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PaleyFest 2013: Watch the full panel for ‘The Newsroom’

PaleyFest 2013: Watch the full panel for ‘The Newsroom’

The Newsroom

While Aaron Sorkin has recently found success in the film world with movies such as The Social Network and Moneyball, he has left his mark on television with highly acclaimed shows Sports Night and The West Wing. His return to television came in 2012, this time with HBO, as he tackled the world of journalism in The Newsroom. Using real life news stories as a backdrop to examine journalistic policies, the show has a typically stellar cast that includes Jeff Daniels, Emily Mortimer, Alison Pill, Olivia Munn, Sam Waterson, and Dev Patel, with Terry Crews, David Krumholtz, and Chris Chalk making guest appearances. The Paleyfest 2013 panel revealed some details about where Sorkin intends to steer the show in its sophomore season.

– News stories the show will tackle in season 2 include the Trayvon Martin shooting, US drone strikes, and the American election, while continuing to filter the Tea Party through Will McAvoy’s worldview. Sorkin expressed some doubt over whether the show would address the Newtown shootings, expressing a fear of potentially handling such a sensitive topic poorly.

– Sorkin hoped to bring critics who had derided the show’s first season back into the fold with the new episodes. In his own words, “I hope some of the critics who weren’t happy with the first season will take a look at the second and maybe reassess their opinion, but no one has ever won a fight with a television critic, and I doubt that I’ll be the first one.”

– Panel moderator and CNN journalist Piers Morgan and show star Olivia Munn also had some choice words to exchange about the way Morgan goes about reporting the news, with Munn expressing dissatisfaction with the way Morgan chooses to insert himself into news segments, with Morgan then defending his journalistic style.

These, and many other details, were discussed at the panel, which can be seen below. The show will return for season 2 in June 2013 on HBO, and you can read our reviews here of the episodes to date, as well as next season’s episodes as they air.

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