After finishing the 75 minute pilot of the new HBO series "The Newsroom", I was stunned by how brilliant this show is. The writing, the acting, the story, the chemistry between each character, everything was brilliantly executed. After watching this episode, I realized how great this show will become. AMC's "Mad Men" and "Breaking Bad" along with HBO's "Games of Thrones" and "Boardwalk Empire" have met their match - "The Newsroom" is one of the best TV shows out there.
Now of course, I haven't seen any other episodes since they haven't been released but I have a lot of confidence in this show after the masterpiece of a pilot "We Just Decided To". The show starts off with Will McAvoy, played by Jeff Daniels, answering questions at a local college. And after using a little humor to get passed questions he didn't want to answer, he finally snaps when the host demands his opinion if America is the greatest country in the world. Not only does he lash out at a college girl, but he also lashes out on the country that turns his career for the worse.
Mr. McAvoy is the head anchor at Atlantis Cable News (ACN) and when he returns to work after his lash out, he realizes most of his staff is gone from the newsroom. As he discusses what happened with the head chairman of the network Charlie Skinner, played by Sam Waterson, he realizes that his boss hired a new executive producer for the show without allowing Will to meet her. It turns out that the new executive producer is Mackenzie McHale, played by Emily Mortimer, who has had a relationship with Will in the past that went sour. It doesn't take Will too long for him to be completely upset with the whole predicament but has to face facts that she will help save his show after his outburst.
With a show like this you need two things to keep the boat afloat: a clean script and an solid cast; "The Newsroom" exceeds in both departments. Aaron Sorkin, the creator of the show (and his return to television), wrote the pilot and does a tremendous job of it. When I saw that he wrote this episode, I knew that the dialog was going to be strong with hints of comic relief. Aaron Sorkin won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay two years back for his work on "The Social Network" but he has also done other nameable films like "A Few Good Men" (You can't handle the truth). The writing was perfect. It was fluent, interesting, funny, and above all else - it was strong. Mr. Sorkin is a master at writing scripts - I pray that the writers he works with will be just as great because you can't have much better writing than this.
With writing that is so good, you need a solid cast to control it. I was really surprised with Jeff Daniels' performance as Will McAvoy - he is brilliant. After watching this episode, I kind of wish his movie career went a little farther. As of right now I can only remember him in a few movies that I would call decent. But he is amazing. Sure when he's funny, I can't help but remember him in the comedy "Dumb and Dumber" but when he's serious, it's like I never seen this type of acting from him before. An Emmy, and possibly a Golden Globe, nomination will be coming his way in the future months - that's for certain. Even the supporting cast is fantastic. While there are a lot of actors worth mentioning, Emily Mortimer as Mackenzie leads the supporting cast. She is strong hearted as well as has the ability to ease the tension with a little humor. Sam Waterson as Charlie also has his moments.
I've given perfect scores to only a couple of pilots before "The Newsroom" such as "Breaking Bad", "Mad Men", and "The Sopranos"; all of which went on (or still are) to receive big awards like Best Drama and Best Writing. As of right now, "The Newsroom" is on its way to greatness. A perfect score for a pilots either means it will continue to be a great series or it will slowly die down to an above average TV show. Only time will tell if "The Newsroom" deserves a 10 out of 10 but as of right now, it deserves your attention.
Now of course, I haven't seen any other episodes since they haven't been released but I have a lot of confidence in this show after the masterpiece of a pilot "We Just Decided To". The show starts off with Will McAvoy, played by Jeff Daniels, answering questions at a local college. And after using a little humor to get passed questions he didn't want to answer, he finally snaps when the host demands his opinion if America is the greatest country in the world. Not only does he lash out at a college girl, but he also lashes out on the country that turns his career for the worse.
Mr. McAvoy is the head anchor at Atlantis Cable News (ACN) and when he returns to work after his lash out, he realizes most of his staff is gone from the newsroom. As he discusses what happened with the head chairman of the network Charlie Skinner, played by Sam Waterson, he realizes that his boss hired a new executive producer for the show without allowing Will to meet her. It turns out that the new executive producer is Mackenzie McHale, played by Emily Mortimer, who has had a relationship with Will in the past that went sour. It doesn't take Will too long for him to be completely upset with the whole predicament but has to face facts that she will help save his show after his outburst.
With a show like this you need two things to keep the boat afloat: a clean script and an solid cast; "The Newsroom" exceeds in both departments. Aaron Sorkin, the creator of the show (and his return to television), wrote the pilot and does a tremendous job of it. When I saw that he wrote this episode, I knew that the dialog was going to be strong with hints of comic relief. Aaron Sorkin won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay two years back for his work on "The Social Network" but he has also done other nameable films like "A Few Good Men" (You can't handle the truth). The writing was perfect. It was fluent, interesting, funny, and above all else - it was strong. Mr. Sorkin is a master at writing scripts - I pray that the writers he works with will be just as great because you can't have much better writing than this.
With writing that is so good, you need a solid cast to control it. I was really surprised with Jeff Daniels' performance as Will McAvoy - he is brilliant. After watching this episode, I kind of wish his movie career went a little farther. As of right now I can only remember him in a few movies that I would call decent. But he is amazing. Sure when he's funny, I can't help but remember him in the comedy "Dumb and Dumber" but when he's serious, it's like I never seen this type of acting from him before. An Emmy, and possibly a Golden Globe, nomination will be coming his way in the future months - that's for certain. Even the supporting cast is fantastic. While there are a lot of actors worth mentioning, Emily Mortimer as Mackenzie leads the supporting cast. She is strong hearted as well as has the ability to ease the tension with a little humor. Sam Waterson as Charlie also has his moments.
I've given perfect scores to only a couple of pilots before "The Newsroom" such as "Breaking Bad", "Mad Men", and "The Sopranos"; all of which went on (or still are) to receive big awards like Best Drama and Best Writing. As of right now, "The Newsroom" is on its way to greatness. A perfect score for a pilots either means it will continue to be a great series or it will slowly die down to an above average TV show. Only time will tell if "The Newsroom" deserves a 10 out of 10 but as of right now, it deserves your attention.