NEWSROOM, THE: THE 112th CONGRESS (TV)
Summary
One in this drama series about arrogant news anchor Will McAvoy and his clashes with his staff at the New York-based Atlantis Cable News network. In this episode, Will works with Neal, Jim and Mac to write an editorial, and then opens his show with a formal apology, stating that they have caused "a trainwreck of failures" by focusing too much on ratings, as the news has sponsors and paid advertising, but declares that he will improve and will "quit the circus" by presenting only the facts in their appropriate context. Six months later, Charlie is summoned to a meeting with Reese Lansing and his mother Leona, CEO of ACN's parent company, AWM, and they angrily demand answers for ACN's changes as described through a series of flashbacks. Right after Will's apology, Don confronts Jim and accuses him of making his new ten o'clock show look bad and morally inferior, though Jim says that he too can improve. The team chooses to spend only three minutes on the Times Square car bomb plot, not wanting to falsely over-hype the danger, and Maggie points out that the man who alerted the police was Muslim, as was the criminal. Reese reveals that the decision led to a seven-percent ratings decrease, but Charlie is unfazed. Will then decides to focus on the Tea Party, explaining to Charlie in detail that a formerly rational group has been co-opted by radicals and is making "his party" look bad, and he interviews a number of Tea Party representatives on air. Reese argues that the newsroom has become a courtroom, and Charlie reveals that Will was in fact formerly a successful prosecutor.
Mac reacts awkwardly when various attractive women, ranging from a Jets cheerleader to a brain surgeon, start arriving in the newsroom to meet Will for dates. At a bar, Jim and Neal debate the relevance of Wikileaks, and Jim continues quietly pining for Maggie, who is back with Don. Reese accuses the program of "GOP-bashing," but Charlie argues that they are presenting varied points of view. Will continues interviewing conservative figures, including a Republican politician who lost his race because of his moderate views and work with "friends across the aisle." Will wonders why he has not heard from "upstairs" about the new changes, and he next interviews two Kansas Tea Party members who extol the "grassroots" qualities of their group. Will points out that they are actually funded by the incredibly wealthy Koch brothers, who are hardly "average Americans," and Reese berates Charlie for ostracizing them, as they are involved with ACN. Maggie experiences a panic attack during a meeting and Jim kindly tends to her, using skills he picked up while embedded in the Middle East with Mac, and also advises her to stop breaking up with Don. Later, however, Neal tells Jim that Don and Maggie have broken up for good and urges him to "get in there."
On Election Night 2010, Will, Elliot, Sloan and Kyle analyze the results on air, concluding that voters are mainly older and conservative this time, leading to a GOP-dominated House. Don and Elliot butt heads about his passiveness on air, with Don saying he can be a "star," and Maggie timidly suggests to Will that he "give Mac a break" and stop meeting his dates in the newsroom. Mac's "friend" then arrives at the studio, however, and she admits to Will that she has been dating for him three months. The anchors attempt to talk to a Republican Congressman elect from Colorado, but he evades Sloan's questions about the debt ceiling, and Jim is dismayed when Maggie reunites with Don yet again. Leona finally addresses Charlie directly and calls him out on harming the show, though Charlie argues that bringing Mac and Will together has led to improvements. Leona rages that the show is too left-leaning and is antagonizing not only the likes of the Koch brothers but the conservative replacements for their former "friends on the Hill," and though Charlie points out that the news is a public trust, she vows that she will fire Will if changes are not made. Several hours previously, however, Will goes out for late-night drinks with the team and toasts them on a job well done covering the election, and Charlie receives a message from Leona and expects that she wants to praise their work as well.
Details
- NETWORK: HBO
- DATE: July 8, 2012 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:58:37
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 108994
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama; News broadcasting; Politics
- SERIES RUN: HBO - TV series, 2012-2014
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Alan Poul … Executive Producer
- Scott Rudin … Executive Producer
- Aaron Sorkin … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Paul Redford … Co-Executive Producer
- Denis Biggs … Co-Executive Producer
- Greg Mottola … Co-Executive Producer, Director
- Lauren Lohman … Co-Producer
- Eli Bush … Co-Producer
- Dauri Chase … Co-Producer
- Christine Larson-Nitzsche … Co-Producer
- Sarah Rath … Associate Producer
- Gideon Yago … Writer
- Alex Wurman … Music by
- Thomas Newman … Theme Music by
- Jeff Daniels … Cast, Will McAvoy
- Emily Mortimer … Cast, MacKenzie McHale
- John Gallagher Jr. … Cast, Jim Harper
- Alison Pill … Cast, Maggie Jordan
- Thomas Sadoski … Cast, Don Keefer
- Dev Patel … Cast, Neal Sampat
- Olivia Munn … Cast, Sloan Sabbith
- Sam Waterston … Cast, Charlie Skinner
- David Harbour … Cast, Elliot Hirsch
- Chris Messina … Cast, Reese Lansing
- Jon Tenney … Cast, Wade Campbell
- Phillip Baker Hall … Cast, Bryce Delaney
- Matt Long … Cast, Brad
- JD Cullum … Cast, Frank Guidry
- John Walcutt … Cast, Greg Towne
- Deborah Strang … Cast, Gloria Hansen
- Adina Porter … Cast, Kendra James
- Chris Chalk … Cast, Gary Cooper
- Jane Fonda … Cast, Leona Lansing
- Margaret Judson … Cast, Tess Westin
- Wynn Everett … Cast, Tamara Hart
- Thomas Matthews … Cast, Martin Stallworth
- John F. Carpenter … Cast, Herb Wilson
- Trieu Tran … Cast, Joey Phan
- Charlie Weirauch … Cast, Jake Watson
- Mia Barron … Cast, Sheryl Bell
- Corey Sorenson … Cast, Mike Lyndall
- Everette Wallin … Cast, Ted Wexler
- Laura Stone … Cast, Danielle
- Tehmina Sunny … Cast, Darshana Yadav
- Troy Blendell … Cast, Kyle Lohman
- Chuma Gault … Cast, Assistant Director
- Briana Cuoco … Cast, Neal's Girl
- Chasty Ballesteros … Cast, Tea
- Tristin Mays … Cast, Karaoke Girl
- Sarah Scott Davis … Cast, Terry Smith