After watching season one of The Newsroom I must say that in I give it 5 out of 10. It started off strong and then it just died only to be revived at the end. This show held so much promise, but it just did not deliver in a big enough way consistently to be anything more than average. I am certain that there are a great many who take issue with my overall rating, and perhaps they think I am being too harsh or that I would do well to lower my standards, but let us put this show in context first before you draw that conclusion.
The Newsroom airs on HBO; the motto of HBO is “It’s not TV it’s HBO!” and I would dare to say that (at least for this season) The Newsroom was TV and not at all HBO. How can I make such a claim? Look at what HBO has given us prior to The Newsroom? OZ which revolutionized the prison drama and made everyone just a tad bit more law abiding in the process, The Sopranos which despite its lackluster ending was an immensely popular mobster drama, Sex In The City (as horribly ironic as it is for this straight guy to say) was fabulous; I mean, I don’t know not one NYC female that has not seen at least one episode of it. Now here comes The Newsroom and instead of something fresh and capable of the wow factor we get writing that was as plain as a fresh piece of white bread.
In episode one there was hope for the show there were some tense moments early on and there appeared to be a very interesting dynamic being set up amongst the characters. I mean when Charlie shouted at Don “I will beat the shit out of you I don’t care how many protein bars you eat.” I have to admit to laughing out loud and sitting up straighter in my desk chair. When it became clear that Will and MacKenzie once had a relationship I became more invested emotionally in these two characters. But as the show wore on I began to wonder when it would finally pop, and hook me in as a fan. It was like watching a pot of water on the stove and waiting for it to boil to make your cup of coffee, but it just never makes it past a simmer.
It was not so much that the ingredients for an HBO show were not there, because they were: The acting (with Olivia Munn as the exception) was spot on, the set and overall feel of the show was very realistic too, but what it lacked was the proper tonality. I felt like it was trying too hard to be a great show by needlessly going over the top with things. Take MacKenzies accidental email to the crew about her and Will’s prior relationship. While that does sometimes happen in the real world the dramatic response it provoked was more indicative of a sitcom skit then a heavy hitting HBO headliner.
Perhaps most troubling to me was that (through no fault of its own) The Newsroom left me with a Fox-Newsian image of the NY media. I think I can finally understand how people get the perception that the media is just a haven for elitists and elitist attitudes. The Newsroom showed quite clearly where these big media outlets are IN THE BIG CITY and the people that work there are/become BIG CITY people. Consequently, they all have an image that unconsciously conveys an “I’m better than you” message and who honestly wants to internalize that when they are desperately trying to be entertained; however, this is perhaps not as much the fault of The Newsroom as it is the fault of the actual news media.
Irrespective of what I have said thus far The Newsroom did have a solid last episode this season in that it accomplished what every season finale seeks to accomplish: keep the viewers wanting to see the next season. I hope for anyone who is going to watch season 2 that they keep the momentum going and trim the fat with respect to the overly dramatic outbursts. I wanted to see a serious news oriented drama in season 1 and I didn’t get that. I got a news centered dramatic sitcom with average writing. That is not HBO that’s TV.
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