Spoiler Alert

As a rule, I avoid series finales.  I've said this before and it's no surprise.  They are ultimately very sad and I am ultimately very against crying.  I've managed to skip finales of some of my favorite shows - The West Wing, Will & Grace, Burn Notice and I'm sure there are more.  I still have no idea what happened at the end.  And I'm ok with that.  

But over the course of the last week, I decided to man up because 2 of my favorite (1 most favorite) shows were going off and I thought I could handle it.  And surprise to end all surprises, I did.  I happened to love the Newsroom finale.  I know there were many others that thought it was hokey and ridiculous.  But I thought it was just hokey enough.  It had heart and it was a fitting ending.  Also, I've had that "How I Got to Memphis" playing on an unending loop in my brain since Monday.  I thought I'd managed to get rid of it, but for some reason it appeared back when I woke up this morning.  But that's not the point.  The point is, the show was good, and I didn't cry.

Then tonight came White Collar's last bow; a show I've been in love with since the pilot. What Matt Bomer, Tim Dekay and Willie Garson have together should be bottled.  Their chemistry is perfect!  Everything about that show is wonderful and spot on and I'm still not sure how Royal Pains has managed to stay on USA Network while White Collar was cancelled. Also beside the point.  

Halfway through, I literally texted the bestie "this is why I avoid finales" (I won't spoil it for anyone that hasn't seen it) but I foresaw lots of crying in my future.  The bestie and I were plotting the writer's demise at this point.  But after the next 20 minutes, I'm willing to saint Jeff Eastin for his writing of a perfect finale.  It was sweet, funny, and it brought back loads from the last 5 seasons.  It also included everyone of the supporting characters while still letting those 3 fantastic actors shine.  If there's a Hollywood God, I'd like him to give these guys another project together one day - even if it's just reading the phone book.  I'm sure they'd make it interesting and funny and all together adorable.

So I think I've conquered the beast.  Of course, these finales weren't billing themselves as sob-fests.  The next time a finale comes along, I may be ready or I may also avoid it like the plague because the trailer told me to.  Honestly, I blame the previews.  It's entirely their fault : )

Sweet on Sorkin

I have always been a huge fan of Aaron Sorkin.  In high school and college, I adored the West Wing...even though I could only truly "get" about half of what was said.  His writing is so smart and so quick, that you (maybe just I) have to pay super-close attention or you'll (maybe just I'll) miss the whole point. SportsNight was good but I'd probably enjoy it more now.  And Studio 60 was high on my list of favorites for reasons other than plot...I kinda love Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford.

So imagiine my excitement when I heard that he was writing a new show for HBO: The Newsroom.  What I love about Sorkin and what most people find off-putting is that he's an eternal optimist, extremely intelligent and an uber-liberal. What is to most people, him being "elitist" is to me, a beautiful view of what the world could be.   The first episode had all the qualities of Sorkin that I love, but for once it was almost too much.  The episode was over-the top idealistic.  Jeff Daniels is brilliant as Will McAvoy and can easily pull off the Sorkin banter as well as the wordy diatribes he's so fond of.  But I wasn't sure how "exciting" a newroom could be week after week and I definitely wasn't sure of the people surrounding Will McAvoy.  Big names but not the greatest characters. 

Cut to 6 weeks in and I'm happy to say I was utterly and completely wrong.  The show has finally hit its stride and it's riveting television!  Sure, Sorkin reuses a lot of what he's written before (see the Sorkin video I posted a few weeks back) and I've already found at least 2 plot devices that were used in the West Wing.  But...if it's not broke, why fix it?  Jeff Daniels continues to astound me week after week.  He's truly an amazing actor  and I'm constantly wondering why I haven't noticed that before.  The other characters are finally coming together as well.  The classic Sorkin humor, word play and heart is all there.  Even the concept of the newsroom is being kept exciting by focusing on the biggest stories from the last 2 years.  I'm super happy with the direction this show is going in, and I'm so glad that I decided to stick with it. 

So what if he's idealistic, at least he's writing a story with an actual plot, and  actual characters with actual brains. He's a very bright spot in a sea of utterly trashy reality shows and competitions. 

So, I guess you could say, I'm a fan.

A pretty fantastic opening, and a classic Sorkin speech all rolled into one. (And all in all, fairly true...) PS: Language is a little strong so beware.