|
Remember when scheduling time for the marathon to add a few hours to watch Manchester, and 20 hours in America twice.
|
# ? Apr 25, 2012 21:49 |
|
|
# ? Jun 5, 2024 03:28 |
|
I always take a break after the 1st episode of 20 Hours in America so I can drive over to Arizona and walk up and down a few streets yelling about the time change. Adds a good 7 hours to my marathon.
|
# ? Apr 25, 2012 23:54 |
|
There's a huge profile on Sorkin in this month's Vanity Fair.quote:“I can only write the way I write. I’m not altering my writing style at all because it’s on HBO. Yes, I am able to—when I want to—use the language of adulthood when people get a little hot under the collar, which wasn’t something that I was able to do, say, on The West Wing. Frankly, I would have loved to be able to do it there. I just would have liked to have seen [Martin Sheen’s President Josiah] Bartlet say ‘goddammit’ from time to time, which you can’t do. You’ll be able to say ‘motherfucker’ on network television before you’ll be able to take God’s name in vain on television—I promise you.
|
# ? Apr 25, 2012 23:55 |
|
I just got to Leo's death That said, I never liked the idea of Leo being the VP candidate. It didn't make sense to me. He went from "I already got my guy" when Josh asks Leo to come with him to being the VP candidate like 4 months later or whatever? Him going to the convention to sort things out made sense. Anyway RIP John Spencer That really sucked. I also wish we saw some (more) of the Santos administration. The election was great but I liked the transition stuff too.
|
# ? Apr 26, 2012 00:23 |
|
Joementum posted:There's a huge profile on Sorkin in this month's Vanity Fair. Man, Sorkin's got it made. Actually researching facts is the hardest roadblock about writing for the real world, it stops you dead when all you want to do is write cool scenes. He has eight people who do that research for him, so he gets to do the fun bit all the time. That said, while I get a kick out of learning about his methods, I don't see anything here that makes Newsroom sound like more than another Studio 60. Particularly the actors having trouble with the rapid-fire dialogue and long speeches.
|
# ? Apr 26, 2012 00:46 |
|
"You’ll do fine. People have phenomenal capacity."
|
# ? Apr 26, 2012 03:27 |
|
MC Fruit Stripe posted:I always take a break after the 1st episode of 20 Hours in America so I can drive over to Arizona and walk up and down a few streets yelling about the time change. Adds a good 7 hours to my marathon. Didn't it take place in Indiana?
|
# ? Apr 26, 2012 03:38 |
|
I'm just finishing the last episode. I kind of want to start the series over again. Send help (this is at least the 3rd time through btw)
|
# ? Apr 26, 2012 06:00 |
|
Omne posted:Didn't it take place in Indiana?
|
# ? Apr 26, 2012 06:08 |
|
"In This White House" and "And It's Surely To Their Credit" are such great, great episodes. Not speaking in iambic pentameter might help.
|
# ? Apr 26, 2012 06:10 |
|
BrooklynBruiser posted:"In This White House" and "And It's Surely To Their Credit" are such great, great episodes. Fear of cancer from asbestos, fuzzy science manifestos! (I know that's trochaic tetrameter, shut up.)
|
# ? Apr 26, 2012 07:24 |
|
Speaking of Flamingo, does anyone know what the point of Secret Service codenames is? I understand it in concept, but since the codenames are public knowledge that seems to defeat the purpose.
|
# ? Apr 26, 2012 16:26 |
|
"The use of such names was originally for security purposes and dates to a time when sensitive electronic communications were not routinely encrypted; today, the names simply serve for purposes of brevity, clarity, and tradition." Awesome, not only do you get to jump infront of my rear end if someone starts shooting, but make sure to learn my arbitrary nickname.
|
# ? Apr 26, 2012 16:29 |
|
qntm posted:That said, while I get a kick out of learning about his methods, I don't see anything here that makes Newsroom sound like more than another Studio 60. Particularly the actors having trouble with the rapid-fire dialogue and long speeches. I'm one of those crazy psychos who actually like Studio 60. Granted it's definitely the weakest of Sorkin's shows (I love love love Sports Night, even though the laugh track makes me want to die), but I still liked it. I have a feeling Newsroom is gonna be awesome. Wonder how long it'll take him to do a letter writing episode, hah.
|
# ? Apr 26, 2012 16:39 |
|
Directorman posted:I'm one of those crazy psychos who actually like Studio 60. Granted it's definitely the weakest of Sorkin's shows (I love love love Sports Night, even though the laugh track makes me want to die), but I still liked it. What's up fellow Studio 60 buddy. It is my secret shame. That show was awesome and I will knife fight anyone who says otherwise. edit: Yes I know it's basically Sorkin writing about himself and the whole thing is filled with terrible bullshit, but I can't help but like (most) of the characters. Plus it had those hilarious John Goodman episodes. king of no pants fucked around with this message at 17:22 on Apr 26, 2012 |
# ? Apr 26, 2012 17:01 |
|
It had some fun moments. It also had musical numbers and poorly written sketch comedy.
|
# ? Apr 26, 2012 17:14 |
|
Sorkin does something exceptionally well that are often unnoticed. One is he's drat good at setting up a love story and then spiking the ball. When watched in serial form with appropriate time to build anticipation to the next episode- its second to none. Teri Polo on sports night and Amanda Peet on Studio 60 will make a romantic out of a jaded goon. Inevitably the relationship falls apart but usually that's the network loving it up and shortly thereafter it gets cancelled.
|
# ? Apr 26, 2012 19:25 |
|
I basically consider Studio 60 to go up through the Christmas show. The first half of the season is really great and the Christmas show makes a good finale.
|
# ? Apr 26, 2012 21:58 |
|
Josh Lyman posted:When I want dark, depressing thoughts about alienation and nothingness, I watch cable news.
|
# ? Apr 26, 2012 22:03 |
|
Roflex posted:I basically consider Studio 60 to go up through the Christmas show. The first half of the season is really great and the Christmas show makes a good finale. I like the pilot and the Christmas episodes. The rest are really forgettable or bordering on bad. Like the one where Jordan and Josh Lyman are stuck on the roof and they don't have a cell phone signal. They are in Hollywood. And AFGHANISTAN!
|
# ? Apr 26, 2012 22:10 |
|
I started the series over again. Thanks for nothing everyone.
|
# ? Apr 26, 2012 22:11 |
|
The SARS Volta posted:It would be something I'd say in real life.
|
# ? Apr 26, 2012 23:15 |
|
This begs the question: how long until Bradley shows up in an episode of Newsroom. Season one is 10 episodes. I'm guessing it'll be in the first five. Josh Malina obviously gets added as a recurring character in episode six.
|
# ? Apr 26, 2012 23:23 |
|
No, the real question is What Kind Of Day It Will Have Been.
|
# ? Apr 26, 2012 23:38 |
|
Josh Lyman posted:When I read this, I actually said out loud, "Wait, I wrote that?" I honestly can't help but hear every post you make in Bradley Whitford's voice. It's great! Studio 60 was a show with a great cast and just terrible writing. Especially for the sketch comedy parts of it, but on the whole the storytelling was not great. I'll still watch the Christmas episode, because that was great, but the rest of it? No. It's just not worth it. So little that's interesting or worthwhile happens. So much talent, and so little done with it.
|
# ? Apr 26, 2012 23:38 |
|
Mu Zeta posted:I like the pilot and the Christmas episodes. The rest are really forgettable or bordering on bad. Like the one where Jordan and Josh Lyman are stuck on the roof and they don't have a cell phone signal. They are in Hollywood. They were on AT&T. The Afghanistan crap was Sorkin shoehorning issues in for some reason- but the network crap that resulted from it was pretty sound. The news room seems the best outlet for him.
|
# ? Apr 27, 2012 03:57 |
|
Mu Zeta posted:Like the one where Jordan and Josh Lyman are stuck on the roof and they don't have a cell phone signal. They are in Hollywood. I used to get better cell reception in the middle of the Mojave Desert than I did in my hometown of a million people.
|
# ? Apr 27, 2012 04:03 |
|
I bet Tommy Schlamme hates it when the walk and talk is credited as an Aaron Sorkin thing.
|
# ? Apr 27, 2012 04:03 |
|
Hoops posted:I bet Tommy Schlamme hates it when the walk and talk is credited as an Aaron Sorkin thing. Hahaha that's a good point. Here's a 90-page script of dense dialog about complex subjects in a setting with zero visual interest, your job is to make it look not boring... ready, go!
|
# ? Apr 27, 2012 04:06 |
|
Thomas Schlamme posted:"You almost never see how anyone travels from point A to point C [in most TV shows]. I wanted the audience to witness every journey these people took. It all had a purpose, even seeing them order lunch. It just seemed to be the proper visual rhythm with which to marry Aaron's words. I got lucky that it worked." I think he's fine with it.
|
# ? Apr 27, 2012 08:08 |
|
TheBigBad posted:The Afghanistan crap was Sorkin shoehorning issues in for some reason- but the network crap that resulted from it was pretty sound. The news room seems the best outlet for him. I like Studio 60 a lot. He does the behind-the-scenes stuff really well and that's been consistant through-out his career on both TV and in Film. I don't care about the sketch comedy parts, that was always such a non-issue to me. I do think it suffered from Sorkin being over indulgent with self-inserting his personal life/issues/problems. But yeah, the biggest problem for me was this, the shoehorning of issues that did not fit the setting. It happened to an extent in Sports Night but I think that got away with it more, possibly because it came before The West Wing. In Studio 60 the stakes were just so much lower than The West Wing that, with a few exceptions, the weighty issues seemed totally out of place. I agree the news room is a far better outlet all round and he can continue to do the comedy-drama behind-the-scenes stuff in an environment where it actually makes sense to frame narratives with weighty issues.
|
# ? Apr 27, 2012 14:50 |
|
Gravy Jones posted:I do think it suffered from Sorkin being over indulgent with self-inserting his personal life/issues/problems. Me either, in fact when I found out Matt and Harriet was a thinly veiled reproduction of Sorkin and Chenowith it made the rewatch so much better.
|
# ? Apr 27, 2012 19:35 |
|
After having watched seasons 1-4 a dozen times or so, I've finally started watching the post Sorkin stuff and I just got to Santos. Goddamn! There was a definite slump but I love this guy.
|
# ? Apr 28, 2012 22:33 |
|
It gets tiring when Santos saves the day yet again by giving an inspiring speech though. Campaign running out of money? Speech. Racial issues? Speech.
|
# ? Apr 28, 2012 23:10 |
|
Mu Zeta posted:It gets tiring when Santos saves the day yet again by giving an inspiring speech though. Campaign running out of money? Speech. Racial issues? Speech.
|
# ? Apr 29, 2012 00:06 |
|
Mu Zeta posted:It gets tiring when Santos saves the day yet again by giving an inspiring speech though. Campaign running out of money? Speech. Racial issues? Speech. Hah, I haven't gotten there yet. Just about to start the episode after Iran accidentally shot down a British airliner. I'm getting tired of the in-White-House episodes at this point. They're such downers
|
# ? Apr 29, 2012 02:29 |
|
There is zero doubt that by the end of the series, the campaign parts of the episodes were about a billion times better than the White House stuff.
|
# ? Apr 29, 2012 03:17 |
|
Popero posted:There is zero doubt that by the end of the series, the campaign parts of the episodes were about a billion times better than the White House stuff. It took until John Spencer died to get there, and then John died and it was over but then they still had to keep shooting.
|
# ? Apr 29, 2012 03:20 |
|
TheBigBad posted:It took until John Spencer died to get there, and then John died and it was over but then they still had to keep shooting. oh god Leo
|
# ? Apr 29, 2012 16:58 |
|
|
# ? Jun 5, 2024 03:28 |
|
Popero posted:There is zero doubt that by the end of the series, the campaign parts of the episodes were about a billion times better than the White House stuff. They tried their best, but the show was creatively bankrupt by then (not that shifting seasons 6 and 7 to the campaigns wasn't the right move).
|
# ? Apr 29, 2012 21:30 |