I remember seeing at least part of this clip from HBO’s new series The Newsroom a while ago, but watching the whole 3.5 minutes in its entirety just now really makes me want to seek out the first few episodes (it premiered on June 24th, so there should be a few out already).
It doesn’t really come as much of a surprise to me afterwards to learn that the show is created by Aaron Sorkin – the man is brilliant. I never really watched The West Wing, which is apparently his most critically-acclaimed show to date, but I absolutely loved both Sports Night and Studio 60 for their writing, so I really want to seek this one out now, too. I have so many memories of these great moving scenes from each of those other shows, and the characters just work so well together, and the dialog is always witty and smart – a dozen steps above what you’ll find on any network these days. I think it really says something when you consider that I am not at all a sports fan, and yet I thought Sports Night was fantastic because it was so well written, even through the abrupt series finale when ABC opted not to renew it.
Of course, The Newsroom also looks intriguing because it’s hitting on politics during an election year – I’ll be curious to see how well it’s received throughout the season because clearly it intends to push some buttons about our current state of arrogant affairs here in America and the reason it’s such poignant dialog is because it’s absolutely true. Anybody who says that America is the best nation in the world here in 2012 is either blind, arrogant, or stupid … and I love how this clip spearheads such a great series of talking points on exactly that, and yet dials back in the second half both to reminisce as well as hint that it doesn’t always have to be this way.
I want to say that the trailer maybe only featured the first half of this clip, but the second half makes me want to seek out and watch the rest of the series.