How can I review The Newsroom? Let me start off with the biggest problem I have with the show. When I reviewed the TV show Scandal, the biggest complaint I had was with Quinn, played by Katie Lowes. The audience was supposed to believe that this all over the map mishmash of emotions was supposed to be so competent a lawyer and person she was recruited by the main character of the show. For six weeks I was hoping she would grow a spine, that the initial nervousness was something she would leave, in essence I was hoping to see the competent woman who the main character would hire. Of course, the main character had her own hang ups and it became clear that while the political intrigue was mildly interesting, the focus of the show was going to be how powerful and seemingly successful women could crumble under suffocating emotions to the point of being caricatures.

The Newsroom has the same issue for me multiplied. Allison Pill, who plays Maggie, could be Quinn's more neurotic sister. Emily Mortimer, who plays MacKenzie, is supposed to be this hard hitting, adventuresome executive producer but in quick time she is reduced to the stereotypical let it all hang out hormonal woman. I'm sorry but if your job is to make a change of pace on a cable news show, I wouldn't think you would be too concerned about what the office thought of your past romance with the anchor, especially when it has been established you had come back from doing field work in the war zone. Office politics would seem like child play.

Honestly, that is the real problem with The Newsroom. Everything is played out like junior high. Sure, when the real news needs to be reported people seem to be on their game, but when the hot story is gone, the office romances are incredibly juvenile. While I thought Scandal laid the romance on way too thick, compared to The Newsroom the people in Scandal act like hormonal high school kids rather than the junior high highjinks of The Newsroom. Really, you are going to set up a scenario where sending email to the group is similar to sending it to one person, ensuring that in a fit of hot mess panic MacKenzie is going to send an email to everyone detailing her love life, then she's going to smash one person's cellphone so he doesn't read the mail and instructs the whole staff to delete the message without looking at it.

Surprisingly what and who saves the show for me for a little is Olivia Munn as Sloan. She seems to be the only intelligent woman, actually the only intelligent person on the whole show. I'm not sure if it's Sorkin's writing that makes her so intelligent or it's her acting. I always thought of Munn as more of the comedic friend of the main character or the comedic girlfriend. Nothing really striking as far as acting but serviceable. I know that sounds like faint praise, but in this show, because everyone else is embroiled in so much romantic high school silliness, she comes off as the high schooler who is smart, she knows she's smart and all she wants to do is get good grades and graduate so she can get into an Ivy League school. OK, I might be pushing the school metaphor a bit much but it is really surprising to see Olivia Munn as the intelligent person on the show. I believe her in the roll, which makes me think if she could get some really solid projects she could surprise a lot of people with her talent. I'm literally sticking with the show so far because of her.

Other than Olivia Munn, I'm really not seeing a lot I'm happy about with The Newsroom. I like the political and newsroom parts of the show, but the romance is so juvenile it turns me off. If the show can shift away from the romance or at least show us that these folks are more than high school hormones, The Newsroom could be worth watching.

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Review: The Newsroom - July 11, 2012
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