‘The Newsroom: The Complete Series’ Blu-ray Review
Writer Aaron Sorkin is best known for sharp, intelligent scripts like The Social Network, Moneyball, Molly’s Game, and The Trial of the Chicago 7. He’s also the mind behind the acclaimed series The West Wing. In 2012, Sorkin shifted his focus from the Oval Office to the studio floor with a new political-tinged drama set not in government, but in The Newsroom. Now, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has brought all three seasons together in a brand-new Blu-ray release.
Is it possible to produce a good TV news show and make it popular at the same time? That’s the question facing volatile cable-news anchor Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels) and the ideological staff that has just been foisted upon him in this HBO series from Aaron Sorkin (‘The Social Network’) that follows their efforts to ‘do the news well’ in the face of numerous obstacles.
The first season of The Newsroom starts a little slowly, taking its time to find its footing. But once it settles in, seasons two and three deliver far stronger, tighter television. The cast is excellent and the writing is unmistakably Sorkin, but the series suffers from its HBO-era brevity. With only 10 episodes in season one, 9 in season two, and just 6 in season three, the entire run amounts to only 25 episodes. It’s simply not enough time to fully invest in the characters or let the show build the momentum it clearly had the potential to achieve.
All episodes of The Newsroom have been transferred to Blu-ray in 1080p and are presented in 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The are three audio tracks: English, French and Spanish tracks. The English tracks are DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. For subtitles in Season 1, there are English, French, Spanish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish. On Season 2, there are English, French, Spanish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish and in Season 3, there are English, French, Spanish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish.
All 25 episodes are spread across 8 discs. There are three discs each for Season 1 and 2, and two discs for Season 3. The episodes look and sound good – there are no digital artefacts or audio anomalies found on these transfers. In addition to good-looking episode transfers, Warner Bros. added some nice bonus features as well to this collection, including:
Special Features:
- Roundtable Discussion with Cast/Crew, hosted by Aaron Sorkin
- Behind the episode featurettes
- Deleted Scenes
- Commentaries
I think the one thing I have against HBO series and streaming series etc., is that the seasons are so truncated you can’t really get invested in these characters, because there is just not enough story. Think about it, this series is three seasons and 25 episodes. That is almost the amount of a regular season of a broadcast TV series (which can run from as low as 18, all the way to 22-24 episodes). It’s just not enough, in my opinion.
***½ 3.5/5
If you love political drama TV, The Newsroom would probably be right up your alley. Order your copy on Amazon now.
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