Pilot was well-written. Looks like another show I'll be keeping up with.

6/25/2012 12:24:12 AM

Of the new shows, this is the keeper

6/25/2012 1:42:06 AM

+1.

6/25/2012 8:24:11 AM

good to have Aaron Sorkin back

6/25/2012 8:27:00 AM

It was good? I saw quite a few negative reviews in the last week or so. I'll have to check it out sometime.

6/25/2012 9:03:45 AM

Premiere was really enjoyable, although I saw some reviews that killed this show (particularly Greenwald's on Grantland).

6/25/2012 9:26:27 AM

I saw the negative reviews as well, however I liked it.

6/25/2012 4:05:58 PM

dug it, I'm in

6/25/2012 6:19:06 PM

HBO uploaded the full episode to Youtube - http://youtu.be/1U4ZhFDFYvE

6/25/2012 6:44:18 PM

I'm enjoying the pilot so far, but did anyone else think Jeff Daniels' speech at the beginning rang hollow? "AMERICA WAS SO FUCKING AWESOME FOR EVERYONE BACK IN THE DAY"

6/25/2012 7:24:40 PM

^^ thxu

6/25/2012 9:57:55 PM

^^nope, I loved it

6/25/2012 10:10:53 PM

If you have even a basic knowledge of American history you should know better. You could give that speech at a Klan rally with minor modifications.

[Edited on June 25, 2012 at 10:41 PM. Reason : .]

6/25/2012 10:24:39 PM

You have made so many good points to support your arguement



O wait

6/25/2012 11:18:11 PM

As opposed to the zero good points you have ever made in your history of posting on TWW? I thought the fact that women and minorities were treated awfully for the vast majority of American history was common knowledge but I guess I was assuming most of you aren't preternaturally stupid.

6/25/2012 11:24:27 PM

I think you're thinking way too much into a silly tv show, it was a well delivered dramatic speech

6/25/2012 11:52:40 PM

Quote :

"If you have even a basic knowledge of American history you should know better. You could give that speech at a Klan rally with minor modifications. "

the speech:

Quote :

"Just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day, there are some things you should know, and one of them is that there is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we’re the greatest country in the world. We’re seventh in literacy, twenty-seventh in math, twenty-second in science, forty-ninth in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, third in median household income, number four in labor force, and number four in exports. We lead the world in only three categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending, where we spend more than the next twenty-six countries combined, twenty-five of whom are allies. None of this is the fault of a 20-year-old college student, but you, nonetheless, are without a doubt, a member of the WORST-period-GENERATION-period-EVER-period, so when you ask what makes us the greatest country in the world, I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about?! Yosemite?!!! We sure used to be. 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. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and cultivated the world’s greatest artists and the world’s greatest economy. We reached for the stars, and we acted like men. We aspired to intelligence; we didn’t belittle it; it didn’t make us feel inferior. We didn’t identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election, and we didn’t scare so easy. And we were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed. By great men, men who were revered. The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one—America is not the greatest country in the world anymore."

as a left-leaning dude, I'm failing to see what your qualms are with a speech written by the ultimate left-leaning dude

he listed stastics that are real and everything else rings true. he is obviously a guy in his 50's referencing the times he grew up in (the 60's) when shit actually did get done for moral reasons

[Edited on June 26, 2012 at 12:03 AM. Reason : really looking forward to seeing the KKK use this speech ]

6/25/2012 11:56:25 PM

man, now I wanna watch it again

6/26/2012 12:02:13 AM

Quote :

"he is obviously a guy in his 50's referencing the times he grew up in (the 60's) when shit actually did get done for moral reasons "

My whole problem with the speech is that it's a gross idealization of the 60's, and what resulted from the counterculture movement. Sure there were plenty of progressive people trying to affect positive change, but there were also plenty of young racists/homophobes/sexists trying to maintain the status quo. And there was a big part of the counterculture that didn't give a shit about anything other than getting high and fucking. The record of that generation in the 70's and 80's has enough blemishes that lecturing the worst.generation.ever. about how much they suck rings hollow to me. And the whole "we didn't scare so easy" part is laughable if you remember the cold war. I just think that the "look how much better shit was in the old days" type of political invective is lazy and disingenuous.

[Edited on June 26, 2012 at 12:37 AM. Reason : .]

6/26/2012 12:27:24 AM

You think it could just be someone speaking from his own experience about his own opinions rather than some all knowing unbiased robot with a complete understanding of the world?

like I said

Quote :

"I think you're thinking way too much into a silly tv show, it was a well delivered dramatic speech"

6/26/2012 12:33:45 AM

I'm really not seeing how anyone could classify the civil rights movement/women's rights campaign/the space race/everything else that happened in the 60's as some kooky thing that only the counterculture was behind

and then applying a false equivalency to the racists/homophobes/sexists

pretty sure we were way better off in 1970 than we were in 1960 and are still seeing the effects of all of the social changes of that era

^ exactly. people making that argument are the same ones who wrote "Lena Dunhams show is racist for not having any minority characters written into it"

[Edited on June 26, 2012 at 12:57 AM. Reason : yeah]

6/26/2012 12:46:57 AM

wasn't bad but way overwritten and some parts were just awful (especially the last scene between Will and his ex)

6/26/2012 1:34:01 AM

my only problem with his speech was when he called millennials the worst generation ever. As if we were in charge during the years of rampant de-regulation and the economic meltdown. Nope that Baby Boomers, who are, in fact the worst generation ever.

6/26/2012 8:25:48 AM

I thought it was awesome, classic Sorkin. You clearly were barking up the wrong tree if you thought that was "overwritten", his shit is all dialogue, with limited backdrops, completely character driven. Made me feel like I was back in a 2nd or 3rd season West Wing episode.

6/26/2012 1:18:38 PM

I didn't care for the Will and his ex scenes and she kind of annoyed the shit out of me but I do understand they had to do some backdrop and character setting.

I liked the speech. I was just about to turn it off when the BP story broke. I liked seeing how a big news story broke(realistic or not). I could nitpick how all the noob team member came together to put together the news story of the year so well on the fly. But it's TV and I can get over it.


Oh and I hope to see Erin Andrews get some sexy time(fingers crossed)

6/26/2012 2:50:57 PM

Also, Alison Pill is adorable.

6/26/2012 4:12:04 PM

Loved every second of the opening speech (and the episode). Perhaps I just identified strongly with it because I'm so disillusioned with what passes for discourse in our country right now. But mainly:

Quote :

"I thought it was awesome, classic Sorkin. You clearly were barking up the wrong tree if you thought that was "overwritten", his shit is all dialogue, with limited backdrops, completely character driven. Made me feel like I was back in a 2nd or 3rd season West Wing episode."

[Edited on June 26, 2012 at 4:20 PM. Reason : ]

6/26/2012 4:20:16 PM

Quote :

"he is obviously a guy in his 50's referencing the times he grew up in (the 60's) when shit actually did get done for moral reasons "

Like Vietnam!

Okay, seriously, I'm torn on this show. On one hand, it is well written and quite entertaining. Aaron Sorkin demonstrates once again his skill at his craft. However, the actual development of the "news" was so contrived, it's the perfect liberal fantasy which is completely simplistic and unrealistic. My friend described it best as a "24 for Liberals."

Still, looking forward to the next episode.

6/26/2012 10:57:03 PM

watched it another 4 times, loved it

6/27/2012 1:37:25 AM

I enjoyed it at parts but felt it was kinda slow at others. Good to see Dev Patel in something outside of Skins and Slumdog Millionaire. It's way better than Luck. I'll give it a few more episodes to see where it goes.

6/27/2012 9:07:44 AM

As one of the few people who liked Studio 60, I'm admittedly a Sorkin fan, but I enjoyed it thoroughly.

[Edited on June 27, 2012 at 9:58 AM. Reason : s]

6/27/2012 9:57:48 AM

anyone catch the gray powell reference!

6/27/2012 10:09:25 AM

^ no, when?

6/27/2012 12:39:19 PM

Same old annoying Sorkin dialogue. If you liked his other stuff, you'll probably like this.


Otherwise, it's Sorkin's speeches thinly veiled as a tv show.

6/28/2012 12:33:25 AM

It was a little fatiguing for me at times, but overall, I dug it. I like Sorkin so...

Quote :

"saps852: You think it could just be someone speaking from his own experience about his own opinions rather than some all knowing unbiased robot with a complete understanding of the world?"

Exactly.

6/28/2012 11:43:20 AM

I enjoy political drama and intelligent dialogue, and I'm a fan of Sorkin. I sympathize with what he's trying to do here.

Unfortunately, the end result was an overwrought masturbatory exercise in liberal fantasy, and the reenvisioning of recent history simply doesn't work for me.

6/28/2012 3:06:11 PM

I liked it. Looking forward to episode 2.

6/29/2012 8:29:58 AM

This.

Quote :

"There is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we’re the greatest country in the world. We’re seventh in literacy, twenty-seventh in math, twenty-second in science, forty-ninth in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, third in median household income, number four in labor force, and number four in exports. We lead the world in only three categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending, where we spend more than the next twenty-six countries combined, twenty-five of whom are allies."

6/29/2012 6:01:41 PM

as someone who kind of liked the first episode, man was that second episode just really bad and annoying to watch. almost painful at times.

7/1/2012 11:31:44 PM

The Maggie character is just way over-the-top. I'm not sure if that's how she's written or the problem is the actress, but holy hell is she annoying and impossible to believe as a character.

Also, she appears to be suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome.

7/1/2012 11:35:44 PM

are you kidding me? maybe it was the radiohead ending but I loved most of that episode. especially the obvious romance thats going to happen

7/2/2012 12:30:21 AM

Quote :

" as someone who kind of liked the first episode, man was that second episode just really bad and annoying to watch. almost painful at times. "

agree

Quote :

" The Maggie character is just way over-the-top. I'm not sure if that's how she's written or the problem is the actress, but holy hell is she annoying and impossible to believe as a character. Also, she appears to be suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome. "

really agree

7/2/2012 9:18:06 AM

I think it's the writing for Maggie, actress was pretty good in Scott Pilgrim

7/2/2012 4:03:11 PM

she has a giant head and a normal sized face

7/2/2012 4:04:17 PM

Quote :

"Unfortunately, the end result was an overwrought masturbatory exercise in liberal intellectual fantasy, and the reenvisioningvisiting of recent history simply doesn't work for me."

7/2/2012 6:38:10 PM

Fair enough. I'll go along with those corrections.

7/2/2012 7:19:03 PM

I'm not sure why you struck-through reenvisioning. Was there a news organization that handled the oil-spill coverage like this?

I like when film and tv reenvisions history. I fucking love Inglourious Basterds.

And I think Alison Pill is pretty cute.

7/2/2012 8:44:58 PM

She is.

It took me a few minutes to remember her in Milk, that's where I'd recognized her from.

7/2/2012 8:53:18 PM

I can't figure out if I like this show. Parts of it are unbearable with a few funny moments.

7/2/2012 9:12:10 PM

Quote :

"I'm not sure why you struck-through reenvisioning. Was there a news organization that handled the oil-spill coverage like this?"

They didn't manage to break the whole story in 2 hours because that would be impossible (barring a contrived personal relationship with an idiotically candid BP executive) , but the Times-Picayune did cover it like that.

7/2/2012 9:35:19 PM