I was hooked when the promo show Jeff Daniels rip into the sorority girl's question. The first episode was good (Daniels' rant was there but it was also a bit disappointing at how it was diffused so quickly).
The writing is sharp and dialog is delivered at a rapid fire pace, which while good also acts as a deterrence as a reference or joke can take a while to understand. A lot is packed into each episode, which makes it a long watch and you have to pay attention. But that's a good thing.
The stories center around a lot of political issues, taken from real life. Jeff Daniels, to me, feels like a news savvy House, and the rest of the newsroom team are his interns. Daniels is good as a gruff, no nonsense news anchor, while Emily Mortimer is called in to rein Daniel's character, Will, in the right reporting direction.
The series has quite a few good things going for it: interesting stories, Jeff Daniels, Sam Waterson, Emily Mortimer (mostly, apart from that demonic and annoying outburst in the second last episode) Olivia Munn, and some decent dialog, no soap opera romance nonsense, apart from one slight hitch.
There are some downsides: By the end of the show I disliked Maggie. A lot. She started out as an insecure, timid, intern who's trying to please her boss to becoming loud and brash and lots of over the top histrionics. The supposed romance that somehow blooms between her and Jim, for me, was cheesy, pointless, annoying and unnecessary. I was willing to eschew that for some sparks between Will and Mackenzie.
The use of sharp wit and retorts, while fun to watch initially became annoying as it was continually repeated. A serious bit of dialog would be interrupted with a digressing comment or question, a gag that just wasn't funny after a while. The rest of the newsroom cast was so-so. Like Maggie, they were timid creatures to begin with but once they found their voices they transformed into arrogant characters. I didn't really care for most of the newsroom cast. Dev Patel's weirdness was funny and thankfully kept to a minimum so it was enjoyable when it occurred. Don Keefer not only looked like a weasel but acted like one too, and there was plenty of times I would have liked to have seen someone punch that smugness and ego from his face.
Some of the dialog was delivered too fast and some plots, esp the phone hacking scandal was resolved too quickly and disappointingly.
Despite these downsides, I still enjoyed the show. The last episode ended well and I'm interested to see what season 2 brings. Hopefully, with less cheesy moments a la Maggie and Jim and less arrogant characters (the young newsroom cast), and more interaction with the top brass of news studio.
The writing is sharp and dialog is delivered at a rapid fire pace, which while good also acts as a deterrence as a reference or joke can take a while to understand. A lot is packed into each episode, which makes it a long watch and you have to pay attention. But that's a good thing.
The stories center around a lot of political issues, taken from real life. Jeff Daniels, to me, feels like a news savvy House, and the rest of the newsroom team are his interns. Daniels is good as a gruff, no nonsense news anchor, while Emily Mortimer is called in to rein Daniel's character, Will, in the right reporting direction.
The series has quite a few good things going for it: interesting stories, Jeff Daniels, Sam Waterson, Emily Mortimer (mostly, apart from that demonic and annoying outburst in the second last episode) Olivia Munn, and some decent dialog, no soap opera romance nonsense, apart from one slight hitch.
There are some downsides: By the end of the show I disliked Maggie. A lot. She started out as an insecure, timid, intern who's trying to please her boss to becoming loud and brash and lots of over the top histrionics. The supposed romance that somehow blooms between her and Jim, for me, was cheesy, pointless, annoying and unnecessary. I was willing to eschew that for some sparks between Will and Mackenzie.
The use of sharp wit and retorts, while fun to watch initially became annoying as it was continually repeated. A serious bit of dialog would be interrupted with a digressing comment or question, a gag that just wasn't funny after a while. The rest of the newsroom cast was so-so. Like Maggie, they were timid creatures to begin with but once they found their voices they transformed into arrogant characters. I didn't really care for most of the newsroom cast. Dev Patel's weirdness was funny and thankfully kept to a minimum so it was enjoyable when it occurred. Don Keefer not only looked like a weasel but acted like one too, and there was plenty of times I would have liked to have seen someone punch that smugness and ego from his face.
Some of the dialog was delivered too fast and some plots, esp the phone hacking scandal was resolved too quickly and disappointingly.
Despite these downsides, I still enjoyed the show. The last episode ended well and I'm interested to see what season 2 brings. Hopefully, with less cheesy moments a la Maggie and Jim and less arrogant characters (the young newsroom cast), and more interaction with the top brass of news studio.