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.