Customer Reviews

The Newsroom - The Complete Series

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you love writing, acting and overall production like "Sports Night," "SCTV," and "Northern Exposure," you should feel your intelligence and funny bone rewarded with "Newsroom." What is it about Canadians that makes them so talented at very urbane parody and satire? They really know how to hit their target with just the right characterizations. Well, they got my attention big time with this series, which is now a part of my entertainment library.

Note: Somebody from Chicago told me that her cousin worked in the actual newsroom and offices where the series was filmed during working hours. I have this image of these stories being played out in the middle of the characters that inspired them. Funny is as funny does.

One of the best sitcoms of all time. Canadian television at its best. Excellent satire of tv news.

There's no good way to explain how brilliant the first season of The Newsroom is. It's sort of like The Larry Sanders Show meets The Office (BBC version).

It's a behind-the-scenes show -- the creator/writer/director/star is Ken Finkleman who plays the news director of a local Canadian TV station. The excellent supporting cast includes an anchor who out-Teds Ted Knight and some backstabbing writers and producers. These characters make the Seinfeld characters look like the cast of Full House. Their pettiness is sheer heaven to watch.

It's not a fast-paced show like Friends. It's deliberate and subtle. But it's also the best single-camera comedy ever put on TV. The shame of it is, it was only ever on Canadian TV. The second season is airing in the US (on PBS), but it's vastly inferior to this incredible first season.

I'm from the UK and stumbled accross this series while browsing Amazon. At first glance this series seems to be a copy of the UK series called "Drop the Dead Donkey" from almost ten years earlier! I've bought Newsroom to see just how similar it is. There doesn't seem to be any indication online that the two shows are related, it will be interesting to read through the credits.

I have had the pleasure of watching the series a number of times and continue to find it just as enjoyable with subsequent viewings. Proves that it takes canadian wit mixed with public broadcasting to produce a quality television show.

One of the best comedic series ever. Ken Finkleman is a brilliant, twisted writer, who is able to create a TV show that captures the insidiousness of the network news and office politics. Unfortunately, the show is only 13 episodes. The best of which is "The Campaign." If you enjoy "Seinfeld," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," or "The Larry Sanders Show," you'll love this series.

I purchased this disc on something of a whim. I had seen a few bits and pieces of The Newsroom on TV, and liked it. Finkleman seemed like a smart (and funny) guy. And boy, was I right!

This disc is perfect for fans of Curb Your Enthusiasm. And, yes, Trailer Park Boys, though The Newsroom is certainly more low-key. I must admit that I enjoy this even more than Curb Your Enthusiasm. I don't find the storylines far-fetched at all, though I do with Curb, as sometimes the bizarre coincidences and happenings seem too staged. Ken Finkleman's character, George Findlay, is the Canadian equivalent to Larry David. He can be very nice and intelligent, but quite often difficult and PETTY (there's a whole episode dedicated to that!). He's also something of a womanizer and has a bit of a drug habit. He's the most likeable unlikeable guy on TV (along with Larry David). Watch his little white lies turn into a webby mess every episode.

The rest of the cast is excellent. There's the ignorant newscaster, the scheming writers, and Audrey, the young intern who is one of the few people in the newsroom with a good head on her shoulders.

On these two discs you have ALL the episodes (only thirteen aired; it's uncanadian to support the national arts), and a nice documentary. A good addition to anyone's collection of comedy, satire, or Canadiana.

Along with the Monty Python films and This is Spinal Tap, Newsroom is the funniest satire I have ever seen. Any of you out there who have gagged at the idiocy of local TV newscasts owe it to yourselves to buy this. This is disciplined satire--the lines are delivered straight, giving the illusion that the actors are real people, unaware of the hilarious absurdity of their situations. It is the writing and the acting that provide the payoffs--there is no laugh track, there are no obvious set-up punch lines. Nor does Ken Finkleman, the creator and director, resort to gross cariciature in the manner of so many other lesser satires (think Ted Baxter in Mary Tyler Moore). Even the Newsroom anchorman, who can seem exaggeratedly stupid, actually seems realistic to those who have known people who make their livings as talking heads (Jim Wolcott, the anchor, is a sort of low-rent John Tesh--professionally capable when looking into a camera and reading a script, but moronic in any other situation). I have never seen a better North American TV show.

This series includes a wonderful send up of Fellini and the last episode features a political campaign with the most cynical but halarious finish...this is the darkest humor - but with an accent and a smile.

I was lucky enough to stumble upon "The Newsroom" on PBS, and after having only caught 3 episodes, they stopped showing it. Right away, I searched far and wide over the internet for this boxed set, and it's one of my most prized possessions. A half hour of this show is funnier than most of today's two hour movies. It's perfect in every aspect: writing, acting, directing, and laughs. It remains one of my favorite TV shows or movies, and if you like classics like this is spinal tap, larry sanders show, or network, this you have to check out.