too shabby!).

I've been reading around, and amusingly, and depressingly, this has been getting TERRIBLE reviews. It's almost as though the American networks are scared that it might make their viewers THINK!
Funnily enough though, the comments coming back from viewers is that they love it, and it was renewed for a second season off of the strength of the ratings.

The cast dynamic is fabulous, and Jeff Daniels is a revelation. Aaron Sorkin has done it again in my book. Jeff Daniels is to "the news", what Martin Sheen is/was to "the presidency". What the people wish they could have in real life. HBO is absolutely on fire at the moment with its choice of programming, what with Game of Thrones, and so I'm reliably informed, Boardwalk Empire (downloading the pilot for that.....now!). More ballsy shows please! I'm tired of all this half-arsed nonsense that seems to get renewed season after season, while the good/great shows get canned for being too cerebral (bring back Firefly!!). Speaking of which. What on earth has happened to scifi on TV?? Did someone beam it into the future, never to be seen again in our lifetime??

I like the show. and i even agree with some of the criticism.

http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollywood-prospectus/post/_/id/51842/the-newsroom-aaron-sorkins-toxic-mess

Just finished watching the pilot, currently in the process of (cough) "getting" the next two episodes.

Very grateful for the recommendation, hadn't heard a thing about The Newsroom. It's nice to see a show with a script for a change, something that people had to invent and think up, that tells a story instead of a seemingly endless avalanche of shows featuring amateurs singing.. or amateurs renovating.. or amateurs cooking.. or amateurs traveling.. Since when is watching other people do things considered entertainment?

gen3ral: I followed your link. Sorry, I didn't make it much past halfway. It might have had some merit after that, but what I read just made me equal parts angry and embarrassed for the halfwit who wrote it. I overlooked his use of the term "naval-gazing" but lines like this paint him in a pretty childish light:

Those days were great, Will sputters, because “we were informed by great men, men who were revered.” Men, in other words, just like Will McAvoy and Aaron Sorkin.

What? Is he saying history has no real heroes? Or that the character and writer of the show only admire people like themselves? If the latter, WTF is he basing that on? That was annoying, but this line was where I clicked away:

I remain curious as to which aspects of America’s past Will is pining for in particular. Segregation? Child labor? Hobos?

That's the best you can do? Been reviewing long? The part of the show he refers to is the second half of Will's rant, and the things Will said made me think of the New Deal, not hobos or segregation. I suppose it's no surprise then that this Republican twit tried vainly to mock it, that's assuming he even knows what the New Deal is. Then again, his recent podcast allocated time specifically to praise a Kanye West song, so I wouldn't trust him to tell me the colour of an orange anyway.