Two high profile shows. One dealing with TV news, the other with politics. Both from acclaimed creators – Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing) and Greg Berlanti (Brothers And Sisters). Both given high profile summer launches. And both, in my opinion, huge disappointments!

Seriously – what’s happening this summer? After losing Mad Men to the Spring season I was counting on The Newsroom and Political Animals for some summer smarts. But for me both shows are hopelessly amateur.

The Newsroom pilot was a shuffling mess of grand speeches, ridiculous moralizing and frankly embarrassing newsgathering sequences. I’ve never worked in an actual newsroom, but with 17 years of TV experience under my belt, all I can say is that The Newsroom was a ridiculous parody of how TV people speak, work and act. I really, really wanted to like the new Aaron Sorkin show but every scene just dragged on endlessly, screaming self-indulgence and self-importance. Someone really needed to rein Sorkin in…  but of course they won’t – because he’s a certified ‘genius’ now.

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