Aaron Sorkin has a pretty impressive resume. The American writer and producer created The West Wing (winner of 28 Emmy awards) and picked up an Oscar for his script for The Social Network. But not everything he touches turns to gold.
Two of Sorkin’s post-West Wing programs, Sports Night and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, were prematurely cancelled despite plenty of hype and loyal fanbases.
Which brings us to Sorkin’s latest TV project, The Newsroom, a fast-paced exploration of the media – this time, fictional channel Atlantis Cable News. The grossly underrated Jeff Daniels stars as Will McAvoy, anchor and power-hungry managing editor of News Night. The series begins with our hero snapping during a public debate and delivering a stinging, wordy anti-America tirade captured on smartphones.
Thanks to the power of the internet, half the country has seen the video by dinner time and McAvoy is in crisis mode. This all takes place before the opening credits, which should give you an idea of the pace of the show.
McAvoy, amusingly dubbed “the Jay Leno of anchors” to cement his blandness, returns to work two weeks later to find most of his team is taking up with a new, rival anchor. Things snowball from there, as McAvoy meets with network boss Charlie (Sam Waterston) and is introduced (or re-introduced) to his new executive producer, feisty MacKenzie (Emily Mortimer), with whom he clearly has some sort of romantic history.
When The Newsroom covers the news, it’s fantastic. The first episode shows the team first to frantically report on the real-life BP oil spill. The office banter is believable, albeit wordy, and the direction (from Arrested Development’s Greg Mottola) perfectly complements the chaos and uncertainty as the story unfolds.
But The Newsroom suffers when it shifts its focus to the workers. Most characters are stereotypes, from cocky alpha-male Don (Thomas Sadoski) to nerdy newcomer Jim (John Gallagher) and their inevitable love triangle with bumbling Maggie (Alison Pill).
They are characters we’ve seen before and the attempts to explore their lives away from the office are clumsy and superfluous. But it shows promise, and there’s not a dull moment when Daniels is in sight. The Newsroom is, on first viewing, an intriguing proposition.
Monday, SoHo (Foxtel), 8.30pm.
