HBO Makes ‘Newsroom’ Pilot Available To All, Showtime Puts ‘Weeds’ On Facebook

COMMENTS (18)

• I wish HBO made its original movies that easily available. Still waiting to see Game Change.

  Comment by Bob — Monday June 25, 2012 @ 11:20am PDT  Reply to this post

• LOVE THIS. happy to see the industry embracing New Media further.

  Comment by NewMediaFTW — Monday June 25, 2012 @ 11:25am PDT  Reply to this post

  • Agreed. Now if you could only get an HBO Go subscription without having to subscribe to a television service. It’s like a vestigial tail.

    Comment by DotComVet — Monday June 25, 2012 @ 11:37am PDT  Reply to this post

• Makes sense- new product with mixed reception so could lead to possible increases in awareness and ratings plus if it can produce a decent amount of extra revenue through online distribution to non-members maybe they’ll consider a similar approach with established shows where there is already huge demant (GoT)

  Comment by terrabyte — Monday June 25, 2012 @ 11:56am PDT  Reply to this post

• Hey the show is excellent. Congratulations to Sorkin and team.

  Comment by Travis — Monday June 25, 2012 @ 12:03pm PDT  Reply to this post

• got a feeling the numbers will be awesome.

  Comment by tvcon — Monday June 25, 2012 @ 12:04pm PDT  Reply to this post

• A very disappointing pilot. Maybe they should wait for a better episode.

  Comment by Alex — Monday June 25, 2012 @ 12:19pm PDT  Reply to this post

  • Unfortunately it only gets worse after the pilot according to those who’ve seen more than just the pilot. But I expect it will get picked up for another season because they renewed the equally mediocre Girls.

    Comment by RR — Monday June 25, 2012 @ 12:42pm PDT  Reply to this post

  • Alex:

    If you thought the Newsroom pilot was disappointing, perhaps you could share with us what does pass your finely tuned level of appreciation?

    I thought it was probably one of the best all round pilot’s – excellent performances particularly by Jeff Daniels. Disappointed that they made Emily Mortimer’s character a little emotional at times…..for God’s sake she’s been in combat zones so why undermine her character in the elevator scene….. but I loved it. That’s LOVED it. Can’t imagine what there is for you to pick apart. But then you didn’t clarify your statement did you? Just played Alex the Asshole.

    Maybe you could share with us what you’ve done that’s so outstanding and above reproach.

    Comment by Alex is a twit — Monday June 25, 2012 @ 12:56pm PDT  Reply to this post

    • Here’s a few of the reasons I thought the pilot was so disappointing:

      1) There is an extraordinary amount of pontificating from the major characters. It’s as if rather than flesh and blood characters they are talking points. People, even in newsrooms, don’t speak in 12 paragraph summations ALL THE TIME.

      2) A Bigger issue is that all the characters speak with the same voice. EVERYONE in the cast is a hyper-articulate, ambitious, glib careerist. Look at far superior shows like Mad Men, The Sopranos, The Wire you see that characters have different voices, not the same voice. In fact, there are a variety of characters with different agendas.

      3) That the only person who can handle Will is an old flame who he had a nasty breakup with is, ahem, perhaps just a tad cliched.

      4) The wise all-knowing boss with a heart of gold and a weakness for booze is, ahem, a tad cliched.

      5) That the newbie senior producer has a college roommate who is in the inner circle @ BP and a sister who is a professor in the geologic sciences is, ahem, a tad convenient.

      6)Choosing real news stories from the recent past makes the series feel dated.

      7) We are in the age of the internet, choosing the arena of cable news makes the series feel dated.

      Almost none of the jokes land.

      9) The scene in the control room where Emily Mortimer blackmails Jeff Daniels is completely unrealistic. He would fire her the second they were off the air. How could he possibly ever trust her?

      10) The opening scene in front of the college audience is 3 times longer than it needs to be. The pilot starts off stillborn.

      I could list 10 more, but I should get back to work. Hope this was helpful.

      Comment by Alex (again) — Monday June 25, 2012 @ 2:29pm PDT  Reply to this post

      • Alex -

        In all sincerity, thanks for the summation. You’ve got some valid points. Perhaps I’m just so starved for ANYTHING that’s not banal, stupid, demeaning, reality show crap that I over reacted, however I still say that this was a show that I really enjoyed, loved the performances by Jeff Daniels and Sam Waterston (even if it is cliched, he still performed it well).

        It’ll be interesting to see how they pull it out of 2010 and into 2012.

        Nevertheless, I love Aaron Sorkin and just really enjoyed the show.

        I apologize if I was a snot (has anyone done that on Deadline before).

        Cheers.

        Comment by Alex isn't quite the Twit I thought. — Monday June 25, 2012 @ 7:51pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Newsroom looks like another high-profile loser for HBO.

  Comment by Brock — Monday June 25, 2012 @ 12:43pm PDT  Reply to this post

• As a subscriber who pays for showtime I don’t appreciate content being delivered to non-subscribers before I get it on the channel I paid to have it created.

  Comment by xolitz — Monday June 25, 2012 @ 1:37pm PDT  Reply to this post

  • Well that’ll teach you.

    Comment by Suit — Monday June 25, 2012 @ 2:58pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Just tried to watch Episodes on Facebook. The Censorship makes it look like a Japanese Porn Movie…Seriously… Blacked Out naughty bits and silent dirty words….Meeeeeeeeh. I stopped and will wait for the cable broadcast.

  Comment by William Hazen — Monday June 25, 2012 @ 11:29pm PDT  Reply to this post

  • I watched it on Youtube. Although the picture quality appeared to be far from the “HD” promised, it was completely uncensored.

    Comment by Hobbled — Tuesday June 26, 2012 @ 1:54am PDT  Reply to this post

• It looks like the flaws with Newsroom have been fully fleshed out by critics and those here…

  It’s a show that APPEARS to be challenging and taking risks while it’s doing anything but.

  And I agree with another poster — characters all with one voice, instead of characters with competing voices, interests, agendas. That can get boring, fast.

  I just hope they can steer the ship in the right direction since they have such a great cast.

  Comment by Justin T — Tuesday June 26, 2012 @ 4:33am PDT  Reply to this post

• THE SHOW NEWSROOM….SEEMS TO BE AN EXCELLENT SHOWCASE FOR THIS TYPE OF SHOW, SOMETHING THAT HAS BEEN LACKING ON T.V. FOR MANY YEARS. THE PROBLEM I AM HAVING WITH IT….IS THAT I AM TOTALLY FRUSTRATED IN TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE ACTORS ARE SAYING….
  THE SPEED IN WHICH THEY SPEAK ARE FOR THE EARS OF THE YOUNG ONLY….THE RAPIDITY IN WHICH THEY SPEAK ARE NOT BEING ACCEPTED BY MY EARS. I’M SURE THAT I AM NOT ALONE WITH REGARD TO THIS PROBLEM.
  AS YOU KNOW WHEN WORDS ARE JUMBLED TOGETHER IT BECOMES DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND. IF YOUR CONCENTRATING ON TRYING TO UNDERSTAND, YOU LOSE THE ESSENCE OF THE PLOT. PLEASE DO NOT RECOMMEND ME TO TAKE A HEARING TEST. JUST PLEASE HAVE THEM SLOW DOWN…..

  Comment by FRED F — Tuesday July 3, 2012 @ 11:11am PDT  Reply to this post