The Newsroom

"The Newsroom" is honestly one of the best-made television shows I've ever seen. Brilliant writing; solid acting; dialogue that flowed more realistically than you'll ever see. And the stinging commentary on office politics and the cut-throat portrayal of the media was dead on. This wasn't a show about nothing. There was no audience. There was no laugh track. It didn't need any of these. It tackled real issues in the news, but gave you the insiders look. The show takes place in Toronto, Canada at a local news station. In one scene, the crew gets word of a train accident in the Congo river. Instead of going with the big local story, they go with the unrelatable, yet more interesting train wreck halfway across the world. In trying to somehow relate it to Canada, they check to see if any Canadians were on board.

Mark: We haven't even confirmed this Canadian. Jeremy: Well, we're hoping there's a Canadian dead. George: We're hoping he's dead.

Just an example of what goes on behind the scenes. Makes the network executives of Fox look like saints.

People have compared "The Newsroom" to Garry Shandling's "The Larry Sanders Show." Both similar; both excellent shows, "Sanders" coming before `the Newsroom.` But the Newsroom was done so much better in every way, that's there can be no comparison.

Like I said, one of my favorite shows of all time. Do yourself a favor and check your local PBS stations to see if they're playing "The Newsroom." Or, in Canada, beg the CBC to show some re-runs.

The first time I attempted to watch "The Newsroom" I tuned out, bored. The second attempt was not only better, but I became hopelessly enslaved and devoted to the series which I have watched over and over, for therapy, a hedge against loneliness, and other times when I just want to be a part of Finkleman's wacky world. I love the man. He can do no wrong for me. For many of the cast it had to have been the "best of times" to have been part of this magnificent production. Along with Ken's "More Tears", and Dennis Potter's "Singing Detective" I know of nothing finer ever done on TV, and I could absolutely kill myself for not being able to write a more fitting tribute to this great artist.

Judging The Newsroom after one episode is somewhat premature. I did not watch The Newsroom (1996) so cannot compare. Comparing the new actors is also quite premature. I hope Newshawk has watched more than the first episode. After a hiatus of 8 years, of course it is different from its predecessor. If viewers want easy laughter, there are enough asinine shows on television that would make him happy.

Kudos to CBC, Ken Finkleman and the "true-blue" actors as Newshawk describes them.

My 2cents worth.

If you have any desire to see important TV, pun intended, take a gander at this 6 episode comedy series(available on VHS & PBS) produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 'The Corp.' let writer/director Ken Finkleman(escaped from HOLLYWOOD hackdom) do whatever he wanted and it shows in a TV show that knows no bounds in its behind the scenes look at a Toronto TV Newsroom. Smashingly smart, searingly irreverant, better than Larry Sanders at giving you the inside scoop on the crap that makes (most) TV what it is. Lock up your sacred cows. Ken's knives are sharp and long. Also see 'More Tears'(1998) also by CBC and Finkleman.

The deadpan quasidocumentary feel of this series puts it solidly in an evolutionary chain from Canadian sketch comedy, perhaps most obvious among the SCTV and other Second City folk who've done so much that's been visible in the States, to such latter-day offerings as THE OFFICE, in its original UK form and US remake. The interplay of dialog is often as quick as anything I've seen in screwball or drawing room comedy in any medium, yet usually the build toward absurdity is held deftly in check till a rich payoff. The new season, offered to US television in 1995, may seem a bit familiar as a result of the first season's influence, and the first sequel project, MORE TEARS, was by intention somewhat more self-indulgent (parodically...and simultaneously not...Fellini-esquire), but all are well worth seeing, particularly this first season.