The Newsroom (TV Series) We Just Decided To (2012) User Reviews

important

[slooper2112 · 10/10 · 24 June 2012]

Once in a great while there is a show that is entertaining and important. This is one of those shows.

The importance of the forth estate cannot be discounted. The press is the people's objective window into the events of the world. It is our check and balance against corruption. When it becomes corrupt itself we lose the last hope for the truth.

Leadership occurs when someone stands for something. Will MvAvoy may be an ass but his desire to tell the truth opens the possibility for him to lead the news back to what it needs to be abed what we need it to be.

This show has the same possibility.

It's Not. But It Can Be.

[tgfadbom · 10/10 · 2 September 2018]

Perhaps the best opening episode/pilot to a series I've ever seen. It grabs you from the start and 71 minutes later you're left to revisit the room you're sitting in. After finishing the first season I wanted to re-watch the opening scene. The show feels more relevant now than ever. It should be required viewing for U. S. citizenship, or at least for every member of Congress. Unless we can get back to depth in discourse and reporting, our democracy will continue to serve the few while the many are unknowingly awash.

It's drama and comedy built upon the cornerstone of the importance of the fourth estate, and fact based reporting.

News is Great News Here ****

[edwagreen · 10/10 · 24 June 2012]

Intelligent, well written, nicely paced and relevant to our times best describes this wonderful television show.

It really pays tribute to our news anchor. Jeff Daniels is wonderful here as such an anchor. He is hard-driven, bright, and a news hound who angers many when he says what's wrong with America at a college forum.

He returns from a 3 week "vacation" to find that his staff has left him and that an old flame named McKenzie shall be his executive producer. Angered by this, especially since he feels that his contract has been violated, he goes to his attorney but quickly returns.

It's just wonderful to view how the news team coalesces when breaking news appears regarding an oil spill off the coast of Louisiana. With technology there, it's a pleasure to see how the crew is able to get the information off to Will McAvoy (Daniels) as he is on the air.

Daniels delivers biting lines. He can be very sarcastic here.

If this show were on channel 4, they'd say it appeals to older folks. We need more shows like this in intellectual pursuit regarding interesting topics of the day.

TV doesn't get better than this...

[Unknownian · 9 July 2012]

I hope this first installment of Newsroom is just a preview of more to come; and not just one Perfect episode. TV doesn't get better than this. It's paced, intelligent and well acted by all involved; especially Daniels. It deals with the real world in an extremely entertaining fashion; and when it's over , you know you just watched something Great. This show will be the long awaited jump to the A-List for Jeff Daniels. He nails the role of a cantankerous self absorbed complacent Newscaster, not liked by his peers; like he was born to play it. I've always been a fan of Emily Mortimer's, and she is outstanding as usual. The rest of the supporting actors were cast perfectly for their roles, and it all comes together to make a Top Shelf Pilot for this new series.

One of the greatest pilot episodes of all time

[Brian_ · 10/10 · 3 July 2020]

Once in a while, a show comes along that is of great quality.

Once in a while, a show comes along that is timely.

It is rare to have both. And oh how "We Just Decided To" does both! The moment where it catapults into this level of excellence comes when Will McAvoy finally answers the question, "What makes America the greatest country in the world?" After his shocking answer, he launches into one of the greatest monologues you will ever hear in a pilot.

But the episode is just getting started! Later on, they break the news on an event that actually happened in the real world, and McAvoy makes a gutsy decision.

You'll be leaving this episode thinking: We need journalists like Will McAvoy!

A great start to a timely show

[trixie30 · 10/10 · 28 April 2017]

We didn't watch season 1 until it was available on demand. We were instantly hooked. We didn't love every episode equally, but didn't dislike any. We came as close to binge watching as we ever do (three episodes a night) and then waited impatiently for season 2.

As for Sorkin, we liked The American President and A Few Good Men, thought Sports Night was okay, loved The West Wing, and also enjoyed Studio 60. (Studio 60 would have been much better and lasted at least three seasons if a few things had been different: better and more realistic casting for Jordan or, at a minimum, not forcing the pregnancy into the show; hiring more real comedy writers to put together the show-within-the-show scenes; less focus on Harriett and Matt. However, the relationship portrayed by Bradley Whitford and Matthew Perry was outstanding. And the opening "rant" done by Judd Hirsch was great.)

So we approached The Newsroom knowing we'd at least like it. One of the things that made it so good and off to a wonderful start was how complete everything was. The set, the supporting characters, the extras, and the complexity. Even things like Olivia Munn standing in the secondary "studio" doing Sloan's "market wrap up" while this episode went on around her. The episode would have been fine without that detail and depth, but there she was doing her part. That's something common to most Sorkin shows: Having actors not actually "in" a scene on set and performing in the background. Look at the scenes where you see the wall of screens in the control room where the peripheral news, videos, etc. Are accurate to the time frame. In fact, Olivia Munn technically shouldn't be listed as "credit only" for this episode.

Anyway, this is certainly something we could use now to remind us of our responsibilities as citizens. It's simply fantastic.

The Newsroom: We Just Decided To

[Scarecrow-88 · 9/10 · 17 November 2013]

ACN News during 9:00 to 10:00 at night had been treading water and compromising news broadcasts and the very popular (lucrative) anchor, Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels, turning in some of the best work of his career, I think) has a moral and emotional breakdown at a sitdown at Northwestern discussing politics and America. Sent up on youtube and other rival networks, McAvoy spent a couple weeks away from the cameras on vacation, returning to discover that his executive producer, Don (Thomas Sadoski), and various members of his hourly news team were jumping ship to the 10:00 to 11:00 night time slot, leaving him behind. Even worse (or so he at first feels) is that McAvoy's boss, Charlie Skinner (Sam Waterston, finding the next great part post-Law & Order) has hired to contract MacKenzie McHale (Emily Mortimer; this could very well be her best part of her rather impressive career), an old flame of Will's, having spent three years touring wartorn Middle East. Will thinks he saw MacKenzie in the Northwestern audience feeding him responses to questions he truly believes but answers untruthfully to avoid confrontation in the spirit of compromise towards those posing questions to the panel he is a part of on the stage….this motivated the meltdown about how disappointed in America Will is and how he believes a return to what the country once was isn't totally out of reach. The episode takes place right as the BP oil spill, a devastating environmental tragedy that affected the Gulf Coast of my state and neighboring Louisiana, has erupted from an exploding oil rig that remained uncapped leading to the loss of aquatic life and polluted water. While Don considers this a non-story, MacKenzie's right hand, Jim Harper (John Gallagher Jr.), has two sources (one at BP, the second at Halliburton) that confirm that the BP situation is a lot worse than the government is letting on. Because Harper is persistent, while Don wishes he'd just shut up and stay out of the way, his hard work pays off when MacKenzie (after spending some considerable time in Will's office trying to convince him that they should quit compromising and run a news show that tells the truth and doesn't speak down to the audience, even if such a change in direction might turn away a large portion of the viewing audience that might not want such news) nudges Will to listen to him. The rest of the episode shows the news broadcast centered around provoking the truth from those involved in the oil rig (inspector, representatives for BP and Halliburton, scientists) and exposing errors in inspection, processes, and the inability to stop the leakage of the oil into the water. The Newsroom excels when we see the inner-workings of a newsroom and how the news is brought to the television audience. It also allows us to see the different personalities of those who make up the newsroom and how they co-exist.

The show really hums when we see them at work with a lot of activity (putting together the news as sources are called or contacts the news team) going on, and it can be quite frenetic and busy. It is all rather exhausting and exhilarating in equal measure. The heart and soul of the show is Will and MacKenzie's relationship; at times tense, with plenty of sexual tension and heated banter back and forth, they force each other to address their humanity and the integrity of providing their viewers with a news show that seeks to tell the truth. Good fun to be had with the amazing cast, including Indian Neal (Dev Patel), a kind of information go-to guy, and green intern, Margaret (Alison Pill) who moves up the ranks relatively quickly (she's also dating Don; the first episode shows us that Don isn't committed to her enough to meet her parents), through a loyalty to Will and gusto to help her team secure the information that leads to a solid news show. Just from the first episode, this is a series ripe for great drama and acting. Daniels and Waterston will be quite an amazing team.

"The Newsroom" is one of the best shows on HBO

[kkoller0693 · 10/10 · 26 June 2012]

After finishing the 75 minute pilot of the new HBO series "The Newsroom", I was stunned by how brilliant this show is. The writing, the acting, the story, the chemistry between each character, everything was brilliantly executed. After watching this episode, I realized how great this show will become. AMC's "Mad Men" and "Breaking Bad" along with HBO's "Games of Thrones" and "Boardwalk Empire" have met their match - "The Newsroom" is one of the best TV shows out there.

Now of course, I haven't seen any other episodes since they haven't been released but I have a lot of confidence in this show after the masterpiece of a pilot "We Just Decided To". The show starts off with Will McAvoy, played by Jeff Daniels, answering questions at a local college. And after using a little humor to get passed questions he didn't want to answer, he finally snaps when the host demands his opinion if America is the greatest country in the world. Not only does he lash out at a college girl, but he also lashes out on the country that turns his career for the worse.

Mr. McAvoy is the head anchor at Atlantis Cable News (ACN) and when he returns to work after his lash out, he realizes most of his staff is gone from the newsroom. As he discusses what happened with the head chairman of the network Charlie Skinner, played by Sam Waterson, he realizes that his boss hired a new executive producer for the show without allowing Will to meet her. It turns out that the new executive producer is Mackenzie McHale, played by Emily Mortimer, who has had a relationship with Will in the past that went sour. It doesn't take Will too long for him to be completely upset with the whole predicament but has to face facts that she will help save his show after his outburst.

With a show like this you need two things to keep the boat afloat: a clean script and an solid cast; "The Newsroom" exceeds in both departments. Aaron Sorkin, the creator of the show (and his return to television), wrote the pilot and does a tremendous job of it. When I saw that he wrote this episode, I knew that the dialog was going to be strong with hints of comic relief. Aaron Sorkin won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay two years back for his work on "The Social Network" but he has also done other nameable films like "A Few Good Men" (You can't handle the truth). The writing was perfect. It was fluent, interesting, funny, and above all else - it was strong. Mr. Sorkin is a master at writing scripts - I pray that the writers he works with will be just as great because you can't have much better writing than this.

With writing that is so good, you need a solid cast to control it. I was really surprised with Jeff Daniels' performance as Will McAvoy - he is brilliant. After watching this episode, I kind of wish his movie career went a little farther. As of right now I can only remember him in a few movies that I would call decent. But he is amazing. Sure when he's funny, I can't help but remember him in the comedy "Dumb and Dumber" but when he's serious, it's like I never seen this type of acting from him before. An Emmy, and possibly a Golden Globe, nomination will be coming his way in the future months - that's for certain. Even the supporting cast is fantastic. While there are a lot of actors worth mentioning, Emily Mortimer as Mackenzie leads the supporting cast. She is strong hearted as well as has the ability to ease the tension with a little humor. Sam Waterson as Charlie also has his moments.

I've given perfect scores to only a couple of pilots before "The Newsroom" such as "Breaking Bad", "Mad Men", and "The Sopranos"; all of which went on (or still are) to receive big awards like Best Drama and Best Writing. As of right now, "The Newsroom" is on its way to greatness. A perfect score for a pilots either means it will continue to be a great series or it will slowly die down to an above average TV show. Only time will tell if "The Newsroom" deserves a 10 out of 10 but as of right now, it deserves your attention.

Wow

[garrettkelley-91059 · 10/10 · 23 June 2021]

I was half paying attention to this show. I had found it on HBO Max and decided to watch it. I knew it was Sorkin so it obviously has the quick dialogue and lots of it. But once they bring Will up to speed about the oil spill. Just wow.

Network news

[jotix100 · 7/10 · 15 August 2012]

The arrival of this long awaited series created by Aaron Sorkin did not have the impact one was expecting. As directed by Gregg Mottola, the episode moves with the speed of lightning. The frantic pace of a real news production team is seen at work trying to get the news to the wide audience targeted.

Will McAvoy, the new anchor is hoping to bring something new to television. His producer, McKenzie MacHale, (where does Mr. Sorkin gets these names from?), who was once romantically involved with the new boss does not want to have her staff know about it, just a few well connected friends. Today's gossip environment permeates into this offering which in a way, does not show anything new, for that matter.

"The Newsroom" seems to be a spin off of the old "Mary Tyler Moore Show", "Lou Grant" and films like "Broadcast News" and "Morning Glory", all of which have dealt with the news business and one has to add with more fun than this initial installment. One can only hope future episodes will be much better than this debut chapter. In a way, Mr. Sorkin gets too preachy.

The presence of Jeff Daniels in the title role is encouraging. He is a good actor who always gives his best in anything he does. Same goes for Emily Mortimer, seen as McKenzie. The cast is young and energetic and there is no doubt once the actors get in their groove, things will go much better.

A cracking pilot

[studioAT · 6/10 · 8 July 2017]

Aaron Sorkin knows how to write a devastatingly good pilot. He did it with 'Studio 60', he did it with 'West Wing'. 'The Newsroom' is no exception.

If you love Aaron Sorkin's writing then this episode serves up all those hallmarks and more. It's well written, the casting is great, and the characters are well drawn.

Unfortunately it is also a good example of Sorkin's less admirable traits. It's preachy, it's got a shoehorned in romance, it's full of its own self-importance. Now he's on HBO we also get to hear Sorkin's beautiful words sullied by swearing too sadly.

While not being my favourite Sorkin show ever (that love is saved for Studio 60) I recognise the quality of this episode.

Will McAvoy: portrait of a loathsome news anchor

[Mr-Fusion · 6/10 · 23 May 2017]

A curious start for a TV series in that the big show-stopping scene is right up front. McAvoy (Jeff Daniels) flies off on a rant during a college panel, lighting into a student over the current state of American politics; and that's our intro. It's clear that this meltdown is a mouthpiece for Aaron Sorkin's politics. When Will gets back to the office (now a place of confusion and shuffled employees, he becomes the bitter cynical side, while his old executive producer (Emily Mortimer) is the idealist.

This is when the pilot starts to lose steam; the dialogue is entertaining, but McAvoy's terse presence becomes overbearing. It's when the BP oils-pill story hits that the show really livens up; everyone starts functioning as a group in the classic journalistic fashion. The general attitude among the staff seems to be just putting a good show on the air. And I can get behind that. I'm hoping there's more of that to come.

6/10.