The Newsroom (Canadian TV series)
The Newsroom | |
---|---|
Created by | Single-camera |
Running time | approx. 22 minutes |
Original release | |
Network | CBC Television |
Release | 1996 2005 | –
The Newsroom is a
The show is set in the
History
Season 1
The Newsroom was not originally intended to be an ongoing series. Its first season of thirteen episodes, broadcast in 1996–97, led to critical acclaim but no immediate follow-up commissioning. Following the end of The Newsroom, creator
Season 2
As none of the subsequent series after the initial season of The Newsroom were as well received by the public or by critics as the original show, the CBC began to seek a new set of Newsroom episodes. Escape from the Newsroom, which included a fourth wall-breaking plot digression in which the characters directly addressed the idea of reviving the series, was meant partly as a sarcastic response to that request. However, Finkleman ultimately agreed to produce 13 new episodes, which were broadcast after a six-year hiatus since the initial series, in the winter of 2004. The last four episodes of the second season were shot as a mockumentary.
Season 3
A third season of The Newsroom, consisting of six episodes, was broadcast on CBC beginning on February 14, 2005.
In the United States, The Newsroom aired on PBS stations. All three seasons and Escape from the Newsroom are available on DVD.
Followup
The series drew some renewed media attention in 2011, when
Characters
Main characters
Although the series has a large and variable ensemble cast, only three major characters are present throughout the show's entire run.
George Findlay (series creator
In the third-season episode "One Dumb Idea", Karen offers her idea on a character based on Findlay for a sitcom idea he is trying to come up with, saying, "I think if you're gonna go for reality, or, sorry, for verisimilitude, I think your character should be deceitful and self-serving. Basically, pathologically ambitious and actually lacking in any real humanity." In other words, a sociopath.
Findlay apparently suffers from constipation, hinted at by his obsession with bran muffins, fibre products and doctor appointments for procedures including a colonoscopy.
He constantly avoids talking to his mother (
Findlay has also appeared in nearly all of Finkleman's other television series as a linking character, always working as a film or television producer.
Jim Walcott (
In the final episode of the first season, "The Campaign", Walcott, along with other staff of the newsroom, go into politics. Walcott is running as a Liberal for the provincial government of Ontario. He is asked by a reporter from The Star whether he is in favour of eliminating child poverty in Canada, to which he responds confusedly, "this is a provincial election."
During a fundraising party he mishears a woman he is talking to about
During a campaign speech, Walcott is shot and ends up in a coma with a bullet lodged in his brain. While watching the results of the election on the news, the campaign team celebrates its win just as Walcott dies in the hospital bed beside them.
In Escape from the Newsroom, Walcott returns to his job as news anchor. His "death" is clarified as a two-year coma. Walcott offers Atom Egoyan a story idea about "a news anchor, who's shot in the head, is in a coma for two years, but survives with a bullet lodged in his brain, and then struggles to return to his news desk." After Egoyan says to Walcott that he read about the same thing happening to Walcott, Walcott seems surprised and says, "yeah, there is a parallel there somewhere."
Karen Mitchell (
Karen is apt to point out the ignorant
When offering her suggestion on characters profiles for Findlay's sitcom idea, after ridiculing Findlay she went on to describe a character based on herself that should be "highly intelligent and attractive in an unconventional way, with very strong legs from the years and years of yoga and running that she has had to do to keep her sanity in a toxic psychic environment that is 'the newsroom', and basically far too busy doing her job to get involved in your stupidity or, I'm sorry, your character's stupidity."
Supporting characters
Each season has a different supporting cast of newswriters, reporters, producers and network bureaucrats. The 1996 season one cast includes
Leah Pinsent appears in Escape from the Newsroom as anchor Diane Gordon, a character she had previously played in Finkleman's More Tears.
The 2004 season two cast includes
In 2005, the season three additions to the cast include Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall as Jason, who replaces Alex as segment producer, Kristin Booth as Nora and Sarah Strange as Susan Murdoch, Findlay's boss. Jeremy Hotz returns to the cast for the first episode when Findlay rehires his character and then fires him later that episode.
Guest stars
The show also includes guest appearances by a number of public figures, including David Cronenberg, Rick Salutin, Bob Rae, Hugh Segal, Naomi Klein, Daniel Richler, Angelo Mosca, Linda McQuaig, Cynthia Dale and Noam Chomsky, playing themselves in interviews on the newscast. Escape from the Newsroom featured Atom Egoyan.
Production notes
The series was produced by Finkleman's long-time collaborator, Peter Meyboom. For several years they ran an independent production company together called 100 Per Cent Films. Other key creative contributors to The Newsroom were cinematographer Joan Hutton whose documentary style added an authentic feel and music composer Sid Robinovitch, an old friend of Finkleman's who wrote the mournful, jazzy closing theme. Another key collaborator was editor Allan Novak, who edited all of Finkleman's early Canadian work including Married Life, More Tears, Foolish Heart, and Foreign Objects. Novak also produced and directed a half hour behind the scenes documentary called Inside the Newsroom. CBC executives green-lighting and overseeing the project included Deborah Bernstein, Susan Morgan, Slawko Klymkiw and Phyllis Platt.
Episode guide
Season 1 (1996–1997)
- The Walking Shoe Incident
- Dinner at Eight
- Deeper, Deeper
- The Kevorkian Joke
- A Bad Day
- Petty Tyranny
- Dis and Dat
- Parking
- Unity
- The Meltdown Part I
- The Meltdown Part II
- The Meltdown Part III
- The Campaign
Escape from the Newsroom (2002) (movie)
Season 2 (2004)
- America, America
- Death 1, George 0
- Pushy, Moneygrubbing, Cosmopolitan Racist
- An Enormous Waste of TIme
- Anchors Away
- One of Us
- Never Read Symptoms
- The Fifty
- Slow Leak
- Reality Strikes
- The British Accent
- Say Cheese
- The Second Coming
Season 3 (2005)
- One Dumb Idea
- Dial 'G' for Gristle
- Lolita
- Latent Homosexual Tendencies
- Baghdad Bound
- Learning to Fly
Awards and nominations
- 2005 - Outstanding Achievement in Direction - Television Series - Ken Finkleman - (For episode "Baghdad Bound")
- 2005 - Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing - Television Series - Tom Bjelic, Allan Fung (For episode "Learning To Fly")
- 2005 - Outstanding Team Achievement in a Television Series - Comedy (For episode "Baghdad Bound")
- 1997–98 - Best Director - Variety, Comedy or Performing Arts Program or Series - Ken Finkleman (For episode "Meltdown, Part 3")
- 1997–98 - Best Performance - Comedy Program or Series - Jeremy Hotz, Ken Finkleman, Mark Farrell, Peter Keleghan, Tanya Allen (For episode "The Campaign")
- 1997–98 - Best Photography - Comedy, Variety, Performing Arts Program or Series - Joan Hutton
- 1997–98 - Best Picture Editing - Comedy, Variety, Performing Arts Program or Series - Allan Novak
- 1997–98 - Best Writing - Comedy or Variety Program or Series - Ken Finkleman (For episode "The Campaign")
- 2005 - Best Writing - Comedy or Variety Program or Series - Ken Finkleman - (For episode "Baghdad Bound")
- 2005 - Best Comedy (Canada)
- 1997 - Bronze Rose, Sitcom.
San Francisco International Film Festival
- 1997 - Silver Spire, Television - Comedy - Ken Finkleman (For episode "Walking Shoe Incident")
- 1997 - Ken Finkleman
- 1998 - Ken Finkleman (For episode "Meltdown Part III")
References
- ^ a b "Why Canadians Aren’t Laughing at Latest Version of ‘The Newsroom’" - The Daily Beast, July 9, 2012.
- ^ a b "The Six Faces of George". The Globe and Mail, March 4, 2011.
- ^ Weinman, Jaime (2011-12-22). "Americans don't take us serious". Maclean's. Retrieved 2011-12-26.
External links
- The Newsroom (first season) at IMDb
- The Newsroom (2004-05 run) at IMDb
- Escape from the Newsroom at IMDb