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The Newsrooom
Nov. 6th, 2012 02:03 amI missed the first few episodes of Aaron Sorkin's new show, The Newsroom, when it came out. And because one of my smaller and less offensive mental quirks is being both a completist, I figured I would wait until the season was over and watch it all from the beginning, properly.
Then I made the mistake of reading some reviews. There are a couple of film and television reviewers I respect and whose judgment I trust, but for the most part I find that the fraternity seems obsessed with things that don't seem to me to be very important and miss what makes a lot of writing, and a lot of directing, and a lot of acting really quite stunningly good. And my mistake was forgetting that and reading some reviews.
Because they panned The Newsroom. The acting was atrocious, the characters were unbelievable, plots were implausible, the writing was derivative and second rate. Because, you know, most of the hours of primetime are filled with Shakespeare and Dostoyevsky. I t was, frankly, crap. And I should have known it was, but the little seed of doubt was planted, and I never followed up and actually watched the show.
Well, I just did. Over the last week, I've watched the first season. And it's excellent. It has all the glories and all the flaws of an Aaron Sorkin production. I'm not going to try to list all its strengths and weaknesses. For one thing, its two in the morning and I need to get some sleep. But it's damn good television, and I'm kicking myself for waiting this long to watch it.
Then I made the mistake of reading some reviews. There are a couple of film and television reviewers I respect and whose judgment I trust, but for the most part I find that the fraternity seems obsessed with things that don't seem to me to be very important and miss what makes a lot of writing, and a lot of directing, and a lot of acting really quite stunningly good. And my mistake was forgetting that and reading some reviews.
Because they panned The Newsroom. The acting was atrocious, the characters were unbelievable, plots were implausible, the writing was derivative and second rate. Because, you know, most of the hours of primetime are filled with Shakespeare and Dostoyevsky. I t was, frankly, crap. And I should have known it was, but the little seed of doubt was planted, and I never followed up and actually watched the show.
Well, I just did. Over the last week, I've watched the first season. And it's excellent. It has all the glories and all the flaws of an Aaron Sorkin production. I'm not going to try to list all its strengths and weaknesses. For one thing, its two in the morning and I need to get some sleep. But it's damn good television, and I'm kicking myself for waiting this long to watch it.
