"I agree with these statements."

Words.

"The thing is, if you don’t think about The Newsroom all that much, it’s the best show on TV.

 I don’t mean for this to imply that those who enjoy the show and have made solid arguments for its quality in these comments week after week aren’t thinking about the show. Clearly, they are. What I mean is that The Newsroom is a show that has the look and feel of quality TV, so the way that I find best to enjoy the show is to not pay too much attention to it. Every time I start to, I realize just how poorly plotted the show is, how it seems to have no sense of narrative momentum, how the characters have the tendency of telling us things about themselves but not actually demonstrating them. And, yes, I’m constantly reminded of how terrible the show is toward its female characters, nearly all of whom (save a handful of recurring players here and there) are utter messes. But this discrepancy—between how The Newsroom feels and how it actually behaves—is indicative of how Aaron Sorkin’s work (at least on television) has gotten shallower and shallower.

 ...Sorkin’s such a gifted writer and has such a good sense of how to write patter that if you just sit back and let the show wash over you, it feels like you’re watching something of momentous importance. Sorkin has a reputation as an intelligent writer, but I don’t think that’s exactly the case. Sorkin’s work is terrific at flattering the audience, at making you feel like you’re smarter than everybody else simply for watching and keeping up. But Sorkin’s shows (and plays and movies) are also expert at telling you exactly what to think and feel at any given moment. Now, granted, if you’re a center-left Democrat of the type that Sorkin evidently is, this probably feels pretty darn good. Smart people on TV, with big vocabularies and a great way with a cutting joke, are saying the things you’re already thinking! But Sorkin’s whole game is flattery, is telling you things you either already believe to be true or desperately want to be true, that you might feel as if you have at least fictional comrades in arms..."

  AV CLUB: THE NEWSROOM, "The Greater Fool". A Review.