MovieChat Forums > The Newsroom (2012) Discussion > Now that I've seen them all, dropped my ...

Now that I've seen them all, dropped my rating to a "5"

posted 9 years ago by WallyB
7 replies | jump to latest

I watch the show on DVD not cable so I've just had the opportunity to see season 3 (season 2.5 ?)

I love Sorkin's writing. I love and frequently re-watch "The West Wing" just to remember how good "good TV" can be.

But the perfect storm of "TWW" just doesn't materialize for "The Newsroom"
and sadly IMHO it's because of the cast. Daniels, Waterson and Fonda are
stellar, the rest are simply awful. Perhaps I'm being influenced a bit by their characters (for the most part I dislike their smug self righteousness) but I was able to "agree to disagree" with the WW characters, not so with Newsroom

[–] imdbisforme 9 years ago

I wanted so much to love this series... but it ran out of steam very early in the piece. That first ep- Will's speech- was deceptively great... the brilliance of the show petered out all too quickly.

I think the writing was what let it down tbh. All the characters were too similar- they launched into articulate monologues- with no distinctive voice to separate them. They were self-righteous and arrogant. The show got so worked up about the evils of 'new media' and getting facts right before airing to the point that it became ludicrous. The Boston Bombing and the Kathy Gifford eps were especially cringeworthy in this regard. The rare moments of comedy were very obvious and do not hold up to repeat viewings.

I also found the overblown soundtrack that accompanied 'dramatic' or 'powerful' moments was a massive turn off. Felt like I'd wandered into Grey's Anatomy territory. The Newsroom needed to tone down the soapie aspects and avoid sentimentality.

Jeff Daniels saved this series to a large extent, but I agree that many other casting choices were poor. Alison Pill's Maggie just grates. I think the series took itself too seriously. Perhaps it would've been better if it was written as a satire?

[–] goofy93 8 years ago

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought Maggie was grating. Yeesh...

[–] tomatosauce6808 8 years ago

I loved maggie

[–] puirt-a-beul 8 years ago

Thanks for your comments, imdbisforme, which I feel are spot-on. I've taken the liberty of quoting you further down the page.

I wish I had some insight into what happened to this show, but I don't. It started out so strongly, but to my mind was then a steady downhill slope to the end. I've always thought Sorkin had great dramatic instincts, as well as his legendary gift for dialogue, so I couldn't understand why he seemed content to let the show flop around like a fish pulled up onto the dock.

Even his dialogue seemed way out of kilter ... the way his characters would repeatedly launch into great pontificating monologues, often delivered too quickly to really grasp what they were saying, I felt grew tiresome. That's not what I was expecting to happen, at all.

I think it sad that I ultimately found the tangible failure of the show more interesting than the show itself.

You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.

[–] noel66 9 years ago

You didn't dislike the smug self-righteousness of the characters of The West Wing?

[–] umme4uke 8 years ago

Yep - it definitely runs out of steam.

I loved the first 4 episodes - seemed like it could actually be something. But by 8.5 episodes, I'm pretty bored.

It's not just the characters, other than the setup there is no real dramatic conflict in the plot. So the dudes a but pessimistic and the chick who cheated on him makes him a bit optimistic - and then it's just up and up, warm fuzzies all around.

I have no problem with shows being positive but constant, unearned righteousness is pointless and lacks stakes. It needs to go up and down. The characters need moments where they retreat back into nihilism, cynicism or misanthropy - as it is the show is not representative of real life or real peoples reactions to it, it's more like Gilmore GIrls or Doogie Howser or something - light comedy that gives you a smile each episode, not an unfolding dramatic epic that continues to say something deep whilst exploring multiple angles, as I originally thought it would be.

[–] puirt-a-beul 8 years ago

I wanted so much to love this series... but it ran out of steam very early in the piece. That first ep- Will's speech- was deceptively great... the brilliance of the show petered out all too quickly.

imdbisforme summed up my feelings on this show perfectly.

As to the great casting involved, I would agree with the three nominated, but I would also personally add Dev Patel, who I felt brought what was often a relatively thankless role to life.

You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.