HBO shows: Newsroom and True Blood
Jun. 25th, 2012 10:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. Just finished the new Aaron Sorkin HBO drama Newsroom - which was quite good.
Held my interest throughout, entertained me, made me chuckle, and informed. It's sort of a combo of The West Wing meets Sports Night by way of the flick Network, Broadcast News, and The Hour. If you like those series and/or films, are critical of our current news environment and like rapid fire dialogue, you'll love this.
Has a great cast - with Jeff Daniels, Sam Waterson, Emily Watson, and several newer actors who are actually very good. More multi-ethnic than usual - but that's true of HBO generally speaking. Trademark rapid fire dialogue, which I adore. Jane Fonda will be playing the head of the network in the weeks ahead - nice ironic twist that - considering she was once married to the owner of CNN.
Plot? Simple. Burned out Jay Leno style news anchor Will McAvoy, portrayed by Jeff Daniels,
finally gives his "I'm Mad as Hell and Not Going to Take It Anymore Speech" at a Q&A at Northwestern. This speech spurs things into motion. His boss, Sam Waterson, the news chief,
decides to hire a new EP for him, McKenzie Hale - portrayed by Emily Watson, who has spent the last ten years as a War Correspondent. She's mentally and emotionally exhausted.
His old EP, Don, has jumped to the ten o'clock slot with another anchor - along with 85% of his staff - because Will is an ass. McKenzie brings people with her and sells him on her skills - hammering together a winning news program in a short period of time. She lucks out with a huge breaking news event, a pending environmental disaster.
Sorkin entwines real past events with the hectic pace of the newsroom and interpersonal working lives of the people inhabit it, constructing a fictional workplace drama along the lines of The West Wing, Sports Night, The Hour and The Wire. It's a recent historical piece as well - he mines the events of the recent past.
It's not perfect, there's still a gee-whiz neatness to the proceedings and a sort of liberal "mad as hell" preachiness that is trademark Sorkin and imbues almost all his work.
Will McAvoy's mad as hell speech at the beginning is quite similar to Jed Bartlett's or
Leo's or Toby's from the West Wing. But there's an even more cynical edge to it. Sorkin much like Will McAvoy looks at the next generation, the up-and-coming generation, and sneers in distaste...this, this...is what we're coming to? But it is that generation that populates his team and makes it work. The drama tackles the generation gap as well.
One of HBO's better offerings of late.
2. True Blood - I can't do this without spoilers.
* Still adoring Tara, who can't bring herself to eat the innocent woman, but would really like to take a bite out of her so-called friends for turning her into a monster. She goes to Sam for help...and he does try but is sort of out of his depth. Then has a nightmare that she eats Arlene...can't quite decide if that's because she's afraid of killing Arlene or ...
* Alcide, hon, if you didn't want Sookie to kill Debbie Pelt, you shouldn't have told Debbie about Sookie and killed Debbie's current squeeze, Marcus. Also, Debbie Pelt, seriously, the world is a better place without her. Besides, Debbie killed Tara and tried to kill Sookie - this is one death I think we can forgive the Sookester for.
As an aside? That's Linda Pearl playing Debbie's Mom. I haven't seen her in a while. Now, I just have to remember what shows she used to be in.
* Bill is sexy without Sookie. I actually like the character now and thinks he is sort of hot. Apparently Sookie was the problem. Who knew? Particularly love the Eric/Bill relationship. Come on Alan Ball - you know you want to go beyond the slashy subtext on these two and make them a couple. Go there already. It's not like Eric doesn't swing both ways - hello, Godric.
* The halters with the cross's that instantly stake them if they do anything wrong. LOL!
Techy: Sort of like a training bra.
Eric: Sorry been a while.
Techy: Don't do anything you shouldn't - it's instant true death.
Eric: How do you trigger them?
Techy: There should be an app for it.
Eric: Nice idea. Probably should get around to doing that.
Techy: No, seriously, there is an app for it.
* No, gross Sam story this week. Cool!
* Poor Jason Stackhouse has just realized he's nothing but a himbo and sex is not filling up his life the way it once did. Can't quite decide if it was reuniting with his old teacher and sleeping with her again, or her cat put a spell on him. This being True Blood, either is possible. But the scene with him and Jessica following it was totally worth it.
* Claude in the books is better looking than he is in this series. Actually fairies are hotter in the books. Does Ball have something against fairies? At any rate...
Jessica: Why do you smell so amazing and why are you racing away from me like that?
Claude: Because I'm a fairy you nitwit.
* Poor Pam is beginning to feel guilty about Tara. Yet not soon enough to stop Tara's latest suicide attempt. Which is actually pretty inspired - a tanning bed. It is weird though. A tanning bed shouldn't kill a vamp - it's not actual sunlight, it's synthetic sunlight. But ...this is a cheesy soap opera, logic doesn't necessarily comply. The problem with watching more than one vampire series is you start to confuse the mythologies. I had to remind myself that in True Blood, you didn't need to drink and kill someone to become a vampire, and if you didn't bite a human - you still would stay alive and be a vampire after being turned. (Only Vamp Diaries has that rule).
I rather like Pam's back story. But in the books she was a lot older than Bill.
Although in both, she wanted to be a vampire and sort of enticed Eric into doing it.
Eric isn't a willing maker, apparently. Can see why - it's a pain. As Pam is discovering with Tara. Might want to think twice..next time Sookie asks for a favor.
Held my interest throughout, entertained me, made me chuckle, and informed. It's sort of a combo of The West Wing meets Sports Night by way of the flick Network, Broadcast News, and The Hour. If you like those series and/or films, are critical of our current news environment and like rapid fire dialogue, you'll love this.
Has a great cast - with Jeff Daniels, Sam Waterson, Emily Watson, and several newer actors who are actually very good. More multi-ethnic than usual - but that's true of HBO generally speaking. Trademark rapid fire dialogue, which I adore. Jane Fonda will be playing the head of the network in the weeks ahead - nice ironic twist that - considering she was once married to the owner of CNN.
Plot? Simple. Burned out Jay Leno style news anchor Will McAvoy, portrayed by Jeff Daniels,
finally gives his "I'm Mad as Hell and Not Going to Take It Anymore Speech" at a Q&A at Northwestern. This speech spurs things into motion. His boss, Sam Waterson, the news chief,
decides to hire a new EP for him, McKenzie Hale - portrayed by Emily Watson, who has spent the last ten years as a War Correspondent. She's mentally and emotionally exhausted.
His old EP, Don, has jumped to the ten o'clock slot with another anchor - along with 85% of his staff - because Will is an ass. McKenzie brings people with her and sells him on her skills - hammering together a winning news program in a short period of time. She lucks out with a huge breaking news event, a pending environmental disaster.
Sorkin entwines real past events with the hectic pace of the newsroom and interpersonal working lives of the people inhabit it, constructing a fictional workplace drama along the lines of The West Wing, Sports Night, The Hour and The Wire. It's a recent historical piece as well - he mines the events of the recent past.
It's not perfect, there's still a gee-whiz neatness to the proceedings and a sort of liberal "mad as hell" preachiness that is trademark Sorkin and imbues almost all his work.
Will McAvoy's mad as hell speech at the beginning is quite similar to Jed Bartlett's or
Leo's or Toby's from the West Wing. But there's an even more cynical edge to it. Sorkin much like Will McAvoy looks at the next generation, the up-and-coming generation, and sneers in distaste...this, this...is what we're coming to? But it is that generation that populates his team and makes it work. The drama tackles the generation gap as well.
One of HBO's better offerings of late.
2. True Blood - I can't do this without spoilers.
* Still adoring Tara, who can't bring herself to eat the innocent woman, but would really like to take a bite out of her so-called friends for turning her into a monster. She goes to Sam for help...and he does try but is sort of out of his depth. Then has a nightmare that she eats Arlene...can't quite decide if that's because she's afraid of killing Arlene or ...
* Alcide, hon, if you didn't want Sookie to kill Debbie Pelt, you shouldn't have told Debbie about Sookie and killed Debbie's current squeeze, Marcus. Also, Debbie Pelt, seriously, the world is a better place without her. Besides, Debbie killed Tara and tried to kill Sookie - this is one death I think we can forgive the Sookester for.
As an aside? That's Linda Pearl playing Debbie's Mom. I haven't seen her in a while. Now, I just have to remember what shows she used to be in.
* Bill is sexy without Sookie. I actually like the character now and thinks he is sort of hot. Apparently Sookie was the problem. Who knew? Particularly love the Eric/Bill relationship. Come on Alan Ball - you know you want to go beyond the slashy subtext on these two and make them a couple. Go there already. It's not like Eric doesn't swing both ways - hello, Godric.
* The halters with the cross's that instantly stake them if they do anything wrong. LOL!
Techy: Sort of like a training bra.
Eric: Sorry been a while.
Techy: Don't do anything you shouldn't - it's instant true death.
Eric: How do you trigger them?
Techy: There should be an app for it.
Eric: Nice idea. Probably should get around to doing that.
Techy: No, seriously, there is an app for it.
* No, gross Sam story this week. Cool!
* Poor Jason Stackhouse has just realized he's nothing but a himbo and sex is not filling up his life the way it once did. Can't quite decide if it was reuniting with his old teacher and sleeping with her again, or her cat put a spell on him. This being True Blood, either is possible. But the scene with him and Jessica following it was totally worth it.
* Claude in the books is better looking than he is in this series. Actually fairies are hotter in the books. Does Ball have something against fairies? At any rate...
Jessica: Why do you smell so amazing and why are you racing away from me like that?
Claude: Because I'm a fairy you nitwit.
* Poor Pam is beginning to feel guilty about Tara. Yet not soon enough to stop Tara's latest suicide attempt. Which is actually pretty inspired - a tanning bed. It is weird though. A tanning bed shouldn't kill a vamp - it's not actual sunlight, it's synthetic sunlight. But ...this is a cheesy soap opera, logic doesn't necessarily comply. The problem with watching more than one vampire series is you start to confuse the mythologies. I had to remind myself that in True Blood, you didn't need to drink and kill someone to become a vampire, and if you didn't bite a human - you still would stay alive and be a vampire after being turned. (Only Vamp Diaries has that rule).
I rather like Pam's back story. But in the books she was a lot older than Bill.
Although in both, she wanted to be a vampire and sort of enticed Eric into doing it.
Eric isn't a willing maker, apparently. Can see why - it's a pain. As Pam is discovering with Tara. Might want to think twice..next time Sookie asks for a favor.
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no subject
Date: 2012-06-26 03:18 am (UTC)Everyone should have learned this lesson by now, LOL!
I am really looking forward to Pam showing Tara the ins and outs of being a vampire (at least, I hope that's the direction they're going). The two of them together should be priceless. I also am loving the Eric/Bill bromance.
And I remember Linda Purl from Happy Days, and boy am I dating myself with that one!
no subject
Date: 2012-06-26 03:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-26 08:18 am (UTC)And Debbie's Dad is played by the actor who played Tara's Dad in Family.
no subject
Date: 2012-06-26 09:24 am (UTC)And agree about Eric/Bill. The two of them are great together. It's like Spike and Angel in The Girl in Question all the time.
no subject
Date: 2012-06-26 11:53 am (UTC)I actually thing she was on HD twice; at the beginning with Richie and then towards the end with Fonzie. And she was his daughter on "Matlock" as well as a bunch of guest appearances during the 70's and 80's.
no subject
Date: 2012-06-26 04:48 pm (UTC)I really like the flashes of Pam's backstory with Eric as well as the Eric and Bill bromance... although I find the Authority storyline kind of tiresome and boring so far.
I hope Tara gets some kind of hopeful resolution because her life really HAS been terrible even by Bon Temps standards.
As far as the suicide attempt goes... I've seen a couple vampire stories where it's not just sunlight, it's any UV light. True Blood seems to be going in that direction (torturing Bill & Eric with UV light) so a tanning bed WOULD be a good suicide attempt. Making sure she's in a big open space at dawn would be better, but I suppose they can't have Tara actually succeed. Unfortunately. Poor girl really does deserve to rest in peace, but I doubt they'll let her.
no subject
Date: 2012-06-26 09:09 pm (UTC)I'm enjoying the fact that this season of True Blood seems to be forcing people to be accountable for their actions. Jason and Jessica are growing up and acting more mature. Sookie is realizing that her plot armor only goes so far (although the world is definitely better off without Debbie Pelt, kind of like it was better off without Sam's parents.)
So very true. This season doesn't have incredibly annoying characters, so far.
And no, I don't think they'll be nice to Tara...she gets tortured in every season. And explores her dark side in every season. Far interesting character than Sookie though. And literally the worst thing they could have done to Tara was turn her into a vampire, and have Pam do it. Considering Tara and Pam were trying to kill each other last year. And Tara despises vampires.
I think Tara is regretting leaping in front of that bullet meant for Sookie big time. Note to Tara? Next time someone is about to shoot Sookie? Run in the opposite direction.
no subject
Date: 2012-06-26 09:11 pm (UTC)And yep, Eric/Bill is basically non-stop The Girl in Question. Love their bro-romance. They are great together. And the actors clearly have good chemistry.
no subject
Date: 2012-06-26 09:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-26 09:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-27 01:26 pm (UTC)A female vampire trope? Seems Janette on Forever Knight sort of filled that bill as well.
no subject
Date: 2012-06-28 01:44 am (UTC)As much as I like Pam? Julie Benze was brilliant as Darla. She blew me away in that role.