On Tue, Jun 26, 2012 at 12:11 PM, Jon Delfin <[email protected]> wrote:
> I've read in several places (critics I trust) that the pilot is the > best of the four episodes sent for review, which means the next three > weeks will be trying. First thing they need to do is get rid of the > pompous theme music. > On Tue, Jun 26, 2012 at 3:07 PM, Dave Sikula <[email protected]> wrote: > So if we don't like Sorkin's insufferable smugness, inability to write for > character, working out of personal issues on screen, and general knocking > down of weakly-created straw men, we're "shallow?" "The Newsroom" is the > "This American Life" of HBO: "Oh, if only your thoughts and lives were as > rich and interesting as mine ..." > > I don't give a rat's ass about his politics or his personal views. All I ask > for for good and intelligent writing; something that challenges me and > provokes me into questioning and defending my beliefs and values. Sorkin > does none of this. He's in love with the sound of his own voice and has > about three original thoughts that he recycles over and over (that > "Sorkinisms" video is a blessing). Jon Delfin: I have been assuming this must be true - at least it would be the only way to explain the horrible reviews based on just the pilot, which by any standard was not horrible. Dave Sikula: Isn't at least half of what you describe in the mind of the viewer? I think a big part of Sorkin's problem is that his brand is smugness in the eyes of much of the public, and his logo is a little picture of Josh Lyman. But the so-called "Great Man" in The Newsroom is not actually portrayed as anything like great; his flaws are not minor or incidental, and his arguments, even at the end of the show, are not obviously correct. I don't think I can even grant the straw man criticism; the "Bad Thing" in this show is lazy, tabloid cable news; I did not see this as being misrepresented or distorted so as to make it easier to invalidate or refute; indeed if anything I thought Sorkin made cable news look better than it really is (what actual cable newscast is the equivalent of the one our Hero has been anchoring prior to the events of the pilot, and that is eventually blown up and replaced with the newer, more idealistic-yet-still-popular newscast the gang is going to try to work on? I think you would have to go back to pre-millenial Bernie Shaw at CNN to find anything like the "bad" newscast Sorkin's Newsroom is criticizing and trying to improve upon. Sorkin is in love with his own voice, but that is a little like saying that the girl from Slumdog Millionaire is in love with her own looks (I use that example because of the tie-in with the actor on the show, and because I think she is one of the most beautiful women on the planet). It probably does result in too many scenes that are too heavy on speeches and too light on characters actually doing something - but then beautiful women probably have a few too many photographs of themselves in their apartments; it is a bit off-putting, but we usually are willing to cut them some slack. If Sorkin really did have three original thoughts that he recycled through ever show that would still be three more original thoughts than we get in the vast majority of television programs. I think Sorkin gets held to a higher standard, and then pummeled when he is only better than most everyone else but not as good as he wants to be (or wants the audience to think he is). If the exact same pilot episode had aired on ABC and billed as being produced by that woman who does those doctors-in-heat shows, it would have been perceived as the smartest show on television. I am not saying that makes it the smartest show on television (it clearly is not); I am just saying that a lot of this is relative to perception. I would give the pilot a B+, and I think it is okay for Sorkin to put a B+ show on television, and I think that is better than most shows that are already on television. Now, if the next 3 episodes drop down to C- I will understand all the dumping. I actually did watch Broadcast News yesterday, and what jumped out at me was that famous scene when the president of the News Division says to Jane: "It must be nice to always believe you know better, to always think you're the smartest person in the room." and Jane (God, how did I forget how fetching Holly Hunter was in that movie?) replies "No, its awful". Very Sorkin-esque, except we do get the feeling that Jane maybe nearly always is the smartest person in every room (except, how could such a smart girl ever pick Hurt over Brooks?), while we know Sorkin is only usually the smartest guy in any room otherwise filled with TV executives. > -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
