The Last Season of The Newsroom

Tonight HBO begins its broadcast of the third and last season of The Newsroom.  This controversial program, which started by retelling news story from the past with better informed reporters, by the second season morphed into a drama about one fictional news story that when awry.  I am not sure if Aaron Sorkin was tired of the bad press, or wanted to try his hand at a new story altogether.  Luckily, whatever approach he used, we were still able to watch Jeff Daniels as the dedicated and over-the-top Will McAvoy.  Whether his politics are left or right, he is worth watching in his role as the lonely newsman.  Of course, he is surrounded by an excellent cast that shine to the point of brilliance when a topic starts to spin around the newsroom.

You have to watch the opening scene in the 2012 pilot episode to understand how this show enraged parts of America by taking a soft question about "Why is America the Greatest Country in the World?" and turning it on its head.  It is riveting television with something for both political parties, though I doubt they were paying attention. Here it is again:

And yeah you, sorority girl, just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day, there are some things you should know. And one of them is there is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we’re the greatest country in the world. We’re 7th in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th 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 26 countries combined 25 of whom are allies. Now 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 (EXPLETIVE DELETED) you’re talking about. Yosemite?

It sure used to be. We stood up for what was right. We fought for moral reasons. We passed laws, 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 chests. 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, 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. We were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed, by great men, men who were revered. First step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one. America is not the greatest country in the world anymore. Enough?

As with other loud and proud Sorkin productions, such as The West Wing, I will miss The Newsroom.  It may be a soapbox with opinions that rattle the masses, but we need the soapboxes on the street corner.  It is too easy to say "good enough," ignore complex issues, and not work to push the country to a better place for everyone.  Will a television show make a difference?  Well, it is not clear that even an election will make a difference, but we have to try.

Update:  The first episode got off with a bang - literally - with the Boston Marathon bombing.  Will and team are back to their old tricks of re-spinning old news, but it is fun to watch.   And it seems our Bigfoot-hunting friend Neal Sampat (Dev Patel) may have a larger role this year as a new investigation unfolds, while Maggie (Alison Pill) steps up and starts to shine.