Pretty much what you said. The way episodes work for me so far, is I watch the first half, and find it average at best, then I watch the second half and it makes me want more all over again. Most of that usually occurs in the last 5-10 minutes.

Also, I really don't think I'd enjoy this show anywhere near as much as I do if it wasn't for the soundtrack.

 

I think that new weird blonde girl "how to have sex in a bath tub" better not appear again.

 

She's been around in the background with a line or two since the beginning.

And to be honest, the soundtrack is arguably the largest similarity with West Wing. The opening alone gives me dejavu.

 

You know, when they said there were going to be fuck ups, I didn't think they'd cram them all in one episode.

 

I just watched it all and I have to say I'm enjoying it. Every episode gives me a much appreciated dose of idealism fighting cynicism and occasionally winning. That has always appealed to me.

I wish they would drop the parodic elements, though. I don't find them amusing and I think that witty lines and blackish humour fit the show better, anyway.

Also, I'm wondering how they're going to proceed from here. The story starts on April 2010 and six episodes in we're already on April 2011. Will they slow down the pace? Will they catch up to the current times and let extremely recent events dictate the plot? Or will they simply diverge from reality and start to make up news to create stories from?

Either way, I'll keep on following this, also hoping to see more of David Krumholtz (the shrink of the last episode) because I love both the character and the actor.

 

Ok, this is when it is really handy to be on a forums with so many members from around the world. Was the latest Newsroom less awesome when not viewed as an American?

Also the thing with Will being stoned was hysterical.

 

Can't judge how awesome you find it, but I liked it well enough. Probably had less emotional impact though.

Also curious to see where they go with the anonymous guy.

 

It was pretty awesome, and it took me back to that day when I spread the news to my friends and family (being the only person I know reading the news at 6am on a Monday, French time). Glorious.

 

It was still pretty good, saying this as an Arab. A bit sappy when McAvoy was making his speech, but still good.

 

The latest episode was fantastic. It pushed all the right buttons. The news reported was great and the romance hung around perfectly, without hiding the story. Damn, I wish there was a newsman reporting news like Will everywhere.

 

If Sloan made such an open pass at me we would have eloped by now.

 

It's funny because this is the third time Olivia Munn has been a fake reporter. First on G4, then on the daily show and now The Newsroom. Never thought she was that good, until this show. Definitely like her and her character. (Also, funny that she actually was the piece of meat who only had her job because of her looks, on G4.)

 

Ugh, I wasn't quite as much of a fan of the last episode - while I will say it was one of the better episodes of the first season, I wouldn't put it anywhere close to the best.

Here's my end-of-season commentary on the show's opening run. I tried to keep it brief, but that didn't work out so well. Ah well.

 

Was I the only one shipping Sloan/Neal?

Anyway, her crush (or whatever that is) on Don came a bit out of left field, IMO. There was that whole Japanese debacle and aftermath, plus a few discussions about Maggie and Jim, but none of them was very hinty and I can't remember anything else. It seems to me like they pulled yet another intersecting love-triangle, this time out of their ass, to test the water for next season or something.

My impression of Sloan's speech about Don believing himself a bad guy was that Sorkin actually started the series with that in mind and then decided to veer in another direction for reasons. But maybe it was planned from the behinning, who knows? Either way, I'm enjoying his developing characterization very much.

The show is still entertaining, though I wish it was different for a matter of tastes. I definitely plan to check out season 2 when it comes out next summer, although the long wait is going to seriously threaten my interest in it.

 

I have the feeling that right now Aaron Sorkin is furiously rewriting the plot arc for season 3, given this new fuck-up from the GOP.

I finally watched season 2 and I liked it a lot. Better than season 1, definitely. I still have some problems with it, but the series is entertaining and informative, well worth the time and the wait, IMO. It's going to air on RAI (Italian network) some time this fall and I'm curious to see how they translate the dialogue and especially how it does ratings-wise. It's going to get a push from the more internationally-palatable Scandal, which will air it before, but I don't know if it's going to be enough. I really can't see it finding an audience here. We'll see, I guess.

 

I caught up on it about a week ago too. Loved it.

Don: "What I have can't be taught" :awesome

 

A terrible show, only less terrible than it's first season.

 

One of the best terrible shows out there. I say best because even though it's very much Aaron Sorkin writing arguments for his characters to win and basically an hour or so sermon, it's goddamn entertaining to watch.

Though I hate and will always hate Allison Pill's character.

 

As with the others, I literally just finished catching up on season 2. I thought it was decent, I did like the first season a little bit more. But this was very good as well.

The end of S2 surprised me quite a bit, didn't see that coming. The whole Don/Sloan thing was good too, Don has really grown on me over the course of the show, even though I didn't like him that much to start out with.

The whole Jim/Hallie thing is working out well too, about time he got a break heh.

 

And yet you keep on watching it.