Saturday, December 13, 2014

My love letter to 'The Newsroom'


Dear 'The Newsroom',
This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, but with the show coming to a close this Sunday, I felt there would be no better time for me to pen this letter.


                I’m not one to be so wholly devoted to something in media. Anyone who knows me knows I love pop culture, but I love The Newsroom on a level of fandom that I’ve never before experienced. Even without seeing this culminating episode, I know that it is (in my opinion) the greatest show of all time. It’s not even close with second place, and I don’t mean that as an insult to my next favorite show, but just as an appropriation of The Newsroom’s spot in my mind.  I think of myself of the world’s biggest Newsroom fan, and I have gotten more than a few friends hooked on the show.  I may not have every item of merchandise from the HBO Store (trust me, I’m trying) but I still don’t think that would be an accurate representation of just how much I love the show.
                I suppose this letter will be devoted to different members of the beautiful cast of the show, but first I must show my appreciation for the incredible work of Aaron Sorkin. A major part of what draws me to the show is the work of such a writing genius. I love the fact that as an audience member, one has to be smart enough to keep up with the dialogue. This show is so special because it isn’t for everyone, but for those that can comprehend and enjoy its pace and banter are mentally stimulated in the process of being entertained. Never before has a work of fiction shaped the way I think, and The Newsroom does an incredible job of that. You managed to make me despise B.J. Novak, and I really like B.J. Novak. It’s actually quite terrifying writing a letter intended for Mr. Sorkin to hopefully see. Even as a college student who writes papers semi-regularly and is graded by professors with PhDs, this is a wholly different type of intimidating. I just hope my grammar and vocabulary live up to his immaculate writing. I could in theory devote this entire letter to Mr. Sorkin, but that would be an injustice to the length at which I love this cast. But to Mr. Sorkin and the entire team of writers, you men and women are a brain trust of ingenuity that has graced my television and computer screen for three bountiful seasons, and I could not be more thankful.
                The next however long is devoted to the cast, but in no particular order. I have something I want to say about almost every main cast member, so this may get lengthy.
                Jeff Daniels, you’ve blown me away. I know I shouldn’t end sentences in prepositions, but I couldn’t detach myself from that opening sentence. As a kid coming into the show only knowing you from one part of Speed I had watched and Dumb and Dumber, I thought of you more as a comedic actor than a dramatic one. I know that was a broad oversight on my part, but most of my generation most likely knows you more as Harry Dunne than anything else. You have since transformed, because of your immaculate portrayal as Will McAvoy, to one of my favorite actors in all of entertainment. I was ecstatic when you won your Emmy in 2013, but not even such a prestigious award does justice to just how well you’ve played McAvoy. Your portrayal has been a thing of beauty, sir, and I’m so glad you were cast as the host of News Night.
                Emily Mortimer. Mac is such a great character, and no one could’ve added her English charm quite like you have. I had seen you in Shutter Island and the great Lars and the Real Girl before my foray into The Newsroom, and you are three for three in acting performances. This one obviously takes the colloquial cake for me, but those two projects were of note for me. I love MacKenzie’s level of goofy lines in spite of her intelligence level, and yet she says some of the most poignant lines in the course of the show. I can’t see anyone more suitable for the role, and your beautiful accent has made for some pretty awful English impressions when quoting your lines, which I kind of love. The “you’re lucky Will’s a sharpshooter” spiel is a favorite of mine, and it was acted wonderfully. 
                Sam Waterston. Or, in my words from last episode, “CHARLIE!!!!” That really shocked me. I’ve seen quite a few on-screen deaths, but I’ve never been punched in the gut like I was at the end of that episode. That just shows how wonderfully you portrayed Mr. Skinner. You may be the most quoted character by my circle of Newsroom fans. Charlie has so many great lines. I say “Son de la bitch” all of the time now. So thanks for that, Waterston. You felt like the father figure for the entire show, so it was so sad to see you go. But what an amazing impact you had on the show.
                “Money Skirt!” Oh, Olivia Munn. As a geeky middle school student, I watched Attack of the Show! nearly every day, so I was familiar with your work coming into the show and always had the feeling you were going to be big. I feel as if we have watched you grow as an actress as much as Sloane has grown throughout the course of the show.  You were impressive for me in the first season, as I didn’t know that you had such great acting chops. We also quote Sloan quite frequently, or at least I do. I think she has some brilliant lines, and you walk her high IQ, lower social skills line brilliantly. That entire scene where Sloan interviews the ACNgage guy was amazing, by the way. As was the nuclear interview scene way back in season 1.  
                “What I have can’t be taught.” “And now we’re doing the broadcast in Japanese.” “He doctored the motherfucking tape!” Don really does have some of the best lines. Thomas Sadoski, you are one excellent actor. It’s been funny to watch the people whom I’ve shown The Newsroom have their opinion completely reverse on Don, as you play arrogant in the first season as well as you do root-for-able in the two seasons following. Don is one of the characters I relate to most, so I really appreciate how well you’ve performed in the role.
                Dev Patel, you likable son of a bitch. First the excellent Slumdog Millionaire, and now this? Neal embodies something that most of us tech-savvy folks can relate to, as he is the go to tech guy for the show, even though that isn’t his job. As a person who has been in a very similar situation (not in the workplace, but with relatives) the frustration-but-acceptance is done so spot on that it makes me laugh. Also, this last storyline has been amazing but the only downside is that we haven’t had Neal in the office! The price to pay for such a riveting final act, I suppose.
                Alison Pill has been straight-up killing it for a while now. I absolutely adore Scott Pilgrim, and I can’t think of a much more change up from Kim in Scott Pilgrim than Maggie, who is arguably the most transformed character in the show. You can’t help but root for her in her journey. Oh, and how fulfilling that last episode was, on a Jim and Maggie level. That was a great moment for the show. Maggie is the sort of everyman role, if combined with Jim, as they are two seemingly normal people with normal problems.
                I like to think that everyone who has been through some sort of relationship has at one point been Jim Harper. A man or woman could be a Jim Harper, but we’ve all been Jim Harpers at some point. John Gallagher Jr will forever to me be the Jim Harper, the embodiment of the nice guy approach to relationships. I do love that Jim can’t hold back his opinion and that really does show a bit of edge that character has. John, you’ve done one hell of a job.
                Jane Fonda, you’re awesome. That’s all.              
                Marcia Gay Harden, you make a great lawyer. I seriously love your character.
I don’t want to go on forever with this letter, so I will thank everyone else pivotal to the show in bulk.  To Chris Chalk, Chris Messina, Riley Voelkel, Adina Porter, Margaret Judson (I have a silly tradition of yelling TESS every time you have a line), John F. Carpenter, Thomas Matthews, Trieu Tran, Wynn Everett, David Harbour (“be less desperate for female friends” is one of the best line reads of the entire show), Grace Gummer (I really loved Hallie, just saying), Kelen Coleman, Hamish Linklater (You did a great job of being hateable), Constance Zimmer, David Krumholtz, B.J. Novak (I really like you as an antagonist), Jimmi Simpson (I am also a big Always Sunny fan), Kat Dennings and everyone else I forgot to mention, I love you all and will root for you and support you in your future acting endeavors.
                I don’t think I’ll ever be this deeply attached to a show ever again. I’m on the verge of tears just thinking of how it will all end tomorrow night. I know I’ll cry. But that’s cool. So I will try not to dwell on the fact that my favorite show of all time is ending, but I’ll relish the fact that I got to experience it while it was on air.
                To HBO, you are undoubtedly the best channel in the business. Thank you for having faith in all of those mentioned above. To all the directors, producers, writers, and other crew, thank you for making my favorite show possible. To Aaron Sorkin, you have shown me just how intelligent a show is and it will be hard to ever top this masterpiece, my friend. To all of the cast, seriously I love you guys. I hope you all make gazillions of dollars in other projects because you all deserve it based on your acting prowess. Casting director, you’re great at your job.
                In closing, The Newsroom has given life to television. I’ll show it to my kids, and keep insisting it on my friends capable of keeping up with the show. It’s the greatest show of all time to me, and this ending is definitively bittersweet, but I can rest solidly in the fact that it was ever made at all and to the degree at which it was produced. Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart. Every story needs a final word though, right? Let’s hope it’s the best episode yet. I don’t know how it’ll top itself, but I’m sure you guys have something up your sleeve.
                                                                                                  Love,
                                                                                                  Your biggest fan, Tanner Chaney

P.S.: Be the greater fool.  

                                                                                                                                                                   

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