It’s been quite a while since a television series attempted to wade in the muddy waters of contemporary morality but Newsroom on HBO jumped in with both feet.  Is it news or entertainment? Is there even a difference now-a-days? Well, this fictional newsroom is determined to prove that there should be a difference and that ratings aren’t as important as quality coverage.

The series has a wonderful cast including Jeff Daniels, as news anchor Will McAvoy, Emily Mortimer, as executive producer McKenzie McHale, Sam Waterston (Law & Order), and Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire).

Newsroom captures the behind the scenes action of fictional show “News Night” as it deals with real news stories that occurred in the last few years.  The BP oil spill.  The economic crisis.  The shooting of Congresswoman Gabriel Giffords.  There is no shortage of drama … office politics, romantic politics, party politics, you name it and they’ve got it.  Perhaps, what’s the most surprising is the content – watching the characters struggle with “doing the right thing.”  Not because they’ll get fired or arrested if they don’t.  Often times the moral conundrums are such that “doing the right thing” makes life harder for the characters involved.  I love that and fully intend to incorporate that aspect into one of my works in progress (Chasing the Devil).

My only reservation is that I hope the show doesn’t dive off into the personal lives too much and end up like Grey’s Anatomy where it’s more about who is hooking up with whom rather than the actual news.  HBO has a reputation for producing quality groundbreaking shows but only time will tell.

Here is a clip of one of my favorite moments so far!    Ep. 5 Clip – Right in his ear