The Newsroom

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.

"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.

While Ken has made the show much more darker (I think there has been a death in every show), it still remains an incredibly funny show. George Findlay was always the most interesting character in the original series, thus I have no problems with there being a lack of returning cast members. Amongst the new actors, I especially enjoy Matt Watts, whose deapan delivery makes his character much funnier than he should be. Overall, a solid return for Finklemen after all those artier than thou pretentious pieces that he did after the original series (More Tears was still good though).

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.

I saw this years ago, so I'm reviewing this based on my response in the 1990s.

This harsh satire of the news industry was pointed, dark and very, very funny. I don't remember too many details, but I remember that it was absolutely brilliant.

And then came the last episodes, in which the main character snaps. And they were awful. What had been a straight ahead comedy suddenly, inexplicably turned into an obvious tribute to/ripoff of Frederico Fellini. It was clear that series creator Finkleman, like so many humorists, felt humor wasn't enough and that he had to prove himself as an artist. And the result was tedious, pretentious and a complete misfit with the rest of the series.

But it's still worth watching all the episodes up until that point. It's just a shame Finkleman couldn't have been satisfied making a really funny satire of television news.