New Sorkin Trailer

Asking seriously...was the lead character's "America sucks but I wish it didn't" meltdown at the beginning supposed to be some dream sequence, fantasy, delusion or hallucination? Maybe all of the above?

 

I think that possible interpretation was lost when ... spoiler alert ...














... the EP pulled out those cards she'd flashed to him at Northwestern.

 

Not at all. Will had just gotten back from vacation (forced vacation, for sure) and it was mentioned half a dozen times by others on the staff. It really did happen. Will even made a crack about going off because of his vertigo medicine and Mackenzie went in and made the graphic change to reflect vertigo.

 

Watched it last night and I liked it. As mentioned before, I thought it was a little clunky and at times pushed the boundaries of reality, but there were parts I really liked, like the America sucks but was once great speech at the beginning, the actual broadcast, I like the conflicted relationship between will and his ep (hate the love triangle already in the newsroom -- yes I am too lazy to have names remembered yet). Although the one reporters' ability to pull the two high-level sources he pulled within a matter of minutes of the oil rig explosion were a little far fetched, I do like the character, a lot. May be my favourite of the bunch right now.
There's a lot of potential with the show, I want to see how it develops.

 

I enjoyed the pilot. I loved Jeff Daniels' speech, though I was worried the network was going to shitcan him the way Judd Hirsch got shitcanned to start Studio 60.

This will be appointment viewing for me.

 

I think the final scene at the elevator confirmed the speech was real. Anyway, I like Emily Mortimer, despite the idealist aspect of her character, but Sorkin is good for having idealist characters who operate outside of reality. The love triangle was a bit silly as well. How long before the new producer sleeps with his AP? Or how long until Emily Mortimer's character sleeps with Will?

The stupid questions from students at the beginning was an accurate portrayal of questions asked at the end of any guest lecture.

 

As much as I liked the speech, Judd Hirsch's in the Studio 60 pilot was much stronger, which I couldn't stop thinking as I was watching it.

I went back and watched Sports Night last night and I was struck by how likeable the characters were. And how much better the frentic pace of putting a TV show together worked in a half-hour format. I didn't warm to The Newsroom folks in the pilot and there were a few (the smug new producer who's siblings work for every major oil company) that I wanted to physically throw out a window. I don't see why Mackenzie couldn't have had non-relative sources at Halliburton to show off her skills (since she's supposedy done so much reporting in the Middle East). And the new producer could've just...not existed.

 

Ooo, then I don't think this show is going to be for you, because that new producer is going to be front and center in this.

If you hated him, how did you feel about the incumbent, Allison Pill's boyfriend?

 

I didn't mind the incumbent boyfriend/producer. He is plainly going to be "the guy who is wrong" to contrast the new producer's brilliance, which is a thankless role, but he wasn't as vilified as the two "bad writers" on Studio 60, and I like the actor. It at least seemed like his leaving for the later show was, in part, due to exasperation with "old" Jay Leno, staff-berating Will, which gave him one thing to not be wrong about for the hour. Sorkin's fleshed out what were initially straw men before (Steven Weber's studio exec on Studio 60 is the first example that springs to mind), so I'm going to shelve my concerns about him until mid-season.

The new producer (I refuse to look up his name) displayed less skill than convenient connections, and I feel like I am supposed to think he's brilliant because Sorkin is hitting me over the head with how brilliant and loved he is, when he's actually kind of a jerk. Dev Patel's blogger seemed to be doing more from-the-ground-up work and research on the story that wasn't being handed to him by a magical family member source. I hope he gets more to do, and that the new producer is shipped off to Mandyville by the end of the season.

 

I didn't care for him being lucky on both sources. That really didn't convince me that the character was anything special. But I don't know about calling him smug. I didn't get that at all.

 

It's the incumbent I wanted to slap down, talking down to him continuously.

 

Just caught up on the first episode last night, was pretty impressed.

I watched a handful of TWW episodes about six years ago, but I've just now gone back and started to watch the whole thing from start to finish. Just finished Season 2, and it's already abundantly clear to me some of the similarities this new show will have with TWW.

Should be interesting to watch them side by side as I keep going through TWW.