The Newsroom

Let me be the first to say: The Newsroom is BACK, and darker than ever!

I've only seen the first episode, so I won't say much, but this premiere felt darker than all but the last few episodes of the original series. The original series was always black, but had a playfulness to it, and a certain charmingness about the characters; this new reinvention of the show carries most of the same issues and style, but is more unrelenting and comically depressing (and recasts all of the 'fun', 'quirky' characters). yes, I would even say they have taken it so far that it is no longer comedy, it's pure pain---but it in a good way! The Newsroom at its best achieved a kind of satire that made you fearful of seeing the characters as real people, and yet being forced into moments where we saw their saddest and honest humanity coming out (in the most crushing and embarassing and despicable ways); this entire first episode hit me with it again and again, at its most painful when Jim calls George Findlay practically in tears, and George could care less ...this is satire that dares you not to keep the safe comical distance (that even great satire usually makes use of), this is a *personal* satire that makes you bleed from the ears. I can't wait to see how far Finkleman takes this.

This said, I would be much more interested in seeing a totally new series from Finkleman, in a more open and more blatently surreal style.

Also, check out the insane and chaotic new series "This is Wonderland". I'm not sure if they can sustain it, but the pilot was ...different (and is one of the most de-centralized, self-destructive, frantic, infuriating narratives I've ever seen! almost every plot point collapsed in on itself and our heroine achieved essentially NOTHING!). It indeed manages to turn a court comedy/drama environment into a fairy tale world, and is about as unconventional and offbeat as it is possible for a court show to be these days. By way of comparison, the pilot would be best described as Ally McBeal on acid AND speed.

With this and an unexpectedly brilliant season of Da Vinci's Inquest (i was not such a fan in the past, but this season is something else), I'd say that CBC seems to have an almost violent level of energy this season!

(Schedule-- The Newsroom 8:30 Monday; Wonderland 9 Monday; Da Vinci 9 Sunday)

This show was excellent and had me until the completely unnecessary and bizarre 8 and a half homage (the three episodes called the meltdown). The entire purpose of which seemed to be to allow finkelman to pretend to be the main character from the movie. Which was hopelessly self-indulgent ("which was the point! get it?!") and devoid of anything interesting to say.

Before that though the show lays the blueprint for one camera office politics satire which both the British and American Office have utilized (if not totally ripped off). The show features some of the best writing I've ever seen on Television, incredibly sophisticated and never broad, it still manages to be hilarious.

8.5 out of 10 (get it?)

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.

I work in broadcasting. This is a very real show to me. The ass-kissing, self-serving characters on this show hit home with me. There's not a character on this show that isn't like someone that I work with.

The show is hysterical. But, I think it's one that requires much attention, or you'll miss something. The actions and results are right on top of each other, from scene to scene. There is a lot of dialog, with no real punchline. It's totally played straight, which makes it brilliant.

The only thing I don't like about it is that there isn't a 4th season. What a pity.

"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.