In the opening scene of the new Aaron Sorkin drama “The Newsroom,” premiering on HBO on Sunday at 10 p.m., smart but glib cable news anchor Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels) has a “Network”-lite public meltdown. After giving an honestly acerbic opinion about the flaws of the US political system — in a move that seems like career suicide — a viewer might think that McAvoy is mad as hell and is not going to take it anymore.
It turns out that he, more realistically, is cynical as hell and is willing to take it for at least as long as the ratings hold up. But the man who has been dubbed “The Jay Leno of news anchors” — an insult meant to infer laziness and pandering, not funny headlines — gets a shock to the system when his new executive producer turns up in the form of his old lover, MacKenzie McHale (Emily Mortimer).
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News mavens affairing amongst their same newsroom colleagues are absolutely drastic or stupid... 'specially if the divorce papers have not come through. This stuff only makes for good drama if the cuckold carries an antique derringer.
Looking forward to watching this show!
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A lot to like, a lot to groan over. The dialogue had that same "West Wing" staccato cadence with a lot of wit and dark humor, but even as a progressive, I find the self-righteousness a bit hard to take. Daniels was very good, Waterston's character needs work (a bit too cartoonish) but he will grow into the role, and Mortimer was earnest but awful and unbelievable ( a journalist who succeeded in Iraq and Afghanistan would never be that deferential). The young guy who played her protege was terrific, however, and his parts pointed toward where the show might go when it really cooks. Worth a second look, but already anticipate that unevenness that plagued the WW, except in this show, they get to swear like real people do when they're under stress, pissed, or just in the moment. B- BTW: the System Worked won't like it. Guess why.