Newsroom For Improvement

Aaron Sorkin has fired most of the writing staff for the second season of his HBO series The Newsroom.  The first response of most people is "there's a writing staff?" It all sounds like Sorkin to me.

With a ton of publicity and little competition, The Newsroom still doesn't get the ratings of Game Of Thrones or Boardwalk Empire, and regularly loses about 60% of the audience from its popular lead-in True Blood.  Still, HBO is just as much about classy shows that get nominated for awards as big numbers.  And that's the problem.  The reviews have been pretty harsh, and Sorkin is probably more unhappy about that than anything else.

I watched the first three episodes and that was three episodes too many.  Still, let me give Sorkin some advice if he wants to make his show more watchable.

First, the problem is not the writing staff--how could it be when Sorkin gets sole or shared credit for every episode?  It's the concept, which amounts to Sorkin lecturing us each week on how old news stories should have been covered.  Now if he could change the subject to fictional news, the difference between the real world and Sorkin's take wouldn't be so obvious, and thus the smugness and self-righteousness of his characters wouldn't be so annoying.  But we can't expect him to give up on this, since it's probably the reason he wanted to do the show in the first place.  So have the actual news be a part of the show, but not as big a part--more stuff on behind the scenes action that doesn't involve characters telling us what everything means.

Second, let the characters be wrong occasionally.  Have them make bad calls--and not because they're so hardworking or so honest or so intelligent that they sometimes make mistakes. No, they make mistakes because they're sometimes blind, sometimes arrogant, sometimes forgetful, sometimes venal, whatever, but make them recognizable human frailties. (It's okay, characters can be horrible sometimes, this is cable.)

Third, actually present both sides of the issues.  Sorkin may believe he is already, but I suggest he hire at least two people on staff who think everything he says is wrong.  Let them go over every script and suggest counter-arguments that intelligent, rational people would make, and every now and then put them in, rather than featuring fatuous characters who only exist to be swatted down by the superior regulars.

Fourth, go through every script and pick out the top five moments that make you say "that'll teach 'em." Remove these moments.

Fifth, less self-congratulation among the characters.  Have them wonder if they've gone too far, or missed something, or failed to be fair.  Smack someone down who's gotten a little too smug.

Sixth, have someone on the newsroom's staff--not just the evil suits and the owners of the channel--worry about ratings.  Don't let them all be selfless crusaders who only want to put on the best damn news show, damn the numbers.

Seventh, if the staff is going to argue about politics, have them honestly argue about politics. Not just a token line here and there, but true argument.

Eighth, at least once a season, have anchor Will McAvoy--a putative Republican--go after Democrats. Not because they're too kind or too naive or too nuanced, but because they're doing the kind of things Democrats do and it's a bad idea. If Sorkin has trouble coming up with examples, I'd be glad to send him twenty or thirty.

Ninth, limit the mentions of the Koch Brothers to once a season, and when this occurs, note that they, like hundreds of other groups and people, give money to causes they deeply believe in, that their money goes to people who generally agree with them, and that they don't have the power to control the debate. You know what? Scratch that.  Sorkin has already demonstrated he can't discuss the Koch's rationally, so he's lost all privileges. Don't mention them at all. While we're at it, same for Glass-Steagall.

Tenth, a little less love of the past--have characters admit Murrow and Cronkite could be hacks, weren't always trusted, and weren't that much smarter than the people they took on--and a little more love of the present--have young people with new ideas occasionally show the old fogeys they just might have a little on the ball even when they do things differently.

Finally, even though Sorkin writes most of the scripts, and heavily rewrites the rest, let me suggest something radical.  Take a few of the characters--two, three, maybe four--and let the new writers compose most of their dialogue.  I know it'll be hard not to change it, but at present all characters, no matter what their age, sex, ethnicity, place in life, etc., sound like Sorkin-bots.  Having a few who sound a bit different would make the show a little less hermetic.