Category: TV

Olivia Munn had more lines than ever on the last episode of The Newsroom. Previously, I was floored that her character, Sloan Sabbith, has a PhD from Duke and is an adjunct professor at Columbia. That’s pretty unbelievable. This week it was revealed that her character has two PhDs. Wow. I know she’s acting and I realize this is fiction, but this has crossed the line from “pretty unbelievable” to “are you frickin’ kidding me?!?”. Believing a woman portrayed by Olivia Munn has two PhDs is akin to actually believing you can get super powers from radioactive spiders.

On the slightly more serious side, the Sloan Sabbith character actually developed this week. She’s supposed to be “the smartest person on the show”, but she lacks social skills and understanding. Normally, I would find this irresistibly charming, but the characterization underscores what a poor choice Munn was for this role. While there are many things wrong with Olivia Munn, she’s certainly charming and gregarious. She just doesn’t work as a socially awkward economics nerd, don’t you agree?

My friend Lorie posted this teaser for the upcoming reality television show K-Town. It takes place in my neighborhood of Koreatown in Los Angeles. I really like my neighborhood…but this show makes me want to move…or possibly shoot myself. Am I right?!?

Episode two of The Newsroom featured the debut of Olivia Munn’s Sloan Sabbith. When I found out that our beloved Bolivia Bunn was playing a woman with a PhD from Duke, I laughed. When I learned that her character was also an adjunct professor at an Ivy League university, I snorted. Several days later, it still seems hilarious to me. I know this is acting and all, but this is just completely unbelievable. It reminds me of Denise Richards portraying a nuclear physicist in The World is Not Enough. Please don’t mistake this as me being sexist. There are lots of women that can play economic geniuses. Olivia Munn?!? Yeah… I’m not feeling it.

Of course I could be wrong. What do you think of Olivia Munn’s character on The Newsroom. Do you buy her as a woman with a PhD from Duke?

Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom debuted on HBO last night. As a fan of Sorkin’s writing, I loved the first episode. It was full of the witty and snappy dialogue that he’s known for. The show also reminded me of several discussions we’ve had about the news — particularly broadcast news. Whether it was on here or on G4tv.com, I recall several instances of discussing with y’all what television news reporting was and what it has become.

For most of television history, the news was about reporting facts and putting them in context for the viewers. I suppose that’s still the case, but networks like Fox News and MSNBC have taken a more heavy-handed approach to contextualizing news, sometimes (often?) to the point where the facts are misrepresented. Back in the day, nightly news shows were a service and more often than not lost money for networks. These days, they’re profit-driven and agendas are often shaped by advertisers.

One of the themes in The Newsroom is taking the news back. The characters in the show want to make a modern news program with old-school sensibilities. The show’s protagonist laments that people choose the facts they want to hear these days, not just the opinions. Isn’t it funny that it takes a fictional news show to make things “right”? Has news reporting gotten so biased that the idea of a mainstream news program that’s balanced seem unbelievable? Perhaps I’m being cynical, but I think the days of broadcast news defined by people like Edward Murrow, Walter Kronkite, and Dan Rather are gone forever.

Anyway, I thought this would be a great time to discuss The Newsroom and broadcast news in general. More importantly, do you think The Newsroom will take a turn for the worse when Olivia Munn’s character debuts next week?