It's Time to Revive HBO's The Newsroom
The Newsroom was ahead of its time, and the Aaron Sorkin series would be even more timely now in the era of fake news and cultural divides.


The first season of HBO's The Newsroom included a New Year's Eve episode where the characters looked forward to 2011. Over a decade later, many of the topics that the Aaron Sorkin drama skewered are even more relevant -- issues like media bias, fake news, gun control and tabloid celebrity. The series had important points to make about all those topics and many others. So in this age of TV revivals, it ought to be near the top of the list.

The Newsroom starred Jeff Daniels in his first series regular role as outspoken cable news anchor Will McAvoy, who opened the series with an impassioned monologue about why America was not the greatest country in the world anymore. "We sure used to be," he reflected in one of the best scenes in television history. "We stood up for what was right. We fought for moral reasons, we passed and struck down laws for moral reasons. We waged wars on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors, we put our money where our mouths were, and we never beat our chest." That was in the first fifteen minutes, and from then on, it was off to the races. But here's the thing: his words mean even more today.

There are so many stories that a revived Newsroom could thrive on. Will would have a field day fact-checking the election drama the way he did the gun lobby. How would he function without his boss/best friend Charlie, and how would the series fill the huge void left by Sam Waterston's character? Would Lucas Pruit, the Elon Musk-esque billionaire played by B.J. Novak of The Office fame, still own the network? The best thing the series did was call out the media, and it could do a metric ton of that in 2022.

There would have to be new staff members, because the last episode took place in 2013 -- almost a decade ago. What if one of them was Sutton Wall, the political aide Will antagonized in Season 1's "Bullies"? He could become a show correspondent and the two would have to work together. Sutton was played by Black Lightning's Damon Gupton, who was a great foil for Jeff Daniels and would get even better if the show expanded his character. Or Chris Chalk could return as producer Gary when not filming Perry Mason. Will needs allies if he's going to continue his "mission to civilize," and he ought to in a country more divided than ever...

https://www.cbr.com/the-newsroom-hbo-revival/