The Newsroom: Sorkin's HBO Joint

David Denby steps into defend; ILX officially declares the show "a disaster".

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/06/in-defense-of-aaron-sorkins-newsroom.html

He is an ethical writer—a moralist, if you like. He’s neither ironic nor self-deprecating; he dislikes that part of our derisive culture which undercuts, as a ritual form of defense, any kind of seriousness. He’s a very witty entertainer who believes that there’s a social value in truth. I don’t think this belief should be confused, as it has been recently, with self-righteousness.

Pobrecito.

the one example of that refreshing dialogue denby gives

"There’s nothing that’s more important in democracy than a well-informed electorate. When there is no information or, much worse, wrong information, it can lead to calamitous decisions that clobber any attempts at vigorous debate. That’s why I produce the news."

who are the entertainers that don't believe there's a social value in truth.

watching The Sork interview on VH1 right now and he's all "it's a fun show, it's meant to be watched with popcorn"

Beats Whitney in that regard.

denby

DENBY

okay, but, and i'm sorry to be all indie rock fan here, robert guillaume was way better.

― horseshoe, Wednesday, June 27, 2012 6:58 PM

I don't think you need a "but" there, and that's not indie rock it's classic rock. Robert Guillaume in Sports Night was way better than almost anyone in anything.

and there are pretty much guaranteed to be diminishing returns on a character if you keep trotting the same one out

manic pixie dream dad

yeah, 2nd ep way worse than the 1st. all the interpersonal stuff was terribly cringe-inducing.

just watched the first two episodes, this is a beautiful trainwreck that I will continue watching until it completely derails.
i mean what a mess of a show but boy it doesn't bore.

Bret Easton Ellis on the case:

Bret Easton Ellis ‏@BretEastonEllis

While enduring "The Newsroom" and Jeff Daniel's Empire anguish I just kept wondering: do we ever get to see Dev Patel naked?
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3h Bret Easton Ellis Bret Easton Ellis ‏@BretEastonEllis

What I can't believe watching "The Newsroom" is that Aaron Sorkin and I went to the same shrink.
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3h Bret Easton Ellis Bret Easton Ellis ‏@BretEastonEllis

When something as self-congratulatory bull-shitty as The Newsroom is taken seriously by the people it's about: a narcissist wet-dream spews.
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3h Bret Easton Ellis Bret Easton Ellis ‏@BretEastonEllis

Fake-scene after fake-scene in The Newsroom belongs in some terrible off-Broadway remake of Broadcast News. And where are the tits and ass?
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4h Bret Easton Ellis Bret Easton Ellis ‏@BretEastonEllis

"The Newsroom" thinks that good TV is all about clever-fake click-clackity dialogue. It forgets that the best TV is all about subtext...
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4h Bret Easton Ellis Bret Easton Ellis ‏@BretEastonEllis

I'm only into 6 minutes of Episode 2 of "The Newsroom" and it's already driving me crazy with dialogue that sounds like Neil Simon on crack.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maureen-ryan/the-newsroom-women-aaron-sorkin-hbo_b_1641982.html

a love letter to aaron sorkin

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ilene-angel/aaron-sorkin-the-newsroom-review_b_1623172.html

sorry if posted.

its an actual love letter!

oh man, this was actually p bad huh. the whole season is just gonna be emily mortimer's beseeching face & endless cycles of affirmation & reaffirmation & pledging & repledging of commitment to a non-specific noble idea. it could be so good if it chronicled the dismantling of the news & its consequences, or just toned down the personal to procedurally get into the news being made. but it all felt so off. like the bar they were drinking in. i feel you could maybe bleed in some of zadie smith's criticism about sorkin's writing matching or not matching up to the actual texture of life at facebook, this feeling like such a failure for that kinda thing - the bar scene & the slinking up to the cocktail supping slurring bad-day worker. if your writing just lapses into familiar feedback loops of syrupy vague idealism at the expense of looking outward it's failing, i think, like what Louis CK was saying about Studio 60's baroque prose about total bullshit.

also/pedantically: is there an apartment like will's that would overlook the statue of liberty, like one of the avenues but railroaded straight down to the tip of manhattan? it seemed like such a funny cutaway, i couldn't work out where he was meant to be.

that article on women was pretty otm. also trying to present any merit to "both sides" of something batshit like the arizona bill is like straight from the pareene guide to pointless kowtowing to the imaginary rational silent centrist majority.

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/669256/thumbs/r-NEWSROOMMAGGIE-large570.jpg?4

It's like Jim & Pam's Office baby grew up.

she's cute but something about her face reminds me of a barbie doll's face when you smoosh the head down longways

How to get under Sorkin's skin:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/television/how-to-get-under-aaron-sorkins-skin-and-also-how-to-high-five-properly/article4363455/

we've been over that a bit already

it's weird how that article switches from q&a to a far foggier description of the conversation as it gets more argumentative. Not saying there's anything she could have said to merit his comments at the end, but it would be nice to know what exactly she DID say re: "authorial" voice and the "intrinsic conflation of art with the truth itself."

Dude is just playing the game. Show me an equivalent interview where they fixate this much on how nice a gentleman the subject is.

if they exist it's definitely because the subject never said "write something nice"

Spit in one hand, wish in the other

I made it about 16 minutes into episode 2 before I had to bail.

Heard they actually say S-O-T instead of "sot." That's dumb.

jesus, the second episode was astonishingly bad. Can't decide which character i'd like to murder first, although Alison Pill edged it this one. And what was all that shit with the email system?

i thought it was funny when she stomped on the phone and poured coffee on it

it was like bad "techie" slapstick out of 1998. "there's this thing called email!!" (xpost)

Does anyone in real life destroy a phone in anger?

no, but if you have a camera in front of you you definitely throw your black berry at it

she wasn't angry, she was frantic!

how can anyone find this show boring?

i only find it boring during the third act 'magic of live television' bits tbh

yyyeah, okay. that part is a little boring. but it's also kinda painful and that pain keeps me from being bored.

renewed

what is wrong with hbo

that surprises me! have the ratings been good? because this is fucking terrible in a terribly good way!

Not that great. If Sorkin had killed some horses this show would have been pulled by now.

Ratings are decent. Not as low as Luck. Room to grow.

A lot of people really like this show. Remember that True Blood is still the channel's biggest hit, and that show's been terrible for a while.

Add some tits and they'll be fine.

i've never been able to watch true blood
i really appreciate the lack of sexposition and am wondering if there's anyway newsroom will maintain that pace through the season

If not, it'll be some awkward ripping-off-the-blouse-on-TV moment like Julie Andrews in S.O.B..

the stuff about Daniels' character being some super-hot tabloid lothario was really weird.

you don't really have to do anything to get renewed on HBO -- i mean the Luck cancellation happened AFTER they had greenlit and begun making a second season. in the last 5 years since John From Cicinnati afaict pretty much the only scripted series that HBO has actively decided to cancel after one season is The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.

renewed for a 2nd season seems easy, sure, but lots of shows have gotten axed from hbo after a few weak seasons in a row.

No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency was pretty good compared to some of the junk that stuck around too...

lol @ "lots of shows have gotten axed from hbo after a few weak seasons in a row" like that means anything. once a show is on for a few seasons period it probably means it's popular enough that it's pretty much got its ticket punched for as long as it wants to stick around. Entourage got to wear out its welcome just as much as any show on ABC or CBS.

three seasons seems to be HBO's minimum for anything with a pulse -- Hung and Bored To Death just finally got canceled after s3 finales. even Treme is looking to get a 4th season now, though.