TV Review – The Newsroom (2012)

TV Review – The Newsroom (2012)

IMDB LINK:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1870479/

“More as this story develops.”

The Newsroom is a great example of a television show where after a very short time you think to yourself: “How on Earth have I not been watching this earlier??”. As an HBO series, you’re generally roped in by great writing and story developments, The Newsroom being no exception.

Created and written by Aaron Sorkin (Creator of The West Wing and writer of The Social Network, Moneyball, A Few Good Men), The Newsroom puts viewers into the Wall Street-like atmosphere of the fictional ACN (Atlantis Cable News) TV Channel, where being first with hard hitting news and world events is paramount to ACN’s ethos. After a program restructuring that results in several colleagues ‘switching sides’, Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels) is forced to work with a whole new team of news chasers and a brand new Executive Producer, who also just happens to be his ex-girlfriend, MacKenzie McHale (Emily Mortimer). As you can imagine, things start off a little bumpy as everyone tries to find their place in the team and new direction they are to take in making the news more watchable.

The Newsroom is written well. Really well. True world events are incorporated into each episode, with the 2nd most-watched news anchor in Will McAvoy at the helm. His level of intelligence (he was a Doogie Howser of Law and Politics) is both intimidating and fascinating, pulling no punches in exposing politicians and their flawed beliefs and policies on national television. This in itself has ruffled many feathers, not to mention the people at the top who threaten his very career and future (Jane Fonda) if he doesn’t start to behave as they see fit.

Every single character is solidly fleshed out and brought to life not only with fresh dialogue and admirable character traits, but also with superb acting. You’ve got a few names that you’ve seen around the place before: Sam Waterston (Law & Order), Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire), Alison Pill (Scott Pilgrim Vs The World) along with a bunch of talented new faces that carry their weight exceptionally. Their interactions with the rest of team form and bonding quickly ensues in the most satisfying of ways. Seeing this, what earlier could have been construed as rag-tag, team of dedicated news chasers bring the truth to the public in the most honest and informative way is really impressive. It’s not very often that in a television series peoples’ true dedication to their work and team members can be shown in a meaningful way – this series on the other hand has shown that and then some. Characters that start off unlikeable end up showing more admirable qualities as time goes by, which also gives you a better sense of just how dedicated to their team they really are.

If you were a fan of The West Wing, you’ll love this. Seriously, not ‘like’ this, you’ll LOVE it.

Oooooh I think it could be coming…! Could it be a 5 out of 5??

How bout 4 ½? Yeah that’ll do. 4.5