Television Review: Aaron Sorkin's "The Newsroom"

Aaron Sorkin is the award-winning creator of such television shows as “The West Wing” and “Sports Night,” and the Academy Award-winning writer of films like “The Social Network” and “Malice.” He returns to television on HBO’s new show “The Newsroom,” which features a behind-the-scenes look at what goes on at a major cable television news network. The question on a lot of people’s minds is no doubt whether or not the show is actually good. Luckily, that question has an easy answer.

Sorkin’s trademark and instantly recognizable dialog is on full display in “The Newsroom” from the very start. As with most of his pilots, we are introduced to lead character Will McAvoy in the middle of a tirade that ends up landing him in hot water with both his network and his audience. McAvoy is a typical Sorkin character who is brilliant but opinionated and likeable but off putting. When most of his staff resigns as the result of his tirade at a public speaking event, his ex-girlfriend MacKenzie comes in and takes over the show. If you’re a fan of Aaron Sorkin, there’s a lot to like in “The Newsroom” from the very beginning.

“The Newsroom” assembles perhaps the best cast for an Aaron Sorkin television show to date, and that’s saying something. Jeff Daniels stars as McAvoy and plays him expertly. Emily Mortimer stars as MacKenzie and plays her with a stunning confidence. Though, as the character calls for, it is always clear that insecurities and neurosis rests right below the surface. Rounding out the cast of the first episode of “The Newsroom” are veteran actors like Alison Pill and Sam Waterston who bring the fictional news network to life. If there’s a problem with “The Newsroom,” it isn’t the cast.

The story of the pilot itself is a little more uneven than it probably should be. The first half deals almost exclusively with the fallout from Will’s disastrous public speaking fiasco. While the characters and the interactions are ultimately compelling, this whole section drags on for just a little too long. The second half, however, deals with the crew of the fictional news network as they learn more and more about a breaking news event. This section of the pilot is always riveting and compelling and ultimately shows exactly where the strengths of this show really are. If you can make it to the second half, it will likely be difficult to impossible to turn the show off before it ends.

If the rest of the series is anything like the second half of the pilot, “The Newsroom” shows an incredible amount of potential. As the characters are all fascinating and expertly played, the show seems like it can get a lot out of their relationships and interactions. Watching the staff of the fictional news network deal with real life breaking news events (the pilot deals with the BP Oil Spill from 2010) is also terrific entertainment. The only hurdle to overcome will be the preachy nature inherent in the first half of the pilot. If Aaron Sorkin can get off his political soapbox long enough to tell a good story, “The Newsroom” is going to be on the air for a very long time.

The Top Ten Cancelled TV Shows of the 2000s

Television has been changing drastically over the last decade. If you're not an instant hit, the writing is on the wall almost immediately. Out of all of the shows that were prematurely canceled in the last ten years, these are the ones that broke my heart the most.

10. Clerks: The Animated Series (Kevin Smith & Scott Mosier & David Mandel, 2000)

In concept, an animated "Clerks" show doesn't really make a lot of sense. In execution, however, we were treated to something pretty wonderful in the way of adult animation. A mixture of classic "Simpsons" and Kevin Smith's famous characters, "Clerks: The Animated Series" was killed after only two episodes aired (with one being aired out-of-order, really confusing the then 15-year-old Me).

9. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (Aaron Sorkin, 2006-2007)

After one of the best hour-long television pilots of all time, Aaron Sorkin's "Network: The Show" really struggled to find itself for the better part of a season. It didn't help that "30 Rock" premiered the same year on the same channel. Axed as it was just starting to find its footing, I still miss Matt Albie and Danny Tripp dearly.

8. Angel (Joss Whedon, 1999-2004)

This is an odd one - "Angel" may not be as great as it is if it hadn't been canceled prematurely. "Buffy" had gone off the air and "Angel" was beginning to truly stand on its own when it was canceled, which caused Joss Whedon to end the show in the most frustratingly brilliant way possible.

7. Undeclared (Judd Apatow, 2001-2002)

Not as good as Apatow and Paul Feig's brilliant "Freaks and Geeks," "Undeclared" was still a great character-driven show. Yet again, another show that followed the rule "Just when it starts to become a truly great show, it gets canceled."

6. Stella (Michael Ian Black & Michael Showalter & David Wain, 2005)

"Stella" is definitely not for everyone, but those that love jokes about how funny words sound and obscure literature references really understood how great the few episodes we saw were. "Stella" was able to effortlessly move between extreme high brow humor and low brow, sometimes within a matter of seconds. This, coupled with the show's "Anything can happen at any time" attitude lead to a show that was always fresh and unpredictable, and consistently funny from the beginning of its short run to the end.

5. Veronica Mars (Rob Thomas, 2004-2007)

Who doesn't love a film noir detective story set in high school? People will Neilsen boxes, apparently.

4. Andy Richter Controls the Universe (Victor Fresco, 2002-2003)

This was a great little show that tried to be nothing but fun from beginning to end, and succeeded in a really great way.

3. Arrested Development (Mitchell Hurwitz, 2003-2006)

Proof positive that there are original ideas left in Hollywood. Though they did end up going a little too far into "meta, trying desperately to save the show" territory, "Arrested Development" stands proud as one of the finest comedies ever forged. Luckily the show's popularity is unwavering, and Netflix is bringing back "Arrested Development" for a fourth season to proceed a feature film in 2013.

2. Firefly (Joss Whedon, 2002)

There really isn't anything that I can say about this show that hasn't already been said. Consider this proof of the age old theory that "good things are not allowed to happen to Joss Whedon."

1. Freaks and Geeks (Paul Feig & Judd Apatow, 1999-2000)

I'd rank the pilot of "Freaks and Geeks" up with some of my favorite movies of all time.  Though it did have a few missteps as it neared cancellation (the hermaphrodite subplot doesn't really work in any show, let alone this one), the entire 18 episode run is largely perfect, and is one of the best American television shows of all time.

Honorable Mention:

That's My Bush! (Trey Parker & Matt Stone, 2001)

This one gets an honorable mention because, while being officially canceled, it probably shouldn't have run longer than the six episodes it did. What we got was the perfect execution of a great concept, and anything more probably only would have weakened it.