Wednesday, August 1, 2012
"The Newsroom"
I've seen every episode of The Newsroom and I like it. It has all the things I like and dislike about Aaron Sorkin projects.
I have something to say about this week's episode, "Bullies", and I'm not sure if it's a complaint or just something I noticed...
Now, if Sorkin had some ideas that he used on Studio 60, his behind-the-scenes-at-a-late-night-comedy-show that lasted one season on NBC a couple years ago and he wanted to re-visit them on The Newsroom then that would make sense. Not many people saw that show. But Sorkin is copying who episodes of The West Wing and a lot of people are familiar with that show.
In the second season of The West Wing, Josh needed to see a psychiatrist. He was very reluctant to tell the guy anything and initially Josh lied to the guy and the guy caught it got pissed. It was revealed that Josh flipped out in the Oval Office and was suffering from PTSD after being shot. The psychiatrist figured out Josh's problem at the very beginning of their conversation and revealed his diognosis at the close of the show. The psychiatrist was no-nonsense and Jewish (Adam Arkin, he's great- I felt so bad when he got killed in Halloween H20).
In this week's episode of The Newsroom, Will goes to see his psychiatrist because he's having trouble sleeping (a lot like the West Wing episode "Five Nights"). Here it's revealed that Will's had an angry outburst on the air when he went after a gay Rick Santorum supporter. Will is very reluctant to talk but his no-nonsense Jewish psychiatrist figures out Will's problem at the beginning of their conversation.
Like I said, I'm not complaining; it's just something I noticed. This isn't unusual for Sorkin. Before The West Wing he wrote a Michael Douglas movie called The American President. At one point in the movie the US is attacked and Douglas is in the Situation Room with his military team. He doesn't like their plan: a proportional response. In the first season of The West Wing there was a similar scenes- but more fleshed out- in an episode called "A Proportional Response". I read somewhere that a lot of left over storylines from the movie were used for the show.
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