Is anyone else interested in this new HBO series, The Newsroom which starts Sunday? Written by Aron Sorkin (West Wing, Social Network). Among the cast, Jeff Daniels, Sam Waterston.

Don't really know what kind of buzz it's getting but I might check it out.


TIS

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31749_162-57458953-10391698/hbos-the-newsroom-to-premiere-sunday/

I'll give it a look TIS.

It's on me & Mrs. Mark's summer viewing list.

TIS, We don't subscribe to HBO, but I am tempted, because I love Sorkin. He's one of the best writers around.

SB, don't know who your cable provider is. Mine is Time Warner. At one time I was able to get ONLY HBO, as an "extra", which I basically got just to watch The Sopranos. They "changed" the packages a few years later where I had to pick a package which included HBO and other channels, obviously bringing cost up.

At one time my plan was to only keep HBO until the Sorpanos ends but then there was (off the top of my head) Boardwalk Empire, True Blood and other shows I watch, so I just kept it. Plus, I really do like HBO's "On Demand" which enables me to watch any episode of not only HBO shows, but pretty much any prime time show I miss, at my convenience.

TIS

We have FIOS, and HBO is ridiculously expensive at $17/month. My friend will wait until a series is almost at the finale, subscribe to HBO for a month, watch the whole season On Demand, then cancel HBO. It's not a bad idea.

We get internet, phone with long distance, and tv with several premium channels for about $157 a month including taxes and fees.

Yesterday's Wall Street Journal panned "The Newsroom." But we'll give it a try.

TB, yea, I saw that. Kinda puts a damper on it but many times I don't agree with critics. I'll still check it out too.




TIS

Hell, it's the Wall Street Journal. They panned it because the newsroom didn't have a picture of Bush on the wall.

LOL Good point Oli!!!




TIS

Starts over here next month...they have been giving it serious advertising though for some time!! It's getting the big build up for sure!

or you can stream any show you want for free the day after it airs here

www.sidereel.com

Did anyone else catch the show last night? I did watch it. Now, keep in mind I never watched "West Wing" (which surprises my friend SB), so I'm not use to Sorkin's style I guess. In the beginning scene, I wasn't quite sure if this was a drama or a comedy.

That beginning showed Jeff Daniels character having an "on-air" type meltdown after which we assume he was gone for a while and came back to an entire new staff. His character is far from likeable but I sensed toward the end he was coming around a bit.

The main storyline is built around the emergency "gulf spill oil leak" in 2010 and how the NEW team handled it. I'm not sure if this storyline will continue into next week or if week by week there will be a different subject.

I will have to watch it a few more times though in order to give it a fair analysis. It is something different IMHO and I can see where "newsroom" stories and how they develop could be very interesting.


TIS

Sorkin can be extremely funny and then switch to a very dramatic scene, all in one episode. TIS, please, please, please, watch West Wing, especially the first three seasons (the best IMO is the 2nd). I know that my local library has them available, plus you can probably watch them on sites like hulu, but the DVDs are the best (no ads). Sorkin's dialogue is very fast-paced as well, and often it's hard to keep up, but he's a great writer.

Thanks for the heads up about the series, and thank you DD for sidereel. I'll try to catch it.

Starting today, HBO made the first episode of “The Newsroom” available for free to non-subscribers on HBO.com, YouTube, DailyMotion, TV.com, on various on-demand platforms, and on iTunes.


I just finished the first episode, I really enjoyed it. It was pretty cool how they covered the oil spill in the gulf. The scene in the beginning was particularly enjoyable. This show has some good potential. I also read that it got pretty good ratings, so far so good, it might stick around for a while.

Words, words, words, words. More words, words, words, words.

Yea.... it takes words to run a newsroom and words to post a a Gangster BB. Oh and words to form a sentence.



TIS

All the women on the show are very annoying. I generally like women, but not when it looks like they escaped from a bad sit-com to join the Newsroom to talk about their emotions.
But it's entertaining and sometimes very clever. Yet the best thing Newsroom brought me was that it made me watch Boss. Now that show I really did like.

Well B-A, part of me says I agree with you. Yet, I don't know if it's the show writers' style or the personalities of the individual characters. The blonde girl (don't know her name in the show) that is constantly fighting with the guy she has a thing for, gets very annoying. Will's ex can be annoying too I guess.

Then again, there is a lot of rambling/back & forth involving the main characters (Will & Sam Waterson's character as well). I find myself still adjusting to the show's style. While I can roll my eyes at some of the back & forth, most of the time I find I end up liking and/or agreeing with the point the character is making.

Don't know if that makes sense. I am enjoying the show thus far though.

TIS

I am hopelessly addicted. Most of the female characters are weakly written. The two exceptions are Neal's girlfriend (the girl whose father worked for Cantor Fitzgerald) and Jane Fonda's character. I think they are both strong, beautiful and smart women.

TIS, I also find Maggie (the blond) annoying. I want to just smack her when she starts going on and on. However, I like Mac (the producer). I thought the Bin Laden episode was funny, sad, touching and corny, all at once.

Maggie, yes that was her name, I'm sure some wrtiter thought of her as comic-relief. And to a lesser degree Mckenzie. So maybe not all the women. The boss lady is nice, well not nice, but not an annoying caricature.
But it isn't that bad that i won't be wachting next monday.

Gotta admit that I am recently hooked on this. Mrs. Mark fell in love with this instantly but it took a while for me to get on board. I'm glad she was persistent and told me to hang on. I really like this show and highly recommend it.

Sorkin gets criticized for not being able to write women characters and for being too schmaltzy, but I'm a big fan and always have been. Who else can write like this? This was the opening scene of the series, and I was hooked immediately.

That was pretty brilliant, yes. Untill 'it sure used to be' followed by some naive believe in the past not based on reality. (The viewer has to imagine a choir of angels singing in the background)

SB,

I was intrigued by the entire opening scene as well. Will said many things I'd wish media would say but doesn't/can't. I loved the Will character right away. Though I imagine he'd be very difficult to work with.



TIS

This coming Sunday night's episode is the first season finale. Went way too quick.

One thing I can't figure out, how can that imbecile Maggie have not one but TWO intelligent men vying for her affections? If I were a man, I'd be all over Sloan.

Edit: And maybe Mac, too, if only because of the accent.

Sloan is hot.

I've caught about half the season, and i do enjoy it. My only problem is that it sometimes slips into a soap opera-y territory. It can sometimes distract from the satire. Otherwise, good first season so far. Not on the same level as The Sopranos, Deadwood, or Six Feet Under though.