The Newsroom...

[Husky25]

The point of the show is that conservatives should be smart enough to tell the difference between philosophical conservatism and, as they call it in one episode, the "clown car" that is the Tea Party. Sorkin is asking why Republicans are not doing something about their radicals.

The real target of Newsroom is not the Republican Party though, it is CNN. The fictional ACN is Sorkin's view of what CNN should be, a provider of smart, fact-based, analysis of real news. Instead, CNN has become a traffic cop that makes you stop and look at the car wreck, and it does it on 2 channels. One of the "Tragedy P---" episodes from last season was absolutely brutal on Nancy Grace and CNN's coverage of the Casey Anthony trial. Newsroom takes CNN behind the woodshed almost every episode.

The irony with CNN is that it trails Fox and MSNBC badly until there is real news, at which point CNN spikes. People do trust CNN to deliver real news and not just opinions, but do not care for the manufactured garbage that CNN floats most of the time.

CNN is a caricature of it's former self. With everything that was actually newsworthy over the weekend, they kept the live feed of the Florida state seal on screen all weekend while the jury deliberated for 12 1/2 hours. Contrary to popular opinion, the Zimmermann trial was not news, it was a human interest story. Its the type of drivel that made Nancy Grace and Greta Van Susteran (sp?), two complete wastes of air time with faces made for the radio, who should be approaching minute 14 out of 15.

And before you say I can change the channel, actually I really couldn't. My wife had control of the Silent Shifter of Wonder for a good part of the weekend so it was either that or Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

 

[Palatine]

O.K., I know I'm going to regret asking this, but like Fishy pointed out I'm easily amused. So let me ask: since you are clear to share your opinion that the mainstream media in this nation if greatly left biased, why does it but you that a mainstream media organization that is the focus of a TV series is portrayed as being left biased? If they showed the network as being as silly as Fox News, wouldn't you say "here goes the left -- pretending that mainstream media might just as easily lean right."

Not much makes you happy, does it?

They are not being shown as having a left wing bias. Jeff Daniels is portrayed as fair and honest.

He's not. And neither is the show.

 

[businesslawyer]

They are not being shown as having a left wing bias. Jeff Daniels is suppose to be fair and honest.

He's not. And neither is the show.

I knew I would regret asking.

It is not possible to be viewed as "fair and honest" by everyone in 2013, because too many people won't accept the underlying facts from which people then draw conclusions from their vantage point. See, e.g., global warming. It is not possible for almost everyone to believe you are "fair and honest" when if you acknowledge the scientific consensus that global warming has occurred you are called a leftist, and if you give the very small scientific minority that views the existence of global warming as unproven equal time on the air, you are accused of pandering to the righty wackadoodles.

 

[Husky25]

They are not being shown as having a left wing bias. Jeff Daniels is portrayed as fair and honest.

He's not. And neither is the show.

Big Bang Theory espouses Darwinism over Creationism, which Sheldon Cooper even calls out on screen as a load of hokum.. Is that fair and balanced?

 

[ZooCougar]

Seems like you have some familiarity with the show, or did Rush tell you what not to watch? Keep your poops to yourself.

I don't listen to Rush. Go hand out condoms to third graders or something.

 

[ZooCougar]

Let's just all agree that Newsroom has awful writing and it's totall agenda driven drivel. It's one of the most overhyped shows in the history of TV.

 

[Husky25]

Honestly, it's like someone set out to parody an Aaron Sorkin show and didn't know where to stop.

The irony is that someone is Sorkin himself. What enlightening insight?

Let's just all agree that Newsroom has awful writing and it's totall agenda driven drivel. It's one of the most overhyped shows in the history of TV.

I'll concede that this is your opinion. We all don't have to agree on anything, which is the point of this country, Television, HBO, and the off topic boards, (IMO ) .

 

[ZooCougar]

The irony is that someone is Sorkin himself. What enlightening insight?



I'll concede that this is your opinion. We all don't have to agree on anything, which is the point of this country, Television, HBO, and the off topic boards, (IMO ) .

I disagree that this is an off topic board

 

[Palatine]

Big Bang Theory espouses Darwinism over Creationism, which Sheldon Cooper even calls out on screen as a load of hokum.. Is that fair and balanced?

Darwinism has been supported scientifically.

The left wing garbage on the Newsroom, like the "dangerous" Tea Party, is just unsupported (often disproved) nonsense.

Of course, I wouldn't expect you to make the differentiation.

 

[Husky25]

Darwinism has been supported scientifically.

The left wing garbage on the Newsroom, like the "dangerous" Tea Party, is just unsupported (often disproved) nonsense.

Of course, I wouldn't expect you to make the differentiation.

As I expected, you missed the point of my post.

The irony of your response is that I am not a left winger and take The Newsroom for what it is...Entertainment. If you don't like it, change the channel. It's on late enough on a Sunday that I would have to set my DVR or watch on HBOGo. It is not required viewing, as all the underlying "current" events already happened and were already talkinghead fodder months or years prior.

 

[Palatine]

As I expected, you missed the point of my post.

The irony of your response is that I am not a left winger and take The Newsroom for what it is...Entertainment. If you don't like it, change the channel. It's on late enough on a Sunday that I would have to set my DVR or watch on HBOGo. It is not required viewing, as all the underlying "current" events already happened and were already talkinghead fodder months or years prior.

I disagree, the Newsroom, as someone previous stated, has an agenda.

I give most HBO shows a chance as their record is very good. I'm just very fair minded in general. I found the Newsroom to be okay, not a great show, not the worst on TV, but I found the political agenda of the show to be garbage.

I assume you to be left winger despite your protest based on the Darwinism argument. That is a favorite tactic of lefties. Unable to counter the arguments of conservatives, they change to subject to Darwin in a a lame attempt to grab the high ground and make themselves feel superior.

 

[Husky25]

I disagree, the Newsroom, as someone previous stated, has an agenda.

I give most HBO shows a chance as their record is very good. I'm just very fair minded in general. I found the Newsroom to be okay, not a great show, not the worst on TV, but I found the political agenda of the show to be garbage.

I assume you to be left winger despite your protest based on the Darwinism argument. That is a favorite tactic of lefties. Unable to counter the arguments of conservatives, they change to subject to Darwin in a a lame attempt to grab the high ground and make themselves feel superior.

What Darwinism argument? The Big Bang Theory is the name of a situation comedy. A sit-com, to use the parlance of our time.

Truth be told, I anticipated a response to the effect of you choosing not to watch it. To which I would have similarly. That you can change the channel from HBO or CBS when the Newsroom or Big Bang Theory, respectively, air...

Therein lies proof of (or against, depending how you care to think of it) my anticipatory skills. In an effort to leave no television reference unturned, " I can play the notes, but I cannot make music (paraphrase)." - Major Charles Emerson Winchester III

 

[Fishy]

The irony is that someone is Sorkin himself. What enlightening insight?

My God.

He's serious.

The Internet is officially too easy to access.

 

[cohenzone]

I don't listen to Rush. Go hand out condoms to third graders or something.

I guess now that you have Papa Fishy's cover you feel free to show your real self. You and I both know that your comment on my very bland initial post was not intended as a joke.

 

[UConn990411]

I give most HBO shows a chance as their record is very good. I'm just very fair minded in general. I found the Newsroom to be okay, not a great show, not the worst on TV, but I found the political agenda of the show to be garbage.

I found the political agenda to be over-the-top, too, but the show did go out of its way to clarify that it was going after the Tea Party, NOT the Republican Party. That's an important distinction to make.

I found season 1 of Newsroom to be a mixed bag - some episodes were fantastic, others were tough to get through and the relationship drama was absolutely unbearable. I could see the show taking a nosedive in season 2 similar to Homeland.

 

[Fishy]

The only problem with Newsroom is that it is worse than Treme.

It makes me want to watch Treme and I hate, hate, hate Treme.

It's so awful that I hate to too much to even be able to get to the point of hating its political agenda.

Luck gets cancelled for offing a couple of nags and this bucket of s--- gets renewed for a second season - heads need to roll.

 

[Excalibur]

I don't understand the sentiment of avoiding something because you disagree with its political message or world view. Seems kind of boring to me.

The Newsroom is unwatchable because it sucks, not because it leans (or jumps) left. They've got a decent set of acting talent, but the writing is terrible.

 

[ZooCougar]

I didn't like the politics in the West Wing or Boston Legal. Liked the shows though. If I picked entertainment based on politics then then the pickings would be slim.

Newsroom just flat out blows.

 

[Husky25]

Too bad that every other station other than HBO signs off the air at 9:59pm on Sunday nights...Oh wait. They don't.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

If you think that Sorkin is smug or condescending or obnoxious or just don't like getting lectured when you want to watch entertainment, I would get it. To say he sucks is ridiculous. Sorkin has written a Few Good Men, The American President, Charlie Wilson's War (which conservatives can stop circle jerking over), Moneyball and the Social Network, in addition to The West Wing. He is generally considered one of the best writers of the last 20 years. It is kind of hard to argue that he sucks.

 

[Fishy]

Charlie Wilson's War was not a good movie.

It was a gaggle of very badly acted characters made to look even worse next to Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

American President - bad. Very bad. Moneyball - seriously, wildly, horrendously overrated. Michael Lewis wrote a great book and then Aaron Sorking turned it into a lousy movie. (Again, PSH makes the rest of the cast looked like they're in a high school play.) The Social Network...raise your hand if you liked that movie. Now punch yourself in the face with that hand because it stunk.

And, of course, Newsroom is terribly terrible.

 

[G0UCONN]

The Social Network did blow. Shockingly bad...and somehow got great reviews and think was up for an Oscar.

Ridiculous.

 

[Husky25]

Charlie Wilson's War was not a good movie.

It was a gaggle of very badly acted characters made to look even worse next to Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

American President - bad. Very bad. Moneyball - seriously, wildly, horrendously overrated. Michael Lewis wrote a great book and then Aaron Sorking turned it into a lousy movie. (Again, PSH makes the rest of the cast looked like they're in a high school play.) The Social Network...raise your hand if you liked that movie. Now punch yourself in the face with that hand because it stunk.

And, of course, Newsroom is terribly terrible.

Philip Seymour Hoffman was terrible in Moneyball. There was no female lead, so he took on the role of the wet blanket. As intended, Jonah Hill and Brad Pitt carried the movie. The feeling that neither Steven Zaillian, nor Aaron Sorkin read the book is absolutely on the money (NPI).

Those A's teams had a trio of inexpensive quality young pitching. The fact that Mulder, Zito, and Hudson were not even mentioned, and only Billy Koch's back is shown is a travesty at best. They are the very definition of taking advantage of inefficiencies in the market.

It also makes Joe Morgan seem smart by not embracing the concept of Moneyball or Sabermetrics, when in fact most analysts and teams now have at least one person in their front office devoted to the concepts. The voice overlay at the end as the A's lose at the end is misleading at best. Joe Morgan probably still thinks that Billy Beane wrote Moneyball.

American President is what it is, a sappy chick flick rom-com. It was more intent on the interpersonal relationships than correct presidential policy and protocol. At the end of the day, if you're watch The American President for its politics, you are probably rightly disappointed.

I rather enjoyed Charlie Wilson's War. I've grown tired of Tom Hanks, since the mid 90's overexposure, but I can watch Amy Adams all day long. I saw a documentary after CWW and it's somewhat true to history as well, so it's got that going for it...

 

[Husky25]

The Social Network did blow. Shockingly bad...and somehow got great reviews and think was up for an Oscar.

Ridiculous.

Rightly or Wrongly, The Social Network reinforced my choice to not have a Facebook account.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Philip Seymour Hoffman was terrible in Moneyball. There was no female lead, so he took on the role of the wet blanket. As intended, Jonah Hill and Brad Pitt carried the movie. The feeling that neither Steven Zaillian, nor Aaron Sorkin read the book is absolutely on the money (NPI).

Those A's teams had a trio of inexpensive quality young pitching. The fact that Mulder, Zito, and Hudson were not even mentioned, and only Billy Koch's back is shown is a travesty at best. They are the very definition of taking advantage of inefficiencies in the market.

It also makes Joe Morgan seem smart by not embracing the concept of Moneyball or Sabermetrics, when in fact most analysts and teams now have at least one person in their front office devoted to the concepts. The voice overlay at the end as the A's lose at the end is misleading at best. Joe Morgan probably still thinks that Billy Beane wrote Moneyball.

American President is what it is, a sappy chick flick rom-com. It was more intent on the interpersonal relationships than correct presidential policy and protocol. At the end of the day, if you're watch The American President for its politics, you are probably rightly disappointed.

I rather enjoyed Charlie Wilson's War. I've grown tired of Tom Hanks, since the mid 90's overexposure, but I can watch Amy Adams all day long. I saw a documentary after CWW and it's somewhat true to history as well, so it's got that going for it...

The American President is a very good rom-com, and only is playing just about every night somewhere on your cable channel, for the last 17 years. It is like spanish fly for well read women over 30.

Moneyball is a book about math and baseball. Obviously some creative license had to be taken to turn it into a movie. If you took away Morgan's voiceover as the takeaway from the movie, you missed the point. The meeting with the actor playing Jack Henry is the takeaway.

The Social Network is a very good movie.

Charlie Wilson's War is an excellent movie, and I can't stand Amy Adams. I am not sure when chewing the scenery became good acting.