HBO / "The Newsroom"

[Neumann Sennheiser]

On our board here lately, there have been a few threads, both intended and hijacked, touching on the subject of the current state of the presentation and reporting of news and some critical view-points concerning the state of professionalism, talent and quality of the fourth estate.
Well, hang onto your 1940's-style "press" fedoras ladies and gents; Aaron Sorkin, the man who gave us the critically acclaimed "West Wing" has hit one clean outta the park with the new HBO series The Newsroom.
This is the kind of "newsroom" posters like Kendricks and Cleaver have been alluding to (sorry, ..I mean to say: to which they have been alluding..no excuse for poor grammar).
If you have HBO, wonderful! watch it immediately, if not, try this Youtube link. I hope it is not blocked where you are and that it stays available long enough for you to view it.

http://www.youtube.com/verify_age?next_ ... U4ZhFDFYvE

Oh, and Jeff Daniels should start thinking about clearing some mantel space for his emmy .

[J Kendrick]

Wow! Thank you Neumann-Sennheiser
Bloody brilliant...

Quote: "I'd rather do a good show for a hundred people than a bad show for a million."
Spot on!
He says: "What does winning look like to you?"
... and she answers:
"Reclaiming the fourth estate. Reclaiming journalism as an honourable profession.... Speaking truth to stupid. No demographic sweeps, but a place where we all come together."

A bit preachy maybe ...but a script that's written by someone who actually gets it...
...and anyone who has ever worked in a newsroom should see this.

[bigbry]

Finally...some quality, good TV for a change! I agrre with both Kendrick and Sennheiser...thank you for bring up this fantastic show
Bry

[pave]

Riveting entertainment. HBO strikes again!

[WheresFredTaylor]

Finally...some quality, good TV for a change! I agrre with both Kendrick and Sennheiser...thank you for bring up this fantastic show
Bry

There's great TV on HBO and Showtime.

[J Kendrick]

Dan Rather has an interesting response to "The Newsroom":
"Sure, I've got my nits to pick with it; and, no, it's not perfect. But there's a lot to like in what (Alan)Sorkin and his cast have done here. There is a newsroom authenticity to what's presented and much that gets to the heart of modern American journalism's problems."

Rather goes on to say:
"There is a battle for the soul of the craft that goes on daily now in virtually every newsroom in the country. It's a fight that matters, not just for journalists but for the country. It centres on whether news reporting is to be considered and practised—to any significant degree, even a little—as a public service, in the public interest , or is to exist solely as just another money-making operation for owners of news outlets."

See the full text of Mr. Rather's comments at:
http://gawker.com/5920929/dan-rather-re ... d-liked-it

[Neumann Sennheiser]

There's great TV on HBO and Showtime.

...can't leave AMC without a mention too.
"Mad Men", "Breaking Bad".

[pave]

With all this great TV around, howcum it is we end up drooling into a beer and watching unintelligible neanderthals in the swamps shooting 'gators and Storage Hunters or whatever? I like Barry. It can't just be me.

[PMC]

Great show, and long... don't know if it would be the same response with commerical interruption.

[YesterDaze]

.... there's a lot to like in what (Alan)Sorkin and his cast have done here....

For one like Kendrick who is so quick to criticize the accuracy of contemporary newsrooms, it would be wise to be correct with the first name of the highly acclaimed writer & producer. It's AARON Sorkin.

[J Kendrick]

.... there's a lot to like in what (Alan)Sorkin and his cast have done here....

For one like Kendrick who is so quick to criticize the accuracy of contemporary newsrooms, it would be wise to be correct with the first name of the highly acclaimed writer & producer. It's AARON Sorkin.

Observation duly noted... I'll have to watch out for that next time I quote Dan Rather at six in the morning...

[Buckley]

Fantastic piece of work so far... a little preachy maybe, a little too convenient, and some of it might be considered "fantasy" (for example, in this modern day, who is going to be that aggressive and somewhat condescending to a major oil company rep? "clearly our thoughts and prayers aren't with the fire", fantastic line, but you'll never see it on CNN ), but I'm very much looking forward to seeing how the season plays out.

It's not even close to being similar, but does anyone remember CBC's "The Newsroom"? I always enjoyed it as well.

[pave]

Time for a (likely unnecessary) reality-check. If Big Pharma dropped CNN because of, say, an exposé on that industry - who would take the lease on the vacated studios?
Meanwhile, it was HBO that introduced me to the phenomena of The Tuskegee Airmen. Wouldn't have known about those guys otherwise.

[YesterDaze]

.... there's a lot to like in what (Alan)Sorkin and his cast have done here....

For one like Kendrick who is so quick to criticize the accuracy of contemporary newsrooms, it would be wise to be correct with the first name of the highly acclaimed writer & producer. It's AARON Sorkin.

Observation duly noted... I'll have to watch out for that next time I quote Dan Rather at six in the morning...

I wonder how Dan Rather actually put the brackets on the first name, if you were indeed quoting him from television.

In honour of the soon-to-be-reborn Arsenio, let's dub this "one of the things that make you go ..hmmmm."

[J Kendrick]

So... back to the subject of this thread...

Has anyone here seen Episode Three this past weekend ... and have any comments on the opening "apology" for newsrooms that have fallen down on the job?