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Wednesday, June 27, 2012
1:00 pm
11 Comments
Welcome, Gasmi, to the premiere of HBO’s newest, big-budget, Sunday “blockbuster” series (Because do they DO anything else?) The Newsroom. It’s also Aaron Sorkin’s “triumphant” return to television after a couple of successful screenplays reminded people that, for all his super fantastic extra douchetasticness, he’s a pretty great writer. Of course, he’s also a prickly, fast-talking, blowhard with wafer-thin skin, so it could always go either way. Which way does The Newsroom go? Well, it’s one episode in and already running long, but maybe it’s super-sized for extra goodness.
Wow, that’s a buttload of smug for one grin.
We cold-open on a black screen with some guy talking about how “Sharon” has no faith in American individualism but I think he means exceptionalism. Potato, potahto. Image comes up and it’s Jeff Daniels looking mighty pleased with himself while Male Conservative Caricature barks at Lady Liberal Caricature about how he never called Obama a socialist while she aggressively smirks at him then busts out the old canard that by “his definition” Ronald Reagan’s policies were socialist, too.
While they continue to hector each other over the NEA v. the military the sound muffles and Jeff gets squirrelly. The sensitive piano suggests that maybe he’s having a crisis of conscience, or arrhythmia, then he sees a beautiful angel all backlit in the audience. Or an anemic-looking Englishwoman, they often look the same in entertainment.
Is the halo a bit much?
But no, the halo disappears and she’s just an extra…or is she? Jeff can’t tell and his reverie is broken when Lady Liberal yells about something being code for New York. Jewish. Perverted. And Gay. I think the NEA would get a lot more support if that were its motto.
And this could be its poster.
Moderator interrupts and laughingly asks Jeff, aka Will McAvoy, if he has anything to add. He quips about needing a more precise definition of perverted. You slay me. They’re at a college lecture and the moderator takes questions from the audience. Some kid asks Will what his political leanings are. Will sloughs it off, calling himself a Jets fan. He won’t say if he’s a Republican or Democrat but he’ll freely admit he’s a Jets fan? And I’m supposed to listen to him? The moderator alternately baits Will and answers his own question so that was a waste.
Next question is from a blonde named Jenny. In case we didn’t know she’s a cupcake she asks the panel to answer “In a sentence or less…” why each thinks America is the greatest country in the world. Lady Liberal says, “liberal dog whistle,” Male Conservative says, “conservative call to action,” and Will just smiles smugly and says “The New York Jets.” Stop saying that, please. Moderator decides this is the question he’s going to force Will to answer while the English Angel Lady holds up a handwritten sign saying “It’s not. But it can be.”
At least her name wasn’t Ashley.
Will parries and gives a non-committal answer about the greatness of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, but Moderator isn’t buying it and asks for something human. One last hallucination of the beautifully backlit English Angel Lady and Will snaps “It’s not the greatest country in the word, Professor. That’s my answer.” With everyone properly dumbstruck, Will goes on to tear Lady Liberal a new one because liberals are losers and Male Conservative because he’s talking out of his ass, then makes good and sure to make “Jenny” cry by calling her stupid before unleashing a torrent of statistics the writer’s assistant had to look up, to prove his point: seventh in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, third in median household income, fourth in labor force, fourth in exports, but we do lead in number of our citizens who are incarcerated, number of people who think angels are real, and defense spending. But we do have Yosemite.
Hey, hey…guess what? I’m a dick.
11 Comments
Loved your recap, Valleygirl, but I didn’t come close to loving the show as much as you say you did. Maybe that’s because I worked in and around television news for sixteen years (the fabu career portion of my life) and I couldn’t help but nitpick the really showbizzy, stupid stuff that never happens like applause by EVERYone at the end of a seat-of-the pants newscast. Really? Not bloody likely! And an open, obvious liquor bottle in the news set–not unless you want to get fired, and there is certainly someone higher up than Charlie in the network. I won’t be watching that silly treacle anymore, but I will be reading your recaps because they’re waaaay better than anything Sorkin could write.
I think the record-scratching noise in my head when I reached the end of this recap may have been loud enough for vallegirl to hear. Because, if this was a show she liked, I seriously want to read a negative recap of hers!
I liked it…but I never said I liked it because it was good. It has a lot of kinks to work out and isms to get over, but Sam Waterston was pretty great. (Even if he would have been fired for drinking in the office.) And, despite being the designated jerk, I rather liked Don, too.
But maybe it was seeing Alicia Corwin in the opening scene that threw me.
Judging from the lack of commenters, I’m guessing that this show is not going to be a hit with Gasmii. Don’t let that discourage you, Vallegirl, from recapping it.
Oh, I’m in it for the season. Unless they bring on a Safe Haven baby.
*coughs* POI? *coughs*
Oh. DUH. You WERE referring to POI there, weren’t you? I forgot that one amidst all the other plot disasters. So that was the straw that broke your back? Because I did wonder.
Nah, that was just the beginning of the end. It was a perfect storm of things that came together. But the baby really started the ball rolling.
I became obsessed with the Gawker recaps of “Girls,” did you see them? The comments afterward that complained about them made me think of you. People would be like, “Why are you recapping this show if you hate it so much?” I really appreciated your analysis of why POI was going south and I think it’s important to point out intelligently just what makes a show bogus. So I hope you stick with this show even if it gets bad — you put your snarky finger on things so well!
I don’t mean that I want this show to get bad. I realize that comment may have come across like that.
Something I just realized. Mackenzie shouldn’t have been able to alter Will’s title card by changing a chyron. The title of his show is in the clip. Even if a title card is just a still image, you can’t just hop onto your chyron program and change the embedded text. I’m pretty sure they designed it that way so producers couldn’t be assholes and give the program a new name whenever they feel like it.