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Finally, the Emmy and Oscar-winning Aaron Sorkin has his sights set back on TV with his first TV series since "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" left our screens after just one season – "The Newsroom", which premieres Sunday (June 24) on HBO.

 

Set at the fictional New York–based cable network, ACN, the show depicts how TV is watched and consumed by Americans today. The series is set in 2010, which allows Sorkin to have his characters – led by Jeff Daniels in his first-ever starring TV role as Will McAvoy -- covering familiar real-life news stories, like the BP oil spill and Arizona's immigration laws.

 

So, how does this new TV series compare against Sorkins’s undeniable achievements with "The West Wing" and "Sports Night"? Well, early reports promise that this will be a Sorkin series containing some of the best aspects from his previous shows. A pilot that picks up during a chaotic day on set ("Studio 60"), lots of control room/behind-the-scenes at a TV show talk ("Sports Night"), left-of-center politics from the mouth of an integrity-rich lead ("West Wing"), and relationships and chemistry between the cast that will hopefully remind us of the glory days of infamous Sorkin characters -- Dana and Natalie, Matt and Danny, and Josh and Toby.

 

However, unlike his previous offerings, "The Newsroom" doesn't make viewers work so hard. It's still very much an Aaron Sorkin show -- which, if you're not familiar, involves quick dialogue, long monologues, and a good amount of the walking-and-talking scenes he's become famous for -- but other than that, there’s not a great deal for you to sit back and reflect on once the show is over, which really is the point.

 

"The Newsroom" is both the best of Sorkin, and the worst. His use of real life events in the script means that he has to stick to a more disciplined focus on his material, as he did when writing his Oscar-winning screenplay for The Social Network. However, at times, the storylines do seem to lose their sharpness and plots become contrived and disjointed, leaving the viewer to ponder on the believability of the characters and storyline. All in all, a totally watchable, yet possibly forgettable, return to TV for Aaron Sorkin.

 

 

- Anysha Panesar, YH Staff