The Newsroom.

[Venardhi]

I've had a few jobs or theater roles or whatever in my day where I gathered through a few parties, drunken confessions and a couple mis-sent texts that X was trying to sleep with with Y who was unhappily dating Z who still secretly pined for A who was also sleeping with Y while friendzoning B & Z while waiting for C to notice her and break up with X. I may or may not have been one of the people in this example clusterfuck.

When you work at a job that basically becomes your life, your dating pool basically shrinks to coworkers. This isn't unrealistic in any way other than any straight male being able to turn down Sloan throwing herself at them and seems to suit the show's tone fairly well.

 

[Methos]

this is a show i'm actually really enjoying... the last episode was genius, loved their reactions to the phone hacking stuff

M

 

[Amaris]

Loved it! My favorite moment has to be in the close quarters office scene towards the end, where it looks, for just a moment, like Will and Mac are getting ready to get in close for a kiss, and Will just goes, "Why the FUCK didn't you tell me?!"

Loved the hospital scenes with the nurse.
Loved where Maggie starts screaming at the Sex and the City tour bus.
Living in an area surrounded by huge swathes of the TEA party, I felt the message Will gave over the air was spot on.

All in all, fantastic finale. Can't wait for Season 2!

 

[Australis]

American Taliban. Damn straight.

 

[Methos]

Loved it! My favorite moment has to be in the close quarters office scene towards the end, where it looks, for just a moment, like Will and Mac are getting ready to get in close for a kiss, and Will just goes, "Why the FUCK didn't you tell me?!"

I'll admit, that was my favourite scene from the last episode... pure genius

M

 

[1001001]

American Taliban. Damn straight.

I haven't watched this show (I don't have HBO). But someone just sent me a YouTube link to the American Taliban speech.

I got goosebumps. Seriously.

I've been saying that for 2 years.

Just brilliant.

 

[Data Holmes]

Loved the final. Loved the fact that "sorority chick" Signed up to be an intern. Loved the poker bluff moment of getting the guy to confess to ordering hacking.

Overall it was a good season with a lot of stand out moments with the potential to be a great series once they work out their bugs. I do miss the more film like visual style that Thomas Schlamme applied to Sorkin's three previous tv shows and still wish he could get signed up to EP/Direct Newsroom. Other than that though, I'm pleased with the dose of Sorkin goodness.

 

[marillion]

So.. I have two problems with this, now that I think back to the episode...

I'm really starting to have an issue with Sorkin's portrayal of Will as a Republican... Yes, those of us who are true conservative Republicans have MAJOR issues with those who have taken over the Tea Party... But Will never really goes into what a real republican says or does... It's as if Sorkin believes that real republicans pretty much think the say way liberals do.. Which I guess wouldn't surprise me if he did think that way... Every once in a while, Will tells someone that he's a Republican and then they move on... It's getting kind of tiresome..

But more importantly. Why the HELL was Jim on the Sex in the City Tour Bus? Did I miss something earlier in the episode that would logically place him on the bus??

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

Would Sorkin-----or Hollywood in general-----hire a good Republican writer, with emphasis on good? Has HBO ever done so?

 

[PsychoPere]

But more importantly. Why the HELL was Jim on the Sex in the City Tour Bus? Did I miss something earlier in the episode that would logically place him on the bus??

Yes, you apparently missed the conversation in the conference room where Neal told Jim about the tour bus because Jim was looking for a way to seem interested in and understand the show for Lisa's sake.

 

[Guy Gardener]

I did a Mexican wave with everyone else in the room (no one.) when Allison got splashed from the gutters just like Carrie got splashed from the gutters in the opening credits to Sex and the City...

i wonder if HBO was happy that they were for free advertising the new CW prequel to Sex and the City that's premiering in a month? or are these the sort of peopel that don't know, or don't want to know about these sorts of things?

 

[Count Zero]

I'm really starting to have an issue with Sorkin's portrayal of Will as a Republican... Yes, those of us who are true conservative Republicans have MAJOR issues with those who have taken over the Tea Party... But Will never really goes into what a real republican says or does... It's as if Sorkin believes that real republicans pretty much think the say way liberals do.. Which I guess wouldn't surprise me if he did think that way... Every once in a while, Will tells someone that he's a Republican and then they move on... It's getting kind of tiresome..

Well, in the Newsnight segment of the finale he stated what he thought Republicans should stand for. I can totally believe that Sorkin and the rest of the writers have a hard time getting into a Republican mindset and writing Will in such a way that he still comes off as sympathetic, though. I like how this has become a running gag on the show itself, with people expressing surprise or even disbelief that Will's a Republican. The scene where Maggie says she thought Will was only a speech writer for Bush Sr. to fuck with the Republicans and undermine them from within is a favourite of mine.
But back on topic. Will is a moderate/liberal Republican who might have become a Democrat if he wasn't from a very rural area in Nebraska. So, there's an element of tradition and loyalty to him being a Republican. Apart from that talk with Brian what we know is that he's pro-life (but only because Lisa says so in episode 9) and that he seemed to see illegal immigration much more negative than the rest of his team during their pre-show discussion in episode 2. (Although he did end up paying the taxi fare of the guy Neal mentioned but that's in line with his compassionate nature and there's of course a difference between a political idea/principle and ruthlessly applying it.) In the opening episode we also learned that he had voted for candidates from both parties, and funnily enough, when we first meet him he doesn't really want to admit that he's a Republican.

i wonder if HBO was happy that they were for free advertising the new CW prequel to Sex and the City that's premiering in a month? or are these the sort of peopel that don't know, or don't want to know about these sorts of things?

It's only advertisement if you know that there will be a prequel show (I didn't know that). I highly doubt Sorkin was aware of it when he wrote the script many months ago. I find it somewhat disconcerting but also amusing that Sorkin has apparently watched it and remembered more of the general plot than I do (and I watched it religiously back in the day). Anyway, I now feel vindicated in my selection of guilty pleasures because of that.

 

[Guy Gardener]

The Sorkin method is this.

From my life I have had insane women that I shouldn't have slept with who found ways to run away but somehow came back and I regretted it until she...

Sex and the city is from almost 20 years ago.

Lisa would have been a 5 year old when it started, watching it on the knee of a deeply irresponsible parent, and she would have been busy at keggers losing her virginity when the first movie came out...

This is not a "young" womans problem now.

This is a young womans problem in the late 90s.
l
Probably a young woman who Aaron was dating in the 90s when he was young.

Lisa would have to be a professor of ancient pop culture to know what sex and the City is.

(Yes, people can fall in love with reruns, but that's mostly the unemployed or meth addicts.)

 

[Count Zero]

Sex And The City premiered in 1998, not twenty years ago, it's been in syndication and there have been 2 commercially quite successful movies in 2008 and 2010. There are also magical silver disks called DVDs. I think Maggie is supposed to be 26, most of my freinds that age are well aware of the show, and I'm only a few years older and watched it. I don't think that's unrealistic at all.

 

[sidious618]

Would Sorkin-----or Hollywood in general-----hire a good Republican writer, with emphasis on good? Has HBO ever done so?

Daniel Knauf who wrote Carnivale.

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

That explains its cancellation.

 

[Australis]

So.. I have two problems with this, now that I think back to the episode...

I'm really starting to have an issue with Sorkin's portrayal of Will as a Republican... Yes, those of us who are true conservative Republicans have MAJOR issues with those who have taken over the Tea Party... But Will never really goes into what a real republican says or does... It's as if Sorkin believes that real republicans pretty much think the say way liberals do.. Which I guess wouldn't surprise me if he did think that way... Every once in a while, Will tells someone that he's a Republican and then they move on... It's getting kind of tiresome..

"Republicans believe in a prohibitive military. We believe in a common sense government. And that there are social programs enacted in the last half century that work but that there are way too many costing way too much, that don’t. We believe in the rule of law and order and free market capitalism." How 'bout that?

Yes, it's a little generic, but it's a step in the right (pardon the pun) direction. _

But more importantly. Why the HELL was Jim on the Sex in the City Tour Bus? Did I miss something earlier in the episode that would logically place him on the bus??

Someone advised him to so he'd know more about the show and impress Lisa, Maggie's flatmate, who's a big fan.

 

[137th Gebirg]

"Republicans believe in a prohibitive military. We believe in a common sense government. And that there are social programs enacted in the last half century that work but that there are way too many costing way too much, that don’t. We believe in the rule of law and order and free market capitalism."

I thought that summed it up quite nicely, actually. Although I'm wondering about the usage of the words "prohibitive military". Does that mean anti-draft or anti-gay, or anti-females-in-combat, or something else? "Prohibitive" in the context of the military can mean a great many things.

 

[1001001]

"Republicans believe in a prohibitive military. We believe in a common sense government. And that there are social programs enacted in the last half century that work but that there are way too many costing way too much, that don’t. We believe in the rule of law and order and free market capitalism."

I thought that summed it up quite nicely, actually. Although I'm wondering about the usage of the words "prohibitive military". Does that mean anti-draft or anti-gay, or anti-females-in-combat, or something else? "Prohibitive" in the context of the military can mean a great many things.

I took it to mean "big and strong enough that no one will challenge it."

 

[Amaris]

^ Exactly. To me, "prohibitive military" means we have a strong defense for the U.S., and a strong offense if we have to help keep another world war from breaking out.