Aaron Sorkin HBO show The Newsroom

[dre2142]

No one uses 3/4 tapes anymore, and even if you have them, most dont even have decks to play them any longer. usually have to take them to a dub house.

Sorkin used it solely for show. Wouldnt have the same visual effect if they handed over a DVCam or Mini-DV 9 (or even a P2 Card or XDCam disc)

[newscane]

Originally Posted by daveshookme

Funny you should mention this, we were just scrambling around our tape stockroom yesterday am looking for a 3/4" tape from '86 about a murder in VT that had just been solved. And even then, I'm pretty sure it wasn't played from 3/4". I believe it was dubbed over to Beta first.

The night Michael Jackson died, I spent quite a bit of time finding the file tape from his concert here in the early/mid-1980s on 3/4". We had material from the days around the show, as well as a pkg from the day the tour was announced, in Kansas City, I think. Yes, we sent a reporter to Kansas City for a concert announcement -- because that's how big it was that he was coming here. Once I found the tapes, we had to track down a working deck and get it rigged to something else... it was all quite an adventure.

Originally Posted by dre2142

No one uses 3/4 tapes anymore, and even if you have them, most dont even have decks to play them any longer. usually have to take them to a dub house.

Sorkin used it solely for show. Wouldnt have the same visual effect if they handed over a DVCam or Mini-DV 9 (or even a P2 Card or XDCam disc)

Yeah, I can see using it for visual effect. Could have still just stacked together a few Betas... those aren't being used that much either, but it would at least be semi-realistic...

[dmbmuskie]

Big fall off from the pilot to the second episode.

[sully51]

Originally Posted by cruscott35

Totally agree with that. Watching a movie about the Navy is painful for me. Carrier on PBS was the best at documenting what goes on, McHale's Navy might be the best naval movie.

I love that movie, haven't seen it in years. Buying on Amazon now, going to pick up Carrier too (never seen it and it would seem to be something I should watch)

[junior94]

Originally Posted by dre2142

No one uses 3/4 tapes anymore, and even if you have them, most dont even have decks to play them any longer. usually have to take them to a dub house.

Sorkin used it solely for show. Wouldnt have the same visual effect if they handed over a DVCam or Mini-DV 9 (or even a P2 Card or XDCam disc)

Originally Posted by newscane

The night Michael Jackson died, I spent quite a bit of time finding the file tape from his concert here in the early/mid-1980s on 3/4". We had material from the days around the show, as well as a pkg from the day the tour was announced, in Kansas City, I think. Yes, we sent a reporter to Kansas City for a concert announcement -- because that's how big it was that he was coming here. Once I found the tapes, we had to track down a working deck and get it rigged to something else... it was all quite an adventure.


Yeah, I can see using it for visual effect. Could have still just stacked together a few Betas... those aren't being used that much either, but it would at least be semi-realistic...

well and I kinda remember the little joke they did about all the different tape formats back in the pilot episode of Studio 60 in 2006, for the rest of the network people trying to get to be able to watch the footage of Judd Hirsch's meltdown at the start of that night's show.
STEVEN WEBER: "C'mon people, we work in television for cryin' out loud!!"

[daveshookme]

Originally Posted by dre2142

No one uses 3/4 tapes anymore, and even if you have them, most dont even have decks to play them any longer. usually have to take them to a dub house.

Sorkin used it solely for show. Wouldnt have the same visual effect if they handed over a DVCam or Mini-DV 9 (or even a P2 Card or XDCam disc)

also, while you'd think this is true, it isn't. WROC in Rochester, NY, still does for breaks and some syndicated shows (mostly early Simpsons eps).

[daveshookme]

I'm a little more than halfway through the 2nd ep, and I have to say there are some glaring issues that I didn't really expect from Sorkin 1) Nobody in the control room these days should be asking if the open is coming in HD or SD. Nobody. 2) the 3/4" tapes 3) There are some pretty obvious continuity errors.

I understand #2 was likely done for show, but I doubt the average viewer needs #1 for context and there should never be continuity errors in a show on cable. Not saying this makes the show bad, I still love it quite a bit, just my $0.02 so far.

[dre2142]

Originally Posted by daveshookme

also, while you'd think this is true, it isn't. WROC in Rochester, NY, still does for breaks and some syndicated shows (mostly early Simpsons eps).

ok, any relevant market locations Im sure the small time branches havent quit caught up with the modern times. But no big network like CNN or ABC etc (or whatever network is on Newsroom) uses that format on a regular basis.

Everything is transistioning to HD source material.

[dre2142]

Originally Posted by daveshookme

I'm a little more than halfway through the 2nd ep, and I have to say there are some glaring issues that I didn't really expect from Sorkin 1) Nobody in the control room these days should be asking if the open is coming in HD or SD. Nobody. 2) the 3/4" tapes 3) There are some pretty obvious continuity errors.

I understand #2 was likely done for show, but I doubt the average viewer needs #1 for context and there should never be continuity errors in a show on cable. Not saying this makes the show bad, I still love it quite a bit, just my $0.02 so far.

For #1 ....HAHAHA. I just went to HBO GO to specifically look for that. Thats for total shock value.

[daveshookme]

Originally Posted by dre2142

ok, any relevant market locations Im sure the small time branches havent quit caught up with the modern times. But no big network like CNN or ABC etc (or whatever network is on Newsroom) uses that format on a regular basis.

Everything is transistioning to HD source material.

yeah, I was just shocked that anybody uses it for anything. It makes sense, if the shows are on 3/4" why bother to dub them over at this point. It just caught me off guard when I interviewed there back in January

Originally Posted by dre2142

For #1 ....HAHAHA. I just went to HBO GO to specifically look for that. Thats for total shock value.

It bothered me. Sorkin should know better than to ask that

[dre2142]

Originally Posted by daveshookme

yeah, I was just shocked that anybody uses it for anything. It makes sense, if the shows are on 3/4" why bother to dub them over at this point. It just caught me off guard when I interviewed there back in January

It bothered me. Sorkin should know better than to ask that

I highly doubt WROC are playing the simpson episodes from their MCR.

And even if they did, they need to be dubbed over because when those decks go bad, theyre done for. Its more expensive to fix those decks than to upgrade/dub to modern tech.

And is WROC HD?

[Lee3691]

I am so so on this series - a little too inside baseball for me, but some good characters

[dre2142]

Originally Posted by Lee3691

I am so so on this series - a little too inside baseball for me, but some good characters

which ones?

[Lee3691]

Originally Posted by dre2142

which ones?

Sam Waterson, Jeff Daniels and because I enjoy a good looking female, Olivia Munn. I'm not familiar with Emily Mortimer, but she reminds me very much of a girl I dated, so there's that too.

[daveshookme]

Originally Posted by dre2142

I highly doubt WROC are playing the simpson episodes from their MCR.

And even if they did, they need to be dubbed over because when those decks go bad, theyre done for. Its more expensive to fix those decks than to upgrade/dub to modern tech.

And is WROC HD?

bolded 1: yes, they are. Not frequently, but they do use them.

bolded 2: I do not believe so.

[Trippin4136]

The second episode was not good. The Plot line was a bore -- the relationship lines needs to be toned down -- and for fucks sake, do these people breathe between sentences?

The blonde chick is just a shitty actress and a pain to watch.

[smokew11]

Originally Posted by Trippin4136

The second episode was not good. The Plot line was a bore -- the relationship lines needs to be toned down -- and for fucks sake, do these people breathe between sentences?

The blonde chick is just a shitty actress and a pain to watch.

the back and forth between her and Jim (?) was painful. nobody talks like that

[buzz05232000]

Okay.

Being a huge, enormous, too obsessed West Wing and Sports Night fan, I must say that after the pilot I was gushing. I mean, I have watched five times already. I enjoyed the second episode a lot, but did not live up to the hype of the first, but I still enjoyed it a lot. I then got extremely stupid and looked up some reviews, I believe the NY Times and Post, they were terrible; stating that the episodes we have yet to see have been terrible.

I really don't want this show to fail because it has so much potential. I do not know why Sorkin is playing hard on the relationships between characters, his shows have always been content driven (mainly The West Wing).

I really want to fall in love with this show, but I can't seem to cross the line yet; it is really frustrating

[coldengrey12]

Originally Posted by Trippin4136

The blonde chick is just a shitty actress and a pain to watch.

It's how she's playing the role, I think. See some of her other work. She's pretty good. She's playing this chick like a bit of a bubble brain.

[junior94]

Originally Posted by buzz05232000

Okay.

Being a huge, enormous, too obsessed West Wing and Sports Night fan, I must say that after the pilot I was gushing. I mean, I have watched five times already. I enjoyed the second episode a lot, but did not live up to the hype of the first, but I still enjoyed it a lot. I then got extremely stupid and looked up some reviews, I believe the NY Times and Post, they were terrible; stating that the episodes we have yet to see have been terrible.

Well, my immediate responsto that would be: okay I'm not saying this automatically disqualifies any or all of what they say as having any merit or not, just remember this. Those individuals are employed to write reviews on multiple aspects of artistic endeavors, be it a film of TV show, whichever ones do theater, music, etc. And c'mon, we're all smart enough to know generally speaking, negativity sells more copy than positivity. It also (working almost in a contrarian for the sake of itself kinda way) is encouraged by the parent company(ies) to help spur on arguments about this stuff when a huge part of the general public is already showing lots of positivity toward the material..


ALL of this is part of what I said many many years ago, and continue to do so today: that the job of film/TV/music/whatever critic is one of the two most useless job professions in modern society. The other being high school guidance counselor

[Trippin4136]

HBO has already renewed The Newsroom for a second season, but that's no reason to stop obsessively tracking the show's ratings, just like they do in the real world of cable news. And while we'll try to not get too dramatic over week-to-week fluctuations, the week two numbers for the show weren't that great. Per Nielsen, episode two of Aaron Sorkin's latest TV endeavor fell to 1.7 million viewers Sunday, down roughly 20 percent from its premiere. Among viewers under 50, the drop-off was more dramatic, with Newsroom plummeting 30 percent (from a 1.0 rating in the demo to a 0.7) and losing to The Real Housewives of New Jersey, Army Wives, and some random movie on FX.

http://www.vulture.com/2012/07/newsr...tings-hit.html

[dre2142]

Originally Posted by junior94

Well, my immediate responsto that would be: okay I'm not saying this automatically disqualifies any or all of what they say as having any merit or not, just remember this. Those individuals are employed to write reviews on multiple aspects of artistic endeavors, be it a film of TV show, whichever ones do theater, music, etc. And c'mon, we're all smart enough to know generally speaking, negativity sells more copy than positivity. It also (working almost in a contrarian for the sake of itself kinda way) is encouraged by the parent company(ies) to help spur on arguments about this stuff when a huge part of the general public is already showing lots of positivity toward the material..

Nah, reviews are usually the truth. If the general consensus of something is that it sucks, thats usually the case. They usually get it right.

I have a feeling this show is going to tank, based on the two episodes so far.

ALL of this is part of what I said many many years ago, and continue to do so today: that the job of film/TV/music/whatever critic is one of the two most useless job professions in modern society. The other being high school guidance counselor

[dre2142]

Originally Posted by Trippin4136

HBO has already renewed The Newsroom for a second season, but that's no reason to stop obsessively tracking the show's ratings, just like they do in the real world of cable news. And while we'll try to not get too dramatic over week-to-week fluctuations, the week two numbers for the show weren't that great. Per Nielsen, episode two of Aaron Sorkin's latest TV endeavor fell to 1.7 million viewers Sunday, down roughly 20 percent from its premiere. Among viewers under 50, the drop-off was more dramatic, with Newsroom plummeting 30 percent (from a 1.0 rating in the demo to a 0.7) and losing to The Real Housewives of New Jersey, Army Wives, and some random movie on FX.

http://www.vulture.com/2012/07/newsr...tings-hit.html

Its only the beginning.

Was hoping beyond everything that show was awesome....I really was. Its just not good.

[smokew11]

Originally Posted by dre2142

Its only the beginning.

Was hoping beyond everything that show was awesome....I really was. Its just not good.

so is this going to be like the Walking Dead thread, where you pop in 100 times over the next 2 years just to say how much it sucks and remind us that you dont watch it?

[dre2142]

Originally Posted by smokew11

so is this going to be like the Walking Dead thread, where you pop in 100 times over the next 2 years just to say how much it sucks and remind us that you dont watch it?

1. Ironically, Im watching Season 2 episode 5 right now from the marathon they ran yesterday

2. I admitted that I didnt remember originally posting in that thread that I didnt like the way the season was going

3. Yeah, if I want to pop in and repeat myself Im going to do it and I dont give a flying fuck what you think

4. This is a new thread, and we're discussing the show. Are you just butt hurt because you like it? Because youve stated that a few times....do you see me complaining?

5. Get off my fucking nuts

6. Now Im going to post even more in the Walking Dead thread just to piss you off

[smokew11]

it doesnt bother me at all, I just think its funny

[dre2142]

Originally Posted by smokew11

it doesnt bother me at all, I just think its funny

Its very apparent that it DOES borther you, otherwise you wouldnt have posted the above.
what is funny?
Didnt realize these threads were for positive comments only.

Whats even more funny is that you take so much offense to someone saying something negative about a show that you love so much. (and for the record...that thread has 2500 posts and Ive only posted FOUR negative comments about the show and the last time i posted in that thread was FIVE MONTHS AGO. why you so butthurt?)

[smokew11]

I'm clearly rattled

clown comment bro

[Beebz]

The Walking Dead is terrible.

Also, who gives a fuck what the under 50 ratings are? Its pay cable. There are no ads. My 29 year old subscription fee counts the same as my grandmother's.

[daveshookme]

Originally Posted by Beebz

The Walking Dead is terrible.

Also, who gives a fuck what the under 50 ratings are? Its pay cable. There are no ads. My 29 year old subscription fee counts the same as my grandmother's.

different topics/themes/styles/relationships appeal to different demographics. Different demographics have different viewing tendencies. Not saying either of those matter, just two reasons maybe they're tracking them? I dunno.