I think that was pretty much the point of the whole apology. McAvoy was saying that with the invention of cable news, they were no longer being held to any standards except ratings. People like him changed the game, and forced out the Cronkites and Rathers. This show is a comment on the current state of cable news that is supported by advertisers, all with their own agendas.


Oh, and they may say McAvoy is a conservative, but he is obviously only a Republican as written by a Democrat who wishes that's what all Republicans would be. I love it being a Dem myself, but I agree this show must be nails on a chalkboard to many conservatives.

This.

That's what I think. Although you may think someone "smart" may like the show.

He tries to be centrist, I know there are still a few republicans that tend to the center, right?

That's all I can say.

I'm not a Dem, I'm not a republican. But I'm kinda Leftist, so yeah I think the Dem suck too. And I find some ideas in the show to be nails on a chalkboard.

If you are a Dem, are you supposed to fall in love with the show?

Considering that this is a show about what some people wish the news would be, I have no problem with it also wishing what Republicans would be. A great many people on the left wish that the right hadn't been co-opted by religious groups and the Tea Party. Sadly only a few people on the right think the same way. McAvoy's speech about the Tea Party/Republicans compared to the 60s radicals/Democrats was spot on.

Of course. Just like The West Wing was a fantasy Whitehouse show.

This was the best episode of the three.

The Koch Brothers have been all over the news for the last two years.

The first episode, McAvoy is described as a "RINO" so I think his status within the Republican party is pretty clear from the get go. Not to mention Manhattan Republicans are essentially conservative Democrats anyway.

Olbermann, I'd consider him as bad as those other guys. I haven't watched much of him but that's due to being disgusted with nasty things I've heard him say. O'Reilly has too, but seems to be not on the show where he has more self-control, and while it's obvious where he leans, he both criticizes and praises people from both sides. I do think he's a POS though.

I think both parties as they are now are pretty vile. I could see someone basically saying the opposite of what you did. "I don't see how a left-winger could watch it and see it as anything but a lecture blah blah." A REAL conservative would be happy that the Tea Party was being called out like that considering it had been hijacked. The "voice" I'm seeing on this show doesn't seem VERY liberal or conservative to me.

I consider myself a Libertarian and the idea of what they're imaginary show is trying to do is great. I don't have to agree with every tiny thing they think, which I'm sure would lean left, and I'm assuming Sorkin is liberal. Basically a crusade for the Constitution, which is basically a libertarian document..so that crusade would make me happy.

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/201...rathon/140912/

Ratings were up on Sunday (2.2M viewers and 0.9)

It'll probably take a slight hit this week with Breaking Bad's season premiere. I know I already have a dilemma about which one to watch live.

I think the show is based on Olbermann. He was the only show that attempted this type of format. Liberal or not, Olbermann believed his characterization of events was the truth. And he was the only one who had the wit to pull off the zingers that they put in McAvoy's mouth.

And the show clearly states last night that there are not two sides, there are just the facts. Having two sides to every issue is part of the problem.

I was surprised too Gideon Yaho co-wrote this show but he did good work at MTV and a rare bright spot on that network and this show is his writing debut.

He did the IFC Media Project which critized the media so it should not be a total surprise.


Interesting to see Hope Davis appear on the next episode.

Sorkin can go home to this after people blast his show.

I really like Alison Pill. She definitely stood out in Scott Pilgrim and it's nice to see her front and center in this show.

Not to go all dork on you, but...is Inception even the right reference? He was talking about removing memories. Sounds more like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind than Inception (planting and extracting information/ideas)

At the beginning of the movie, they were trying to perform extraction, stealing a secret, something they had been doing regularly apparently. I still don't think it was a good reference (like you said, he wanted a memory removed...he wasn't protecting a memory from being publicly known). It was clearly thrown in there as a topical reference point to summer 2010.

Not surprising, but some Tea Party folks are going apeshit over this episode:

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politic...-says.html.csp

Thanks for that article. From the article... "If HBO wants to skewer the senator, Phillips says, that’s fine but be factual." Sounds reasonable to me. Except for the HBO part. They're airing the show, but they're not writing it. As for the concept that anchor babies shouldn't automatically be U.S. citizens, I happen to agree. It'll be interesting to see if the show plays fast and lose given its subject matter.

I'm uneasy about targeting real people in a television (entertainment) show about news. While I can see that it expedites things as they can avoid setting up characters and just refer to public figures who are already set up, lines blur. Given they are real people, I think you have an extra burden to be accurate in a reference. I cringe at the expected Sorkin response that it isn't meant to be a documentary, it's an entertainment program. That'd be a cop-out. To me, it'd be as if you wrote a program tumpeting truth and have the lead say Obama was born in Kenya before quickly moving on to the next topic. Then explaining it away outside the show by saying the program isn't saying that's the truth, it's saying the character in this show believes it. I don't want Will McAvoy broadcasting false statements.

THAT'S where I recognized her from! Geezus.

The Sorkin bit wasn't that far off reality. Semantics really.

This show has grown on me. I still think it is kind of amateur hour for an HBO series, but I've stopped taking it seriously and rewatched the first 3 eps thinking of the show as more of a comedy. Enjoying it more. The sentimental moments are still kind of Lifetimey gag-inducing, but the humor is pretty good.

Even though it is shades of The Hour, I like the storyline of taking a news show and giving it a content focus vs. an advertising/ratings focus and the battles with the higher ups such a thing entails. I'd say The Hour is a better show though.

It's a hokey West Wing style network drama where they say "shit." I never expected anything more. The theme music is a clue.