HBO's The Newsroom Was Another Hit for Aaron Sorkin

 

The Newsroom aired from 2012-2014 on HBO, 25 episodes (all are now on MAX).

The creator/primary writer was Aaron Sorkin (Syracuse University, Bachelor of Fine Arts in theater).

Writer of…The West Wing, A Few Good Men, Moneyball, The Social Network, Sports Night, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, The American President, etc. He also adapted “To Kill a Mockingbird” into a stage production where Jeff Daniels played the lead role of Atticus Finch.

He’s known for writing rapid fire dialogue, and “walk and talk” scenes that feature tracking shots that lead characters down a hallway as they converse.

He has had challenges in his personal life. He was a chain smoker but quit after having a stroke. He has battled substance abuse issues.

He has won one Oscar (The Social Network), three Golden Globes and six primetime Emmys.  He has been nominated 174 times for various awards and has had 104 wins.

The Newsroom starred Jeff Daniels who played Will McAvoy, a cable news anchor in New York. Other stars included Emily Mortimer, John Gallagher Jr, Allison Pill, Dev Patel, Olivia Munn, Sam Waterston, Marcia Gay Harden and Jane Fonda.

This show did a fantastic job of demonstrating the intensity, manic energy and pressure-cooker atmosphere that comes with working in TV news. In news coverage, there is the balance between being first and being right. Multiple sources must be confirmed before putting a story on the air. This show was excellent since it was a time capsule of the period in which it took place. Real stories were covered in this show, such as the BP oil spill, the killing of Osama Bin Laden, and the explosion at the Boston Marathon. The character development is excellent, and I wish there would have been more episodes.

Jeff Daniels won a leading actor Emmy Award for his role in 2014.

The lobby and exterior shots depicting ACN (Atlantis Cable News), the fictional cable network, are New York’s Bank of America tower.

The interiors were shot at Sunset Gower Studios in Hollywood.

Sorkin learned about the world of cable TV news by observing Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN newsrooms first-hand as a fly on the wall.

The role of Mackenzie McHale (the new executive producer) was offered to Marisa Tomei but the negotiations fell through.

Jane Fonda had a memorable role as Leona Lansing, the CEO of the media conglomerate that owns the ACN cable channel. This is not unlike her third husband, CNN Chairman Ted Turner.

Surprisingly, the reviews for season one were mixed. Seasons two and three received better critical acclaim.

“Newsroom” stars Jeff Daniels and Sam Waterston starred together in the TV mini-series “Godless”.

The show aired on the Canadian, European and Indian versions of HBO, as well as on other networks around the world.

The show has an imdb rating of 8.6 out of 10. That is very high. For comparison, The Godfather is 9.2, Schindler’s List is 9.0 and Seinfeld is 8.9. The West Wing, another Sorkin creation, is 8.9.

*Some information from imdb.com and Wikipedia.

     

Everybody’s in L.A. with John Mulaney Was Unusual Yet Refreshing

 

This was a different type of show that aired live via Netflix for six consecutive nights in May of 2024. It had the feel of a late-night show, even though it was on at 7:00 pm pacific/10:00 pm eastern time. The host was comedian John Mulaney (SNL writer from 2008-2022, and voice actor on animated show “Big Mouth”). The announcer/sidekick was comedic actor Richard Kind (best known for Mad About You and various animated projects). I did not like this show at first, but it grew on me. This was a show that took chances and did something different. We don’t see that enough on today’s TV shows. The title refers to the fact that the week it aired was the week of the “Netflix is a Joke” comedy festival. Therefore, at that point it seemed like everyone, especially in the world of comedy, was in L.A. at the same time. The theme song was “To Live and Die in L.A.” by the group Wang Chung (1985). That song has probably seen a resurgence in popularity since this program aired. It was a mix of serious topics with comedians chiming in with their thoughts too. Each show had a serious topic that is of interest to those in L.A., such as earthquakes, coyotes, palm trees or the future of Los Angeles. Each show featured a highly educated expert on the topic, joined by funny people who provided comic relief. Comedians that appeared on the show included: David Letterman (note: Mulaney appeared on Letterman’s Netflix show “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction”), Nikki Glaser, Bill Hader, Cedric the Entertainer, George Wallace, Sarah Silverman and more. Musical guests appeared on the show such as: Los Lobos, Weezer, Beck and St. Vincent. The shows had remote segments where they would check in on what was going on in the L.A. area with everyday residents. A taped segment had several comedians looking at a home for sale in Los Angeles and making humorous observations. The show felt disjointed at times, but that is the nature of live shows, which can be refreshing. Sometimes it felt like the host and guests were flying by the seat of their pants. With a live show, they were able to take phone calls, which was a nice touch. One segment had them sending two people in limos on a hunt around L.A. looking for Red Hot Chili Peppers member “Flea.” I was looking at Reddit comments regarding this show and someone said this… “Netflix, don’t let John leave the building without giving him a weekly talk show.” Mulaney would make a great late night talk show host, with his quirky sense of humor. His show was a bit like Conan’s in the NBC days, with that crazy, unpredictable vibe. Someone on Reddit commented that he needs to be the new Daily Show host. He did well with the interviews too, considering many people were on the set at the same time. One of the “stars” of the show was Saymo, a delivery robot, which is apparently a common sight around L.A. It would randomly appear, and people would open its lid to reveal drinks. An article said that the set for this show was patterned after Johnny Carson’s Malibu home. USA Today called the show “So weird, but also wonderful.” The review said…” It does not make sense. It does not follow regular formats. It is so strange. And yet it is also pretty funny.” Who knows what the numbers were for this show, but hopefully we will see more.

My Next Guest Needs No Introduction

 

When Johnny Carson retired from The Tonight Show in 1992, people wondered what his next project would be. Besides brief appearances with David Letterman, a Kennedy Center Honors Award and a Bob Hope special, he disappeared. Johnny passed away 13 years later, in 2005. When David Letterman retired from his CBS Late Show in 2015, people thought that Letterman would pull the same disappearing act as his idol, Carson. Thankfully, that did not happen, and David Letterman has kept active with various projects. He is still a co-owner of the Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan Indy racing team. Since growing up in Indianapolis, he has been a die-hard auto racing fan. He appeared at the “Netflix is a Joke” Comedy Festival in Los Angeles. He makes regular appearances on his official You Tube page, being interviewed by longtime producers Barbara Gaines and Mary Barclay. Plus, he has released several seasons of his Netflix show “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction.” Since 2018, Letterman has released 5 seasons and 28 episodes. The tagline for the show is “His beard is big. His guests are bigger.” The show has been nominated for a primetime Emmy five times. Its theme song was written and performed by Letterman’s longtime band leader, Paul Shaffer.  This show demonstrates Letterman’s top notch interviewing skills. Even if the viewer is not interested in a specific guest, Letterman makes it fascinating.

His two most recent guests were Miley Cyrus and Charles Barkley. At age 77, David Letterman is no spring chicken. People have suggested that he return to daily TV, or even have a weekly show, perhaps filling in for Jimmy Kimmel, who looks up to Dave like Letterman looked up to Carson. At his stage in life, Dave probably wants a show like he has on Netflix, where he can call the shots and decide how busy he will be. No doubt, he does not need the money. His net worth is a staggering $400 million.

The show is refreshing since Letterman interviews people of all ages and disciplines. It would be easy for him to stick with people only from his age group and talk with nothing but comedians. But he has talked with people much younger than himself who would appeal to a youthful demographic. Examples include: Lizzo, Cardi B, Tiffany Haddish, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Kim Kardashian and Billie Eilish. That is not to say that he has not interviewed more “seasoned” guests, such as: George Clooney, Howard Stern, Robert Downey Jr, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Jerry Seinfeld. In 2018, Letterman interviewed President Barack Obama for this program. That was his first interview since leaving the White House.

His interview with Miley Cyrus had Dave talking with Miley’s mother and sitting with her as Cyrus performed at the legendary Chateau Marmont Hotel in Los Angeles.

When he talked with NBA great Charles Barkley, Dave joined him on the golf course and Charles showed Dave around the TBS studios where he acts as an NBA analyst. Letterman joined Barkley and his cohorts on TBS to discuss the current state of the NBA. Dave talked with Barkley’s co-hosts on the NBA show, including Shaquille O’Neal.

It’s refreshing since the show is not just Letterman sitting in a studio interviewing a guest for an hour, although he could make that interesting. Each show is partially in studio and partially on location. It is nice to see Letterman in a long form interview format where he does not need to break for commercials every few minutes like he did with his shows on CBS and NBC.

In 2022, Letterman did another project for Netflix, called “That’s My Time with David Letterman.” This show consisted of six episodes, recorded at the “Netflix is a Joke” comedy festival in Los Angeles. Each episode featured a comedian doing a stand-up set with Letterman briefly interviewing them afterwards. In 2023, Disney Plus released a show called “Bono and the Edge: A Sort of Homecoming, with Dave Letterman.” This show had Letterman interviewing the duo from then legendary band U2 in their hometown of Dublin, Ireland. Bono and The Edge performed some of their iconic songs, reimagined.

Without a doubt, Letterman will be remembered as one of the icons of late-night television, like his idol, Johnny Carson. 

*Some information from Wikipedia and imdb. 

A Transitional Season for SNL: 1984-85

Next year, Saturday Night Live marks 50 years on the air. It’s been a springboard for many funny people over the years, such as Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Adam Sandler, Dana Carvey, David Spade, Will Ferrell, Molly Shannon, Jan Hooks, and many more. It’s an American institution that has stood the test of time. I really enjoyed the 10th season, which was 1984-85. I was in high school at that point and found many other fans of SNL in my classes. This season started on October 6, 1984 and ended on April 13, 1985. A writers’ strike and budget constraints caused it to be an abbreviated season. At this point, Dick Ebersol was in his final season as showrunner. Lorne Michaels took a 5-year break from 1980 to 1985. The cast for 1984-85 included: Martin Short, Billy Crystal, Harry Shearer, Rich Hall, Jim Belushi, Mary Gross, Gary Kroeger, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Pamela Stephenson and Christopher Guest. The opening credit sequence was created by the same person who made the video for “You Might Think” by The Cars. It depicted the cast members as giants among New York City landmarks. The previous season saw the departure of Eddie Murphy, Joe Piscopo, Robin Duke, Brad Hall (husband of Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Tim Kazurinsky. Christoper Guest became the host of Saturday Night News.

Harry Shearer left mid-season, in January of 1985, due to creative differences. He did not enjoy the experience and atmosphere of working on SNL. He was the co-creator, co-writer and co-star of the 1984 mockumentary This is Spinal Tap. He has provided many voices for The Simpsons, which has been on Fox since 1989. 

Martin Short joined the cast of SCTV later in its run, 1982-83, where he was known for characters like Ed Grimley, defense attorney Nathan Thurm, and songwriter Irving Cohen. His Ed Grimley character had a shock of hair sticking up like Alfalfa from The Little Rascals. His catchphrase was “I must say.” Ed was obsessed with Wheel of Fortune and its host Pat Sajak. Nathan Thurm was a paranoid lawyer who would appear in a 60 Minutes parody on SNL. In that skit, Christopher Guest played the novelty toymaker, Herb Minkman. Irving Cohen was a very old songwriter, and his catchphrase was “Give me a C, a bouncy C.” He would reminisce about the old days of Vaudeville. Jackie Rogers Junior was an odd albino performer who was in a memorable SNL skit where he was a game show host. It was called “Jackie Rogers Junior’s $100,000 Jackpot Wad.” In his autobiography, “I Must Say: My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend,” Short said that he preferred SCTV over SNL, since the former was taped, not live. He liked being able to perfect a sketch and try it many times, but this was not possible on SNL. He was hesitant to join the SNL cast but said yes after hearing that the show had hired Crystal, Shearer and Guest. Those four signed one-year only contracts. 40 years later, Short is still going, after a career with a wide variety of TV and movie projects. He appeared in the films Three Amigos, Father of the Bride, Innerspace, Captain Ron and Mars Attacks. He played the clueless celebrity interviewer Jiminy Glick on Comedy Central from 2001-03 on the show Primetime Glick. In 2016 he had an NBC variety show with SNL alum Maya Rudolph called Maya and Marty. He currently stars in a Hulu series called “Only Murders in the Building” with Steve Martin and Selena Gomez. Martin Short and Steve Martin have a very funny live stage show that has toured the country. For 50 years, Short has been friends with musician and fellow Canadian Paul Shaffer, who was part of the SNL band before he worked as David Letterman’s bandleader. A memorable skit from the 10th season had Short and Harry Shearer playing dim witted synchronized swimmers. The skit was directed by fellow cast member Christopher Guest. Short is 74 years old but still in demand. All this week he is the guest host on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live. 

Billy Crystal had appeared in the sitcom “Soap” (1977-81), but SNL allowed him to appear on a sketch show. His character Fernando, had the catch phrase “You look marvelous.” He would also say “It is better to look good than to feel good.” He was based on the actor Fernando Lamas. He did a segment called Fernando’s Hideaway where he would interview celebrities. Episode 15 had him interviewing Mr. T and Hulk Hogan. Fernando became so popular that he had his own song and music video, “You Look Marvelous.” On SNL, Crystal portrayed New York City talk show host Joe Franklin. People outside the New York area probably did not realize that Franklin was a real talk show host, and Crystal was doing a spoof. One Joe Franklin skit had Martin Short playing magician Doug Henning, and one had Short playing singer Jackie Rogers Jr. 

The writers acknowledged that they did not utilize Julia Louis-Dreyfus as much as they should. It didn’t hurt her career since she went on to have success with Seinfeld, The New Adventures of Old Christine and Veep. 

Jim Belushi had the goal of establishing himself as a funny sketch player, but it must have been rough to be in the shadow of his late brother, John Belushi, an SNL legend. Jim starred in the sitcom According to Jim from 2001-2009. 

Rich Hall was a writer-performer on David Letterman’s morning show in 1980. He appeared on the late-night show Fridays from 1980-82. He is the only person to have been a cast member of both Fridays and SNL. He currently splits time between Montana and London. He has become better known overseas than in America. 

After leaving SNL, Christopher Guest became known for his mockumentary films such as Spinal Tap, Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman, A Mighty Wind and more. In SNL, Guest and Crystal played co-workers Willie and Frankie who describe painful situations they bring on themselves. Their catchphrase was “I hate it when that happens.” Guest played a Spanish ventriloquist who appeared in the Joe Franklin Show spoof. 

Mary Gross is the sister of Michael Gross, who played Steven Keaton in Family Ties. On SNL she played Alfalfa from The Little Rascals, and did many impressions, such as Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Pee-Wee Herman and Mary Tyler Moore. 

Pamela Stephenson was born in New Zealand. A Rolling Stone writer called her “A bright spot in a weak season.” She has a doctorate in psychology and has been married to comic Billy Connolly since 1989. 

On SNL, Gary Kroeger impersonated Walter Mondale. He played Donny Osmond in a sketch where Julia Louis-Dreyfus played Marie Osmond. After leaving SNL he appeared in various TV shows and has relocated to his hometown in Iowa. He writes a column for a newspaper and has owned a restaurant. He has appeared in community theater productions.

The musical guests for this season included: The Thompson Twins, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, The Kinks, Billy Squier, Tina Turner, Bryan Adams, The Commodores and more.

I still look back fondly on season 10 and it was my introduction to the comedy of Martin Short. He is my favorite comedic actor. 

 *Some information from imdb and wikipedia.

ABC's Modern Family Has Been a 21st Century Hit

I have always been a fan of situation comedy TV shows. I think the golden age of sitcoms was in the 1980s when NBC had their “Must See TV” lineup. On Thursday nights this included: The Cosby Show, Family Ties, Cheers and Night Court. For the last several years, sitcoms have become rare for the major broadcast networks. Much of prime time is occupied by reality shows like Survivor, Big Brother or The Amazing Race, and the hour-long crime dramas such as CSI, FBI or NCIS. The reality shows are cheaper to produce since the only star to pay big bucks is the host. The crime dramas seem to follow a specific template and they lack creativity in my opinion. Some of the best sitcoms through the years have included: Seinfeld, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, The Jeffersons, All in the Family, MASH, Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley. Recently CBS aired the final episode of Young Sheldon, which I thought was well done. That was a spin-off of The Big Bang Theory. So many spin-offs are a disappointment when compared to the original show, but I enjoyed Young Sheldon more than The Big Bang Theory. The E! network airs Modern Family each weeknight, and I feel that it was an excellent show, with a top notch cast and creative storylines. The show has been credited for reviving the sitcom format for the 21st century. This show aired on ABC for an impressive 250 episodes, from 2009 to 2020. The main structure of the show was based around three couples and their adventures. The three couples are diverse, representing a nuclear family, a blended family and a same-sex family. Ed O’Neill and Sofia Vergara played Jay Pritchett and Gloria Delgado-Pritchett. Jay is much older than Gloria, who is from Columbia. Jay owns a company that makes blinds and organizes closets. Jay’s kids are Claire and Mitchell, other key characters in the show. O’Neill is best known for his role as Al Bundy in the Fox sitcom “Married with Children” (1987-1997). Craig T. Nelson (“Coach” and “Young Sheldon”) turned down the role of Jay Pritchett. Julie Bowen and Ty Burrell played Claire and Phil Dunphy. Julie Bowen appeared in 83 episodes of the sitcom “Ed” from 2000 to 2004. Claire works for her father’s company and Phil sells real estate. Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet play Mitchell Pritchett and Cameron Tucker. They adopted a baby from Vietnam. Mitchell is a lawyer and Cameron sometimes works as a substitute teacher. Primary kids in the show were Rico Rodriguez as Manny Delgado, Sarah Hyland as Haley Dunphy, Nolan Gould as Luke Dunphy, Ariel Winter as Alex Dunphy and Aubrey Anderson-Emmons as Lily Tucker-Pritchett. Anderson-Emmons won a Screen Actors Guild Award at age 4 in 2011. That made her the youngest winner of that award. On imdb, even Stella the dog, a French Bulldog, gets a credit. Her name is Beatrice and she was in 46 episodes. The co-creator of this show was Steven Levitan. He created the show “Just Shoot Me” (1997-2003). He directed several of the “Modern Family” episodes. The other creator was Christopher Lloyd who was show runner/writer for “Frasier.” The 6 main cast members appeared in all 250 episodes, which is unusual for a show with an ensemble cast. This show has won 22 Emmy Awards over its 11 seasons. Ed O’Neill knew the show would be a winner from the beginning. He felt it would be on for 10 seasons after reading the first script. At first, he was hesitant about signing on to do the show. Creators Levitan and Lloyd set out to create a relationship-driven and heart-warming show so that families could watch together. The show had some similarities to “Cheers” and “Frasier” since it would make viewers laugh and cry. The cast was allowed to improvise to a degree. The casting director saw over 1400 actors for the 10 main characters. The show was designed to be enjoyed by the whole family, so the writers wanted to avoid any racy storylines. Often times, someone in the show will break the fourth wall and look into the camera. Recurring characters were played by Fred Willard, Nathan Lane, Adam DeVine, Elizabeth Banks and Nathan Fillion. “Modern Family” is a mockumentary type of show, similar to “The Office” and “Parks and Recreation.” CBS and NBC turned down the show. The show’s average number of viewers ranged from 6 million to almost 13 million. In the 2010-11 season, “Modern Family” was the #1 scripted show in the 18-49 demographic. From the first season, the show received critical acclaim from Rotten Tomatoes, Entertainment Weekly, Time, Metacritic and others. The series has been successful in syndication in America, plus in other countries, including The United Kingdom, South Africa, Sweden, Israel, India and Canada. *Some information from imdb and Wikipedia.