The Newsroom (American TV series)


The Newsroom is an American political drama television series created and principally written by Aaron Sorkin that premiered on HBO on June 24, 2012, and concluded on December 14, 2014, consisting of 25 episodes over three seasons.
The series chronicles behind-the-scenes events at the fictional Atlantis Cable News channel. It features an ensemble cast including Jeff Daniels as anchor Will McAvoy who, together with his staff, sets out to put on a news show "in the face of corporate and commercial obstacles and their own personal entanglements". Other cast members include Emily Mortimer, John Gallagher Jr., Alison Pill, Thomas Sadoski, Dev Patel, Olivia Munn, and Sam Waterston.
Sorkin, who created the Emmy Award-winning political drama The West Wing, had reportedly been developing a cable-news-centered TV drama since 2009. After months of negotiations, premium cable network HBO ordered a pilot in January 2011 and then a full series in September that year. Sorkin did his research for the series by observing several real-world cable news programs first-hand. He served as executive producer, along with Scott Rudin and Alan Poul.

Series overview

The 25-episode series is set behind the scenes at the fictional Atlantis Cable News and revolves around anchor Will McAvoy, his new executive producer MacKenzie McHale, newsroom staff Jim Harper, Maggie Jordan, Sloan Sabbith, Neal Sampat, Don Keefer, and the head of ACN, Charlie Skinner.

Cast and characters

Main cast

  • Jeff Daniels as Will McAvoy: the anchor and managing editor of News Night. A moderate Republican news anchor whose broadcast persona is characterized as unwilling to offend anyone. Known for being difficult to work with, his world is turned upside down when his ex-girlfriend MacKenzie re-enters his life with a plan to revamp his news broadcast.
  • Emily Mortimer as MacKenzie "Mac" Morgan McHale: News Nights new executive producer and Will's ex-girlfriend, returning from 26 months as an embedded journalist overseas, MacKenzie strives to return ACN to the days of real news broadcasts. MacKenzie had an affair with her ex-boyfriend, Brian Brenner, during her relationship with Will.
  • John Gallagher Jr. as Jim Harper: Senior Producer who follows MacKenzie to News Night. At his new job, he develops feelings for Maggie.
  • Alison Pill as Maggie Jordan: an eager, young associate producer of News Night. Formerly Will's impromptu personal assistant, she is appointed an assistant producer by MacKenzie. She has complicated personal relationships with Don and Jim.
  • Thomas Sadoski as Don Keefer: News Nights former executive producer who leaves for the new program on the network, Right Now with Elliot Hirsch, but continues to work with the News Night team in a variety of capacities. Plain-speaking and straightforward, but also quite insecure, Don begins to doubt his feelings for Maggie. Ultimately, he breaks up with her, encouraging her to go after Jim. He subsequently goes on to date Sloan.
  • Dev Patel as Neal Sampat: writer of Will's blog and electronic media expert who documented the London Underground bombings with a camera phone. Neal works with the team to develop the use of electronic media as part of the new format.
  • Olivia Munn as Sloan Sabbith: an economist with two Ph.D.s from Duke University, she presents an economic news segment on Will's show. Sloan is good at her job, but also very socially inept and prone to creating uncomfortable situations for herself and others. She develops feelings for Don throughout the show.
  • Sam Waterston as Charlie Skinner: Atlantis Cable News president and retired US Marine. Charlie's role is to joust with Atlantis World Media owner Leona Lansing and her son, AWM president Reese Lansing, while defending the new News Night format.

    Supporting cast

  • Jane Fonda as Leona Lansing: CEO of Atlantis World Media, the parent company of ACN.
  • Adina Porter as Kendra James: a booker for News Night.
  • Chris Chalk as Gary Cooper: an associate producer for News Night, and former TMI employee.
  • Chris Messina as Reese Lansing: president of AWM, and Leona's son.
  • Terry Crews as Lonny Church: Will's bodyguard assigned to him after Will receives death threats.
  • Kelen Coleman as Lisa Lambert: Maggie's roommate who dates Jim.
  • David Harbour as Elliot Hirsch: the anchor of Right Now, a new program on the network.
  • Jon Tenney as Wade Campbell: a Congressional candidate who briefly dates MacKenzie to boost his campaign through ACN.
  • David Krumholtz as Dr. Jacob Habib: Will's current therapist, who is the son of Will's original therapist.
  • Hope Davis as Nina Howard: a gossip columnist for TMI, AWM's tabloid magazine.
  • Stephen McKinley Henderson as Solomon Hancock: a National Security Agency employee who leaks information to Charlie.
  • Natalie Morales as Kaylee: Neal's girlfriend whose father died on 9/11.
  • Paul Schneider as Brian Brenner: a writer for New York magazine whom Will hires for an all-access profile. MacKenzie cheated on Will with Brian during the first four months of their relationship.
  • Marcia Gay Harden as Rebecca Halliday: a litigator defending Atlantis Cable News against First Amendment-related cases.
  • Hamish Linklater as Jerry Dantana: a senior producer from ACN's Washington bureau who fills in while Jim is on the campaign trail and brings the Genoa tip to MacKenzie's attention.
  • Grace Gummer as Hallie Shea: a reporter covering the Mitt Romney campaign.
  • Constance Zimmer as Taylor Warren: a spokeswoman for the Mitt Romney campaign.
  • Aya Cash as Shelly Wexler: Occupy Wall Street advocate.
  • B. J. Novak as Lucas Pruit: a young, wealthy libertarian interested in buying ACN, whose views on citizen journalism clash with Charlie, Will and Mac's.
  • Mary McCormack as Molly Levy: an FBI agent who is a friend of Mac.
  • Clea DuVall as Lilly Hart: a whistleblower who leaks thousands of classified government documents.
  • Jimmi Simpson as Jack Spaniel: an ethics professor who briefly dates Maggie.
  • Paul Lieberstein as Richard Westbrook: EPA vice-director.
  • Derek Webster as Rodger Hutchinson: an FBI agent.
  • Brian Howe as Barry Lasenthal: a Department of Justice official who prosecutes Will.
  • Keith Powell as Wyatt Geary: the new VP of human resources who wants to prove that Don is in a relationship with Sloan.
  • Jon Bass as Bree Dorrit: the temporary substitute for Neal.

    Co-stars

  • Margaret Judson as Tess Westin: an associate producer for News Night.
  • Thomas Matthews as Martin Stallworth: an associate producer for News Night.
  • John F. Carpenter as Herb Wilson: the control room head for News Night.
  • Trieu Tran as Joey Phan: the graphics producer for News Night.
  • Wynn Everett as Tamara Hart: an associate producer and booker for News Night.
  • Charlie Weirauch as Jake Watson: a switcher/board op for News Night.
  • Chasty Ballesteros as Tea: the bartender at Hang Chews, the karaoke bar frequented by the News Night staff.
  • Sarah Scott Davis as Terry Smith: the anchorwoman of Capitol Report, the news bulletin from Washington following News Night.
  • Alison Becker as Sandy Whiddles: a professional media source, seeking out involvement in "kiss and tell" stories for financial gain.
  • Riley Voelkel as Jennifer "Jenna" Johnson: a sophomore student Will encounters at Northwestern University, later hired as Will's assistant.
  • John Hawkinson as Rudy: a control-room staffer on News Night.
  • Frank Cermak as Luke.

    Episodes

Season 1 (2012)

In season 1, each episode is built around a major news event from the recent past, such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the killing of Osama bin Laden. This acts as a background for the interpersonal drama, as well as providing a sense of familiarity, as the audience is likely to know the context and so not require too much explanation of events. Sorkin has said the news events on the show "will always be real", which, for him, "became a kind of creative gift. For one thing, the audience knows more than the characters do, which is kind of fun. And it gives me the chance to have the characters be smarter than we were." However, he has also said "t is a romanticised, idealised newsroom, a sort of a heightened newsroom – it is not meant to be a documentary."

Season 2 (2013)

The second season features a story arc in which the News Night team has reported, and been forced to retract, a false news story about the United States Marine Corps using sarin gas during the war in Afghanistan in 2009. This story is based on a real-life news scandal from 1998, in which CNN and TIME were both criticized for reporting a dubious and unreliably sourced story that the United States had used Sarin during the Operation Tailwind excursion in the Vietnam War.

Season 3 (2014)

The third season tackles two controversial topics in news reporting. The first is the subject of citizen journalism, and the season begins with the Boston Marathon bombing and its subsequent investigation, which was quite significantly affected by the reports of social media users. The show takes on a particularly critical tone regarding the role that citizen journalists play in the coverage of major news stories, portraying the spread of misinformation and hindrance to law enforcement that ensues. This is expanded in subsequent episodes, where the idealistic, libertarian views of ACN's new buyer clash with the journalistic integrity of the team. The other major topic is whistleblowing, explored when major character Neal Sampat is contacted by an anonymous source, who leaks details of the US government's complicity in an atrocity in an African state. This leads to a clash between Will and the FBI, resulting in Will's spending time in jail for refusing to name Neal's source and being held in contempt. The whistleblowing storyline takes place in parallel to the Edward Snowden disclosures in 2013.