The Newsroom (HBO)

[hydrangea]

A friend recommended this to me, caught the first two episodes, and I am loving it.

[CaRaMBa]

I really liked the episode! Not a train wreck, just consistently good.

Don - Don't worry guys ( ), I'm sure he will have another evil moment soon. He has been like that since the first episode. Evil one second, redeeming line/scene the next...

Buti na lang I didn't remember the guy from White Chicks - because that scene worked for me! I really cringed (for Will) when he lost it and spoke to Will that way. Ang galing!

[sTaRter_01]

good episode!!

-Was impress on Olivia Munn (Sloane) they way she pulls that Japanese diction is awesome.. even i was fooled! one of the best character here in NR imo.

-Love to see terry Crew again

-nice to see David Krumholz (therapist) was good too liked the way he and Jeff (will) played off one another in session room Classic scene.

-and scene with Rep. Santurom wow Nice loving how he block McAvoy liberal ways of questioning (when we know he is republican)

-Maggie LOL lots of Love...

[hydrangea]

I'm loving the Maggie-Jim rapport, as well as the Jim-Neal bromance.

and why do I find Dev Patel hot all of a sudden?

[carlhiro]

I freakin' love the latest episode, I want to marry it.

So great in all levels.

And I am proud of Olivia Munn. Followed her from her G4 days. I was sad that she left the show (she was great with Kevin Pereira), and she had failed shows after, but I think this will be her TV acting break.

--

Share ko lang. Boses ni Jeff Daniels = boses ni Anderson Cooper + boses ni Ty Burrell.

[forg]

Premieres tonight on HBO Asia, 9 PM

[CaRaMBa]

This show has it flaws but for someone who doesn't like Bella Swan (she is the worst representation of women in modern literature) I don't find The Newsroom anti-feminist. Yes, there are times when Mack or Maggie act crazy but these women are good at their jobs. They know what they do. It's just they have weird quirks just like the men i.e. Will's cluelessness abt the internet, Charlie's love for alcohol, Neil's belief that Big Foot exists, etc. Sloan is crazy smart. Probably smarter than Will. Mack came from a stint in Afghanistan. So it's TNR isn't anti-women.

I swear. People think it is?

[thelonius92]

Just finished watching the pilot episode on HBO and, wow what else can I say but welcome back Mr. Sorkin! I'm glad you're back doing what you do best. Now I know my Wednesday nights will never be the same again.

[thelonius92]

The live broadcast scenes does remind one of the film The Broadcast News (Albert Brooks, Holly Hunter, William Hunt). Not just those particular scenes but the themes and characters might have been intended by Sorkin as an homage to James L. Brooks.

Come to think of it Sorkin is to TV what James L. Brooks has been to movies. They both have very literate characters (in the first episode, characters drop references to Miguel Cervantes and Man from La Mancha nonchalantly as GMTV PEXers would refer to their teleseryes), they both have the ability to frame the issues in a thoughtful manner (I love how the script dissected the BP oil spill tragedy the same way a Public Policy textbook would -- very wonkish) and they're both idealists ("reclaiming the 4th estate", ""America is not the best country in the world, but it could be").

[jayzhelle]

I swear. People think it is?

Unfortunately, yeah.

5. The women are poorly drawn
"Either Sorkin is no longer able to write credible women characters, or he no longer wants to," says James Poniewozik at TIME. After crafting captivating, intelligent, intriguingly flawed female characters like The West Wing's C.J. or Sports Night's Dana, on The Newsroom, he gives us "a series of women as ninnies who need men to set them straight." The show's strongest female character is Emily Mortimer's MacKenzie, the show's producer, but she spends as much time fumbling about in flustered, skittish ways as she does making assertive decisions. SOURCE

The Newsroom, HBO's newest dramatic series by Aaron Sorkin, has recently received criticism for its negative and insulting portrayal of women. In "The Newsroom Is Incredibly Hostile Toward Women," Margaret Lyons writes that within the fictional world of the show, "There is no insult more grave than being a woman." And she definitely has a point. This a show dominated by obnoxiously idealistic men who are obsessed with their own ideas and emotional growth. There are quite a few of them, in fact, that I'd really like to add to this handy list of the most insufferable men on television. Sure, there are several female characters, but so far they're anxious, desperate and generally on the verge of emotional breakdown. According to Lyons, the writing of these characters points to a larger problem with the way the show is written. SOURCE

The Newsroom’s treatment of women continues to be a big criticism, and I would have to agree with it. The show features some very strong women, but portrays them as dim-witted bimbos or villainous witches. The brilliant producer Mackenzie seems to know everything about delivering an excellent news program, but has trouble sending an e-mail and has to be tutored on basic economic theory. It’s surprising that a woman of her talent level wouldn’t know a thing or two about the Glass-Steagall Act, or how e-mail works. Alison Pill’s character Maggie is equally dumb. She too proves to be a worthy member of the newsroom staff, but her relationship issues and clumsy behavior makes it hard to root for the character. Additionally, Certain women have served as villains on the show, mostly in the form of gossip columnists who Will refers to as “not real journalists”. The idea that these women are vindictive and only out to humiliate celebrities through gossip isn’t reasonable. It only further discriminates against the female characters and Will always manages to come out on top looking like the good guy. SOURCE

[jayzhelle]

Aaron Sorkin on The Newsroom Criticism: That Much Talk About a Show Is 'Good for Television'
BY MEGAN MASTERS
AUGUST 1, 2012 05:58 PM PDT

Prior to The Newsroom‘s showing at Wednesday’s Television Critics Association’s summer press tour in Beverly Hills, HBO exec Michael Lombardo countered recent criticism surrounding the freshman drama by starting that they are “very proud” of the series.

“There are 7 million people a week who are coming back to that show in a very competitive landscape — and they love it,” he shared. And those sentiments only continued when The Newsroom creator Aaron Sorkin, alongside executive producer Alan Poul and star Jeff Daniels, took the stage to face the music questions.

ON EARLY UNFAVORABLE REVIEWS | Sorkin is well aware that there are “critics who did not enjoy watching the first four episodes” of Newsroom, but believes that “Anytime people are talking that much about a television show, it’s good for television.” What’s more, the EP shared, “One of the nice consequences of working for HBO is that the entire season is written, shot and locked in the can before the first episode airs. So, even if you’re tempted to try to write a little bit differently to please the people or change someone’s mind, you can’t do it. The season is done.”

ON THE NEGATIVE PERCEPTION OF NEWS NIGHT‘S WOMEN | While Sorkin “completely respects” some opinions that women are portrayed as dumb on the series, he “100 percent disagrees with it. I think the female characters on the show are every bit the equals to the men. They’re not just talked about being good at their job; we plainly see them being good at their job — beginning with the first episode.” The showrunner went on to note that once these characters were established as “thoughtful, curious [and] plainly smart” — which he believes happened early in the season — “You can have them slip on as many banana peels as you want.” Sorkin also disagrees with the idea that Newsroom‘s women are judged more harshly than their male counterparts. “Hubris is something on this show that is always punished,” he argued. “We present Will’s mission to civilize as something people first of all roll their eyes at and secondly always blows up in his face.”

ON WRITERS’ ROOM SHAKE-UP RUMORS | It seems those rumors of a complete staff overhaul on The Newsroom were exaggerated… a lot. “A couple of weeks ago, an unsourced and untrue story appeared on the Internet,” Sorkin explained. “The writing staff was not fired. I love the writing staff. I thought we did great this year, and it’s a fantastic group of men and women to come to work with. But at the end of each season, you get together with the producers and the department heads and you talk about ways that you can get better. So, a couple of staffing changes were made — including promoting two of our writers’ assistants.”

ON A SEASON 2 TWEAK | Newsroom‘s second season will include a vast range of behind-the-scenes “paid consultants” who will contribute to the series, as opposed to the handful of sources Sorkin utilized during the series’ freshman run. Said the showrunner: “I think it can only add to the show. Their job is going to be anything they want it to be.”

ON REAL-LIFE NEWS ON NEWSROOM | Sorkin revealed that the series will “always be about 9-12 months behind” real-life current events addressed on the show-within-a-show.

[thelonius92]

I don't know how they could perceive The Newsroom as anti-women when Sorkin made a woman, Mackenzie, practically the conscience of the show. These token feminists probably expect a caricaturish ball busting female journalist a la Murphy Brown in the story but that does not just happen in real life.

[CaRaMBa]

There are some feminists that make everything about feminism. The men are crazy as well (Will? Don?), and of course no one complains about that.

[jayzhelle]

'The Newsroom' Creator Aaron Sorkin And Star Jeff Daniels Face The Critics At TCA 2012

The Television Critics Association (TCA) press tour has stretched on for almost two weeks now. With TV critics from all over the world cooped up in a hotel ballroom for very long days, we're all getting a bit punchy.

Needless to say, it was poor timing for a show that could be called the biggest critical punching bag of the new season, HBO's "The Newsroom," to host its panel. There was quite a bit of chatter on Twitter about how horrible this panel would be. Would the female critics ask multiple questions, then clumsily count them off on their fingers, a la the show's MacKenzie McHale? Would the entire panel turn into a stalemate, or would creator Aaron Sorkin have sensible defenses for the choices the show has made? And would anyone stand up to give the show a compliment?

(It should be noted that I really enjoy the show, and wrote a piece in defense of the "The Newsroom" before it premiered, but I don't choose public panels as the place to publicly praise or eviscerate anything. Just a choice.)

So which way did the panel go? Keep reading for highlights from the critical chat with star Jeff Daniels, creator Aaron Sorkin and executive producer Alan Poul, including a premiere date for Season 2, a tease of this week's new episode and a few big rumors that Sorkin cleared up ...

Season 2 gets a (rough) premiere date
"Season 2 will be back on the air in June [2013]," Sorkin said, noting that the show will always be about 12-18 months behind the current news cycle. --> Antagal.

On tough reviews
"I want to make a clear distinction between me and the characters that are in the show. I -- most of the time -- write about things I don't know much about. The political opinions that I have are at the level of sophistication of a person who has a BFA in musical theater," Sorkin said with a laugh.

"For sure we all know that there were critics who did not enjoy watching the first 4 episodes -- and there were critics that did. Anytime that people are talking this much about a television show, it's good for television ... good for people who watch television and good for people who work in television," Sorkin said.

But Daniels had his own take on the critics: "I've gotta be honest with you -- I completely get why you do what you do, God bless you, but you don't do it for me. It took me a long time as an actor to stop reading you. You love me, you hate me ... where do I go?" He later added, as a loud aside to Sorkin, "Did I just offend all of them? I did!"

On reaction to criticism of the female characters
"I completely respect that opinion, but I one hundred percent disagree with it," Sorkin said when asked why it's only the women on the show who make mistakes. "The female characters are the equals of the men ... and we plainly see them being good at their jobs."

"One of the things I like about Aaron's writing is all of his characters, men and women, have flaws," Daniels said. "They all have flaws."

"I disagree about the asymmetry [of the character flaws] -- what Jeff said is one hundred percent right," Sorkin added. "We present Will's mission to civilize as something everyone rolls their eyes at and something that always blows up in his face. Hubris in this show is always punished. Men and women screw up in the same way." Sorkin cited that where Maggie (Alison Pill) mistook Georgia the state for Georgia the country in Episode 5, Jim (John Gallagher, Jr.) thought that penguins lived on the wrong pole.

The rumor mill, debunked
Sorkin had a few things he wanted to clear up, including the fact that the "Newsroom" writing staff was not actually fired.

"A couple of weeks ago an un-sourced and untrue story appeared in the Internet that then got picked up: The writing staff was not fired. Just seeing that in print is scaring the hell out of the writing staff," Sorkin added with a laugh. "They're acting very strange -- they're coming to work early ... [laughs]. I love the writing staff -- I thought that we did great this year, and it's a fantastic group to work with. We had a ball. A couple of staffing changes were made that included promoting our two writer's assistants to story editors, but the writing staff hasn't been fired -- I'm looking forward to coming back to work with them soon."

Sorkin also cleared up a rumor about Corinne Kingsbury, a staff writer on the show (who also made a brief cameo as a stripper in "The Newsroom" in Episode 5), saying he never had a romantic relationship with her. "She was identified as my ex-girlfriend -- she is not."

Hindsight isn't always 20/20
"I set [the show] in the past so I could use real news. I didn't do it so that I could leverage hindsight into making our characters smarter at stuff," Sorkin said, adding, "If our guys do something right, there is never a time when someone else didn't get it right, too."

A non-spoilery tease
This week's episode (Sun., Aug. 5, 10 p.m. ET on HBO) takes place the night we got Osama bin Laden. Sorkin specifically said that that's not a spoiler.

And the most telling quote of the day
"I've only ever tried to write things the way I write," Sorkin said. "I haven't tried to figure out what it is that most people will like and give it to them." --> This guy really has a way with words.

[hydrangea]

I don't know how they could perceive The Newsroom as anti-women when Sorkin made a woman, Mackenzie, practically the conscience of the show. These token feminists probably expect a caricaturish ball busting female journalist a la Murphy Brown in the story but that does not just happen in real life.

I agree, I love how the Mackenzie is portrayed as the heart of the show. It's just trying to make a mountain out of a molehill.

And to be fair, I don't hear the Indians protesting about Neal being the token techie guy.

[CaRaMBa]

I read somewhere that they will hire political consultants for Season 2. Grabe! Dapat Season 1 pa lang meron na!

[marscious]

I'm loving the Maggie-Jim rapport, as well as the Jim-Neal bromance.

and why do I find Dev Patel hot all of a sudden?

I know right?! Uma-eye candy rin sya for me!

[marscious]

I saw the pilot na. Smart, witty and engaging. Amazing cast and great dialogues. Such a kick a** show!

[marscious]

I agree, I love how the Mackenzie is portrayed as the heart of the show. It's just trying to make a mountain out of a molehill.

And to be fair, I don't hear the Indians protesting about Neal being the token techie guy.

Super agree ulet!

[hydrangea]

I know right?! Uma-eye candy rin sya for me!

That's why we're friends.