Okay, I finally finished watching season one of “The Newsroom” – and per usual, I’m about four years behind on the game. But hey, better late than never, right?
The first time I’d ever heard about the show, I was on a first date with a guy from Match.com. We were at a coffee shop, and although I was still a TV junkie then, I didn’t have HBO. So, when my date said I should definitely “check it out”, I put it on my mental list of shows to watch.
Just in case you’re wondering, we didn’t have a second date. I actually thought he was fun to talk to, and cute, but he was very quick to text me during his drive home and tell me that he wasn’t interested. I didn’t meet up with anyone from Match again, and cancelled my subscription after one month.
I didn’t get HBO until I moved to Austin and got Uverse, and I immediately checked my On-Demand and saw that “The Newsroom” is basically NEVER available to watch (niether is Season 3 of “Girls”, which I have yet to see, but that is for another day). Figures.
So, I asked for season one for Christmas, and I got it this last year from my mom. I was talking to this guy at the time, a guy I really liked, and he also really liked the show. So, after watching the first few episodes, we rehashed it.
And, when things started to go south with him, I laid on my couch under an electric blanket (it was January, after all) and sadly tried to watch more episodes.
If you’ve watched the show, you’ve heard the theme music, and I’ll be damned, but it makes me emotional like every time. I’m pretty sure it’s just because it reminds me of this guy I liked, and not because I love the news, but I really do love the news.
So, anyway, about the show. A summary from Wiki, “At Atlantis Cable News (ACN), anchormsan Will McAvoy is forced to contend with a new team after his Executive Producer decides to transition to a new program and takes most of his staff with him. His new team includes executive producer MacKenzie McHale, newsroom staff Jim, Don, Neal, and Sloan, and their boss, Charlie Skinner. Together they set out on a patriotic and quixotic mission to do the news well in the face of corporate and commercial obstacles and their own personal relationships.”
In short, this show is good. Is it great? No. Like many shows, it definitely forces us to suspect our belief in real life, which is okay – I’m all about escaping the real world. However, the show covers issues we’ve all experienced in real life, whether on the news or in our cities. Season one covered events such as the election, the Gabby Giffords shooting, the Egyptian president, and the killing of Osama Bin Laden.
Particularly, during ACN’s preparation in the coverage of Bin Laden, they wanted to be the first to report it – even before the president did. Uh, THAT would NEVER happen. Ever.
And then there’s this opening scene, season one, episode one, that had everyone talking:
Around the 3:40 mark, the professor hosting the chat presses Will for a more detailed answer; which would never – ever happen. Any college, no matter how progressive, is always too conservative to risk pissing off their guests, and if there is a college out there that does it, let me know and I’ll retake my entire undergrad.
Is it a good scene? Sure. It’s emotional and fairly bold; a news anchor today woulnd’t have the balls to say what he said. And perhaps, as a journalist, it’s difficult for me to suspend my beliefs in this area – but hey, I made it through the entire season!
Honestly, after the first few episodes, it was pretty easy to get into, I just didn’t feel that pull of “OMG I can’t wait to get to the next episode!” But, I already have season two (another one of my $5 finds from FYE several months ago), and I saw that my local library has season three – so I’m lined up for a bit. I’ll let you know how it goes.
And that guy that I think of when watching “The Newsroom”? I actually contacted him once I finished season one, hoping he’d want to rehash it. But, given the fact that I’m pretttyyyy sure he hates me, he didn’t respond.
Nothing fake about that.
The Bitter Lemon 