Link The HBO drama will end after three seasons. Really quite a shame as this is one of my favorite shows on television. Yes it's kind of ridiculous, but so what? New episodes begin in the fall.
It's one of my favourite shows, too. Well, I hope it'll end on a high note with an outstanding season, at least.
If this means more history-based Sorkin movie scripts, a la Charlie Wilson's War, The Social Network, and Moneyball, then hooray, I say! I still want to see his promised John Edwards movie, and am looking forward to his Jobs also.
Ah crap.. i've had such an awesome day and now these news. Sad to see it go but that's life. At least we'll get another season to wrap things up.
Ah well, better to go out on a high I suppose. At least 3 seasons is better than Studio 60 managed. But I could never get into that one.
New Sorkin, more Sorkin, new Sorkin, more Sorkin more! Golly. HBO is hanging it's hopes on True detective? Acting great, but the story seems dull and been there. I saw two nude women stabbed on Deer antlers last year on Hannibal, which makes me wonder why should I Marvel at a third?
not by much. Studio 60 had 22 episodes in its single season run. Newsroom is likely to clock 28-29 depending on if we get a 9-10 episode final run
Everyone seems shocked and outraged at HBO. However HBO for several months seemed to want more seasons and Sorkin is like "If I had time". So they agreed for one more season. No point in doing the show without Sorkin.
Honestly, I thought Season 2 was a dog. Nowhere near as interesting and engaging as the first season. It spent way too much time or secondary stuff, the Genoa storyline, not enough Will and nowhere near enough "Monday-Morning Quarterbacking" of the 2012 election. I mean that election season was full of material and they spent their season on this Genoa storyline which I didn't find interesting at all. Hell, they barely touched on the OWS stuff or any of the other things that went on in the past year.
Remember what they did with Patrick Troughton when he wanted to quit Doctor Who? He said that he would do one more story and then he was gone... The Wargames, his final adventure lasted 10 weeks.
Pity, but I can't say I'm surprised. I love the show and I will miss it. Can't wait for his next production, film or series.
Can't say I'm too disappointed. Despite moments of greatness, it never really came together in the way I wanted it to, with far too much reliance on the romantic antics of the cast. And I never felt the gimmick of having the show report news from the recent past worked, for an ostensibly positive show about a few idealists trying to inform the public and help improve the state of public discourse, anchoring it to real world events made the whole endeavour oddly futile. But it sucks for those that enjoy the show, and I know many here do. At least it is getting a proper final season with Sorkin at the helm, which is more than can be said about any of his previous shows.
Season one was a mixed bag, but I thought season two was a marked improvement in all areas. Oh well. I'll watch season three, and Sorkin will probably go on to bigger and better things.
That's kind of the point, though, isn't it? It's a show about people who set forth idealistically to improve public discourse and the state of commercial news who ultimately fail. The whole Don Quijote theme suggests they're quite aware of the futility of their endeavour. It's possible that this was entirely unintentional but this tragic element of the show always appealed to me. It resonates with me on a personal level, as well, because it mirrors the futility I see in my own and my party's political involvement.
I liked the second season more than the first, hopefully the third will be better than the second and the show will go out on a true high note.
Perhaps it is intentional, but if so then I fee it undermines the show a little. If the central concept of the show is that America is in decline, in part, because of the poor job the news media are doing, then by having a popular news show report the news properly (as according to Sorkin) then there should be a knock-on effect on wider society. But there can't be because the show has to adhere to real-world events. Will railed against the Tea Party for months, but they were still hugely successful in the 2010 election because that's what really happened. News Night spent a week at one point discussing gun control policy, but that could never lead to a change in perception on gun policy unless it also happened in real life. The show also can't feature politicians properly because they would need the participation of actual politicians. Will could never have moderated the Republican primary debate he wanted to because the candidates are real people. Jim was never going to get his interview with Romney because Romney wasn't going to appear on the show. All that the show is left with is fictional spokespeople for the candidates, or using stock footage of politicians for the characters to use as punching bags. That's why I liked the Genoa stuff in season 2, because that was an entirely fictional story that had the freedom to go places, without being weighed down by real world events. That aspect was a little undercut by the flashback nature of the season, but I still feel it was an improvement.
I think the purpose of the show is to have a knock-on effect on the audience, to make them better informed so that they'll demand or seek out better news in the future. The fact that the efforts of Will's and Mac's team must be futile takes a backseat to that. But I understand where you're coming from. It helps that I think of it as a tragic, albeit somewhat heroic tale. My enjoyment of Greek tragedies or neorealismo films isn't undercut by the fact that I already know they'll end badly, either. I also enjoyed the Genoa storyline but I was a bit disappointed that we didn't get to see any real news stories the way we did in the first season. I was looking forward to that. They even brushed over Sandy despite that taking place in the city where the story's set. I would have preferred a mix of those two aspects. Okay, we got the Occupy story at least. It's hard to tell what the third season will be like. How exciting.
I can see why people would like that, it just doesn't quite work for me on this particular show. But it obviously appeals to a lot of people, so that's fair enough. I wasn't sure if I was going to bother with the third season, but seeing as it's the last, I'll probably see the show through. As I said, the show does have some genuine moments of greatness, and I like some of the characters.
Is this being cancelled because the ratings are not what they wanted or because Sorkin wants to move on? I am grateful we're getting another season this summer.