HBO, known for being a major cable television network, has been in the business of making at times raunchy and outrageous, but mostly downright fantastic television shows for decades. In recent history they have brought us the likes of Sex and the City, Entourage, True Bloods, Game of Thrones, and of course The Sopranos -- it's newest brainchild being The Newsroom.
Like their brethren that have come before them, the newest shows added to HBO's line-up are anything but disappointing. Even though the first season of Girls has wrapped up, it can honestly be said that the first half of the summer revolved around the comedic genius of Lena Dunham, the star, writer, director, and producer of the hit show.
With it's closing, came the very different but equally enticing drama, The Newsroom. With this new addition to the Sunday night lineup, many have taken it upon themselves to call The Newsroom in fewer words, a flop. Being criticized for both it's writing and its actors, The Newsroom has taken many jabs. Each one of these negatives, however, seem to be nothing but positives to the show's quickly loyal following.
The show follows a news anchor, Will McAvoy, played by Jeff Daniels, and his staff, as they fearlessly backlash against what they believe journalism has become and what journalism was meant to be.
The Academy Award-winning writer of The Social Network and The West Wing, Aaron Sorkin is the mastermind behind the series and a true visionary. Though many are quick to condemn Sorkin, it has to be said, he is a better writer than most of us the field, and in all honesty, I'd pay to see the Jersey Shore on Ice if he wrote it.
One of the many complaints about the show is that Sorkin uses past events as part of its storyline. Each "breaking story" that is reported is a real life story that has affected us in recent years. By using incidents like the Gulf oil spill of 2010 and similar stories, The Newsroom shows us inside what news stories such as these felt like from the inside.
Even more buzz has been set around the show's fourth and most recent episode, where the final scene, based around the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords brings the entire staff back down to earth to appreciate what's truly important about life and the news while Coldplay's "Fix You" plays in the background. Though some say that like ER, the show not only used the music to hide bad writing but as medicine is wrongly portrayed on ER, journalism is wrongly portrayed in The Newsroom.
Another criticism revolves around the love triangles that underlie the main plot. Though the relationship between three of the executives does seem a tad bit too much like the Jim and Pam love triangle that ensued during the first couple of seasons during The Office, I personally don't see taking away from the purpose of the show.
The Newsroom is about exactly what Jeff Daniel's character stands for. The truth is, it takes a stab at politics, at journalism, and at the fact that major corporations own both our politians and our journalists and those lines have become too blurred for society's best interests.
That aside, the debate is still on concerning whether or not The Newsroom is actually quality television, but the only real important thing to the big guys up at HBO is that it's being debated about. As long as that still ensues, they'll keep bringing us the news, fictional or not.