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The Newsroom - new HBO series from Aaron Sorkin (1 Viewer)

We also don't know yet how Sorkin plans to tell the story. So while we may have a good idea now what ultimately happened (i.e. Jerry screwed up, got fired and is now suing AWN), we don't know yet how Sorkin plans to get us there.

 
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My favorite part of that exterior shot this week outside the "AWN" Tower is how they needed to digitally remove the signage from the HBO office/store across 6th ave.

 
Henry Ford said:
Ramsay Hunt Experience said:
And I agree with those who think that having the entire Genoa story line progress from the perspective of hindsight is absolutely killing the dramatic potential of the story line. I can already see exactly how it's going to go. Jerry moves heaven and earth to keep the story alive. Every time it looks like it's going to crumble, he's able to find one more break to chase it further into the rabbit hole. And finally he gets to the end, with a senior Pentagon official. He's THIS close. And he just can't get the on the record confirmation he needs. So he fudges it. He cuts a corner. That could be a compelling story, but it's one we deserve to see play out with the surprises intact.

Why Sorkin has chosen to tell it the way he tells it (which is apparently an attempt to have a completely unrealistic litigator role for Marcia Gay Harden) is a bit of a mystery.
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Because it's based on a true story. We know how it actually happened, so telling it from the hindsight perspective is fine.
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The Genoa arc is fictional. It may be loosely based on a Vietnam thing, but it's not a real event like Occupy Wall Street and everything else on the show.

 
Maurile Tremblay said:
Henry Ford said:
Ramsay Hunt Experience said:
And I agree with those who think that having the entire Genoa story line progress from the perspective of hindsight is absolutely killing the dramatic potential of the story line. I can already see exactly how it's going to go. Jerry moves heaven and earth to keep the story alive. Every time it looks like it's going to crumble, he's able to find one more break to chase it further into the rabbit hole. And finally he gets to the end, with a senior Pentagon official. He's THIS close. And he just can't get the on the record confirmation he needs. So he fudges it. He cuts a corner. That could be a compelling story, but it's one we deserve to see play out with the surprises intact.

Why Sorkin has chosen to tell it the way he tells it (which is apparently an attempt to have a completely unrealistic litigator role for Marcia Gay Harden) is a bit of a mystery.
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Because it's based on a true story. We know how it actually happened, so telling it from the hindsight perspective is fine.
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The Genoa arc is fictional. It may be loosely based on a Vietnam thing, but it's not a real event like Occupy Wall Street and everything else on the show.
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It's based on Tailwind. No, it's not like Occupy Wall Street, but it's still "based on a true story." Which is all I said.

 
Raider Nation said:
The problem I've always had with Sorkin's "zippy dialogue" is that nobody has conversations like that in real life. It's forced and irritating and distracting. I find myself concentrating on the unnaturally clever, rapid delivery instead of actually listening to what they are saying.
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I kinda like the show, but I find much of the dialog hard to swallow. What comes out of their mouths is what someone would come up with after having a while after the event to concoct the ideal lines, not what they'd actually say in the moment. It gets really old really fast.

Jerry has to be getting set up. It'll be sort of interesting to see who's in on it, how deep it goes and what's the motivation. The thing in last Sunday's episode where OWS chick divulges her knowledge of some guy who can help them out is too ridiculous to take, even in jest. I can only hope that's part of the set up also.

I think they need more Will, less everyone else, and a reduction in the amount of attention given to the love stories - none of them are working.

 
Gr00vus said:
Raider Nation said:
The problem I've always had with Sorkin's "zippy dialogue" is that nobody has conversations like that in real life. It's forced and irritating and distracting. I find myself concentrating on the unnaturally clever, rapid delivery instead of actually listening to what they are saying.
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I kinda like the show, but I find much of the dialog hard to swallow. What comes out of their mouths is what someone would come up with after having a while after the event to concoct the ideal lines, not what they'd actually say in the moment. It gets really old really fast.

Jerry has to be getting set up. It'll be sort of interesting to see who's in on it, how deep it goes and what's the motivation. The thing in last Sunday's episode where OWS chick divulges her knowledge of some guy who can help them out is too ridiculous to take, even in jest. I can only hope that's part of the set up also.

I think they need more Will, less everyone else, and a reduction in the amount of attention given to the love stories - none of them are working.
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I think the Jim/Hallie love story is working... but yeah I get your point.

I don't know if someone is screwing around with IMDB or not... but according to them Grace Gummer really did to to Vassar College in 2008, majoring in Italian and art history.

 
I love the snappy dialogue. It's one of my favorite aspects of the show. One of the reasons I did not care for the first two episodes of this season was that type of dialogue was missing. There was no life to the dialogue. But the last two episodes that has returned and I've enjoyed them much more as a result. It honestly doesn't matter to me if people don't talk like that in real life. It's entertaining and that's why I'm watching.

 
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Most of my favorite screenwriters/television writers (Preston Sturges, Billy Wilder, heck even Joss Whedon) employ stylized dialogue. I do think that Sorkin's attempts at wit often fall flat, but not because they lack realism.

It's also true that Sorkin's characters all quip the same way, whether they are White House staffers, sports anchors, Marine JAG officers, or news producers. That's a bit unfortunate. There's a way to have a signature style without having every character sound alike.

And some of Sorkin's character conceits are just silly. Sloane is a good example. I'm willing to accept "brilliant and gorgeous but socially defective economics expert." It's harder to accept that someone who's achilles heel is connecting with people would wind up as a tv personality.

 
Really? Look at Carson and letterman. Writing and reading into a tv camera have little resemblance to managing relationships.

 
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Sloane isn't written like Carson or Letterman (or Woody Allen). All of whom have (or had) engaging personalities but also had personal hangups that made interpersonal relationships difficult for them. Sloane is not written as guarded or even neurotic. Sloane is written as genuinely not understanding how she is perceived by others. Which is a different issue that I can't think of any celebrity having.

 
Will has trouble connecting with people and he's the star of the show. I think his "people issues" are far more pronounced than Sloane's. That's one of the things I like most about his character.

 
packersfan said:
Will has trouble connecting with people and he's the star of the show. I think his "people issues" are far more pronounced than Sloane's. That's one of the things I like most about his character.
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Again, not in the same way as Sloane.

I think Will's characterization is a whole other species of ridiculous, but I've probably written at it at length earlier in the thread (essentially, we're told in Season One that Will biggest asset as an anchor is his Q Rating and his "likability" while the show has never shown us any evidence of that quality).

But taking that as true, we're shown Will dating a succession of beautiful and successful women while Mac pines over him. We only see him "ruin" it when he inexplicably chooses to lecture whatshername who writes for the gossip mag. Whether Will's personal neuroses or issues with Mac make him unable to sustain a relationship is one thing, but the show never tries to argue that Will isn't supposed to be charming and good with people. The show tells us the opposite. It just doesn't show us that (which is, IMO, bad writing).

 
In fairness to the show Will's high Q rating was in place before the Northwestern incident which occurred at the beginning of the series. We don't know who Will really was before that although we're told he's the news equivalent of Leno. The show is about who he is and who he is becoming since that incident so having examples of him being all Leno (although it was done in the second episode of the series) aren't really all that important. Least not to me.

Ultimately, though, we see that Will is a flawed character who has trouble connecting with people. As the OWS chick (very hot by the way) said to him, it's ironic that someone in his position has no one to talk to. And as Don says to him in the premiere, he is (or was pre-Northwestern) likable on camera but not off camera. I think one reason why is because he cannot connect with anyone. In that respect, I see him and Sloane on similar ground in that regard. Both are better in front of the camera oftentimes than they are when the red light goes off.

 
Ramsay Hunt Experience said:
It's also true that Sorkin's characters all quip the same way, whether they are White House staffers, sports anchors, Marine JAG officers, or news producers. That's a bit unfortunate. There's a way to have a signature style without having every character sound alike.
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This is my problem with his dialog. I could take a couple of characters whose every line is a zinger, but when all the characters talk that way it gets tedious and distracting.

 
Gr00vus said:
Ramsay Hunt Experience said:
It's also true that Sorkin's characters all quip the same way, whether they are White House staffers, sports anchors, Marine JAG officers, or news producers. That's a bit unfortunate. There's a way to have a signature style without having every character sound alike.
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This is my problem with his dialog. I could take a couple of characters whose every line is a zinger, but when all the characters talk that way it gets tedious and distracting.
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Obviously, that is a personal perspective - but if you took that out of the show you would have a rather bland soap opera. I get that people generally do not talk that way - but I dig it.

 
The Dude said:
Gr00vus said:
Ramsay Hunt Experience said:
It's also true that Sorkin's characters all quip the same way, whether they are White House staffers, sports anchors, Marine JAG officers, or news producers. That's a bit unfortunate. There's a way to have a signature style without having every character sound alike.
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This is my problem with his dialog. I could take a couple of characters whose every line is a zinger, but when all the characters talk that way it gets tedious and distracting.
Click to expand...
Obviously, that is a personal perspective - but if you took that out of the show you would have a rather bland soap opera. I get that people generally do not talk that way - but I dig it.
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I'm not saying to take it out of the show altogether, I'm saying they need to find a better level than all the time.

 
The Dude said:
Gr00vus said:
Ramsay Hunt Experience said:
It's also true that Sorkin's characters all quip the same way, whether they are White House staffers, sports anchors, Marine JAG officers, or news producers. That's a bit unfortunate. There's a way to have a signature style without having every character sound alike.
Click to expand...
This is my problem with his dialog. I could take a couple of characters whose every line is a zinger, but when all the characters talk that way it gets tedious and distracting.
Click to expand...
Obviously, that is a personal perspective - but if you took that out of the show you would have a rather bland soap opera. I get that people generally do not talk that way - but I dig it.
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Me too. It's easily one of my favorite things about the show.

 
Well I think we have figured out where this lawsuit is coming from.

"Baba Booey Motherf******" :lmao:

 
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joffer said:
Another solid episode, but its almost like they have too many story lines going on at once.
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Last night definitely felt cluttered. I felt like I missed some stuff. For example, can someone tell me what site Don asked Neal to block? That was at the start of their conversation.

 
Ramsay Hunt Experience said:
packersfan said:
joffer said:
Another solid episode, but its almost like they have too many story lines going on at once.
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Last night definitely felt cluttered. I felt like I missed some stuff. For example, can someone tell me what site Don asked Neal to block? That was at the start of their conversation.
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The ex-gf revenge site where the Sloan nudes were posted.
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Thanks. That's what I thought but it wasn't very clear. Or maybe I just missed him say the site name.

 
There were a number of story lines, but none suffered for the others. Best episode of the series, imo.

Did anybody else find themselves saying "he died" as Will said it? Have to figure anybody well-versed in his writing style and rhythm saw that coming. Not just that he died, but when and how it was revealed.

 
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Apple Jack said:
There were a number of story lines, but none suffered for the others. Best episode of the series, imo.

Did anybody else find themselves saying "he died" as Will said it? Have to figure anybody well-versed in his writing style and rhythm saw that coming. Not just that he died, but when and how it was revealed.
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Agreed. Maybe could have done without the Sloan storyline, but was still great. I really like Sam Waterson in this show. I liked Mac giving that kid who was going to use the show to come out the business. The most interesting part was how they worked in the NSA data center as an afterthought as the excuse to get info on the fake sarin story. I'd love to see them give a treatment to the NSA data hoovering stuff.

 
Sloan Olivia Munn had sexting nudes leaked on the Internet, along with text. No idea if they are real or not, but I like to believe they are.

 
This guy really doesn't want any republican viewers....

Hey - lets #### on Ron Paul and get a bimbo drunk as a strawman.

 
That Jerry sure is a sleazy f'er.

Will had him pegged right from the start. "Keep an eye on Jerry. I think he's trying to win a Pulitzer."

 
Thought the Mac/Don and last Will/Sloan scenes were really good. Fun to see Mac and Don have a moment like that. Very well done.

 
The show is gradually improving t. The Will likability storyline still sticks out like a sore thumb. And Maggie couldn't be more boring. "Girl who must be saved" isn't really much of a step up from "potential love interest."

The show generally improves when it uses Dev Patel more (and not just as deus ex Twitter). Cheap shot or not, his take down of the Ron Paul clown from last night at least showed charisma, which is something Jim is in kind of short supply of.

I still think Genoa is a missed opportunity. In part because the foreshadowing was too obvious, but also because Jerry isn't a character we've been given any chance to get to know, so his actions just feel like stock villainy as opposed to something we can kind or, sort of, sympathize with.

 
You'd think Sorkin could go an episode without bringing up what has to be the worst received scene in his writing career, but he apparently still operates under the delusion that the Sex and the City bus scene was hysterical (as opposed to cringe-inducing).

 
Ramsay Hunt Experience said:
The show generally improves when it uses Dev Patel more (and not just as deus ex Twitter). Cheap shot or not, his take down of the Ron Paul clown from last night at least showed charisma, which is something Jim is in kind of short supply of.
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And it wasn't exactly lost on me that all of a sudden Jerry is the lone republican and calling out all the evil liberals in the room..... as soon as he commits the one crime a reporter can never commit.

 
The Ref said:
Ramsay Hunt Experience said:
The show generally improves when it uses Dev Patel more (and not just as deus ex Twitter). Cheap shot or not, his take down of the Ron Paul clown from last night at least showed charisma, which is something Jim is in kind of short supply of.
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And it wasn't exactly lost on me that all of a sudden Jerry is the lone republican and calling out all the evil liberals in the room..... as soon as he commits the one crime a reporter can never commit.
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I don't think he's a Republican. He's one of a number of liberals who think Obama has gotten a free pass on this stuff. most of us voted for Jill Stein or held our nose and voted Obama again.
 
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Ramsay Hunt Experience said:
The Ref said:
Ramsay Hunt Experience said:
The show generally improves when it uses Dev Patel more (and not just as deus ex Twitter). Cheap shot or not, his take down of the Ron Paul clown from last night at least showed charisma, which is something Jim is in kind of short supply of.
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And it wasn't exactly lost on me that all of a sudden Jerry is the lone republican and calling out all the evil liberals in the room..... as soon as he commits the one crime a reporter can never commit.
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I don't think he's a Republican. He's one of a number of liberals who think Obama has gotten a free pass on this stuff. most of us voted for Jill Stein or held our nose and voted Obama again.
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I'll have to rewatch or maybe I was just hearing what I wanted to hear. I swore he said something to the effect of why are you picking on a republican... you know whats the problem with all you liberals..... before he started in on everyone during the review.

 
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