The Newsroom (2012)

Watchseries; I watched this show after watching True Blood, which I watch out of habit on Sunday nights with my wife. I am SO glad we kept HBO on. I remember hearing about this show from different promos and snippets of interviews on the computer, but wow. Aaron Sorkin leaves his mark all over this show, right from the intro, which was very reminiscent of The West Wing right until the ending. Fantastic creation by him.

Without mentioning any spoilers, the show is about a news anchor (Jeff Daniels) who is beloved by his viewers but not so much by his co-workers and employees due to his aloofness, biting sarcasm, and general malaise. His character has a turning point in the opening scene and it is phenomenal. The writing, acting, cinematography, and tempo of the show are excellent. I fell in love with it right away. And how great is Sam Waterson on this show? I hope that this show has a domino effect and REAL news anchors take note and feel inspired. Hopefully, this show may lead to REAL NEWS STORIES by REAL NEWS ANCHORS. 9/10. Emmy's are DEFINITELY in this show's future.

I watched this show after watching True Blood, which I watch out of habit on Sunday nights with my wife. I am SO glad we kept HBO on. I remember hearing about this show from different promos and snippets of interviews on the computer, but wow. Aaron Sorkin leaves his mark all over this show, right from the intro, which was very reminiscent of The West Wing right until the ending. Fantastic creation by him.

Without mentioning any spoilers, the show is about a news anchor (Jeff Daniels) who is beloved by his viewers but not so much by his co-workers and employees due to his aloofness, biting sarcasm, and general malaise. His character has a turning point in the opening scene and it is phenomenal. The writing, acting, cinematography, and tempo of the show are excellent. I fell in love with it right away. And how great is Sam Waterson on this show? I hope that this show has a domino effect and REAL news anchors take note and feel inspired. Hopefully, this show may lead to REAL NEWS STORIES by REAL NEWS ANCHORS. 9/10. Emmy's are DEFINITELY in this show's future.

The Newsroom watchseries. I watch a lot of TV shows and I have to say that The Newroom has impressed. Quick witted, fast paced and dealing with issues that exist in American news coverage and to some extent beyond. The main characters were engaging and their interactions into the future will be interesting to see as well.

What I really enjoyed was the exploration of what news reporting really is and how reporters should act when in the pursuit of a story, as well as what stories are relevant. Though not explicitly stated it brings to mind the image of a reporter who is actually unbiased and unafraid to go after the truth. The first episode covered the events of the BP oil spill in 2010. I look forward to the coverage of other major news events from this inside perspective as well.

Definitely recommend it as a show to see. I hope it continues on in the same vein.

I'm just a sucker for anything Sorkin. I thought The Newsroom was terrific and it's a shame there are only 25 episodes. Great acting by all involved and I loved the breaking news stories and their approach. On another note I have watched at least twice all the episodes of Studio 60. The best show no one ever saw.

I've been waiting for what seems like forever for a top notch show to present itself, and I truly feel this is it. To say the first show was riveting is a gross understatement. As a news show, this fictitious newsroom had me planted on the edge of my seat, and when things finally got going, I found myself fidgeting and wide-eyed waiting for what came next. I have to say the leads in this show have amazing chemistry, the sort of chemistry that usually takes several shows to develop, yet here it was, in spades no less. It's easy to believe that I'm overstating this, but I truly believe this show has the potential for greatness, and believe me, I'm normally a fairly harsh critic, but in this case I feel completely justified in touting this as the next great show. There's some great social commentary on offer here, while not exactly new, it's offered up in a far more palatable fashion than the usual polarised and emotional manner. Needless to say, I implore all to watch this first episode, as it was so good, it could have been stretched another 30 minutes to become a great movie. The fact that we get more, is the icing on the cake. I can only hope the writers can keep producing scripts near the same level as this one. 5 stars, or 10 out of 10. Watch it!

A new series launched on HBO with a star-spangled episode 'We just decided to'. As conceived and written by Aaron Sorkin it is a timely, incredibly intelligently written show populated with some of our best seasoned actors as well as some very fine actors on the way up. This is the kind of television that reminds us that at one time the news programs informed us about current events and ran a continuing commentary on the development of events in this country and around the world in a manner that kept us alerted of why we as a nation needed to remain alert to both good and bad events, to celebrate when indicated and to fight back when injustices were occurring. This direction is indicated in the background imagery for the titles – running glimpses of the likes of Walter Cronkite, Edward R Murrow, Huntley/Brinkley etc who were responsible news anchors instead of the flippant celebrities more concerned with ratings of their show than the news we see today.

The first episode opens with popular news anchor Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels who proves his acting chops here) being interviewed on a college campus and responds to a student question 'Why is America the greatest country' by answering 'We're not. We used to be' and then runs us past our history of reportage on television that proves that the country has fallen in world view because we no longer care about our initial basic rites an freedoms and concern for humanity. It is a powerful start with some of the most gut-wrenching insightful history of this country that has been written for television.

From there, McAvoy returns to his station to find a support team missing and a replacement named. But enter an old flame, the war correspondent fatigued Mackenzie MacHale (Emily Mortimer, never more brilliant) who has been assigned Will's new Executive Producer and in the midst of many changes the new arrangement (not a popular one for Will) evolves into a return to actual news reporting of the significant type – all over the 2010 BP oil explosion and spill that threatened the Gulf of Mexico. It is raw, real, factual, and immediate news delivered with veracity and commitment.

Greg Mottola directs with keen precision, allowing moments of comic relief to be present if subtle and keeps the momentum of the show propelling smoothly. The cast of superb actors includes John Gallagher, Jr. (brilliant), Dev Patel, Allison Pill, Sam Waterston (never better), Thomas Sadoski, Chris Chalk, Trieu Tran, Charlie Weirauch, Margaret Judson, Olivia Munn, Adina Porter – and more. A more talented and committed cast would be hard to imagine. THIS is the kind of television series we so very sorely need right now. It is refreshingly free of the usual clatter and gimmicks that clutter the airways, and it s full of information and food for thought delivered in an entertaining manner. And this is only Episode 1!

Grady Harp

Rarely does a television show come along and sweep you off your feet with brilliant writing, an amazing cast and an actual message that is relevant and inspirational. Aaron Sorkin has done it again with The Newsroom! This show is truly a display of what television can achieve if we have the right people who are willing to break the rules of the mundane drab to make an engaging and intelligent show.

Jeff Daniels plays Will McAvoy, the cautious, veteran news anchor tiptoeing with his career in order to "play it safe", concerned more with keeping his ratings than stepping on toes. He has the smarts, the background and the ability to be something more, a challenger of beliefs and a defender of ideals, but lacks the motivation until Mackenzie MacHale (played beautifully by Emily Mortimer), a woman from his past, reenters his life. She is the spark to ignite his flame and gets him burning with an unquenchable passion once again.

Within the first five minutes of the show, Jeff Daniels delivers a speech of Aaron Sorkin's words about the state of America that is extremely touching, stimulating and brutally true for a vast majority of the population. It's reminiscent of his West Wing days, but with even more flare and aggression. I only hope he can keep the pace that he has set with the pilot; the bar is set high.