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The Newsroom

Plot

Described by some viewers as the Canadian equivalent to Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm or the British series The Office, The Newsroom was the brainchild of satirist Ken Finkelman, who also starred as George Findlay, the head of a newsroom in a fictional Toronto TV station. The sort of bottom-feeding shark that gives other bottom-feeding sharks a bad name, Findlay would do literally anything and stoop to any depth imaginable to achieve high ratings and hold on to his cushy job. George's co-workers included the station's terminally stupid anchorman, Jim Walcott (Peter Keleghan), and the disreputable-looking (and acting) trainee Audrey (Tanya Allen), not to mention a variety of neurotic news-segment producers and an ever-changing array of nominal bosses with whom George endlessly argued, and against whom he endlessly conspired. Also, the series featured a number of well-known Canadian personalities, ranging from newspaper columnists to hockey players, appearing as themselves (usually in a less-than-flattering light). Originally planned as a six-part miniseries and filmed in quasi-documentary fashion, the 30-minute The Newsroom made its CBC debut on October 21, 1996. An additional seven episodes were commissioned, the last of which aired on March 31, 1997 (these two "trial" seasons have since been telecast in the U.S. as a single 13-episode season by PBS). At that point, the restless Ken Finkelman moved on to three other series projects, in which the George Findlay character made sporadic appearances. Bowing to public demand in 2002, Finkelman somewhat reluctantly revived The Newsroom in the form of a devastatingly hilarious one-shot special. On January 12, 2004, The Newsroom returned on a weekly basis, with Finkelman and Peter Keleghan repeating their original roles. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Credit

Jan Peter Meyboom - Executive Producer, Ken Finkleman - Show Creator

Episodes

The Newsroom: Season 01 (1996)
The first trial season of the satirical Canadian comedy series The Newsroom consists of six episodes, firmly establishing Toronto TV news director George Findlay (Ken Finkleman) as the top fly on the broadcast dungheap--a man who will do literally anything to get high ratings. In the opener, George auditions several hopefuls to be his personal assistant, with a girl named Kris (Lisa Ryder) emerging as the winner--or at least that's what she thinks until she spends a little time with her new boss. In subsequent weeks, dunderheaded news anchor Jim Walcott (Peter Keleghan) becomes fiercely protective of his turf when George hires a co-anchor; after promising to defend his coworkers against network budget cuts, George characteristically stabs everyone in the back to save his own hide; a movie writer attempts suicide, whereupon George manages to convert the tragedy into a 5-part news special; and a not-so-harmless remark aimed at a female talk show guest threatens to cost George his job. In the last of the six episodes, George not only insults actress Cynthia Dale, but also turns the newsroom inside out in his obsessive quest for the perfect bran muffin. Also appearing on The Newsroom this season are Jeremy Hotz as news-segment producer Jeremy, David Huband as weatherman Bruce Moffatt, and Julie Kahner as Sydney Dernhoff, the first in a long line of nominal bosses who try but fail to keep George in line. And in addition to the aforementioned Cynthia Dale, several other prominent Canada-based media personalities show up in cameo roles, among them actor Daniel Richter, columnist Linda McQuaig and Conservative pundit Hugh Segal. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Walking Shoe Incident
Dinner at Eight
Deeper, Deeper
The Kevorkian Joke
A Bad Day
Petty Tyranny
Meltdown, Pt. 1
Meltdown, Pt. 2
Meltdown, Pt. 3
The Campaign
Dis & Dat
Parking
Unity

The Newsroom: Season 02 (1997)
The first thirteen episodes of the satirical Canadian series The Newsroom were originally telecast as two separate "seasons" on CBC, with the last seven half-hours comprising Season Two (they have since been released on DVD as "The Complete First Season"). TV news director George Findlay (played by series creator-writer Ken Finkleman) continues resorting to the sleaziest methods possible to advance himself professionally and obtain high ratings during his second season on the air. Offering token opposition to George's cutthroat tactics are his new boss Nancy Trimbell (Nancy Beatty), and regional programming head Gillian Soros (Elisa Moolecherry), whose tireless efforts to find a "Canadian" angle on each and every news story that crosses her desk reaches hitherto unscaled heights of absurdity. Also added to the cast is Karen Hines as Karen Mitchell, the latest in a long line of beleaguered news-segment producers, and Pamela Sinha as on-air reporter Rani Sandhu. In the first of the seven new episodes, George exhibits more paranoia than usual after being besieged by bizarre voice mails, and being left couch-less by an unknown furniture thief. Shortly thereafter, the series is plunged into a three-part story arc wherein a nearby nuclear meltdown throws George's staff into a panic--and keeps our "hero" up nights trying to figure out how to make a nuclear expert seem interesting on TV. Elsewhere, thickheaded news anchor Jim Walcott (Peter Keleghan) runs for political office, an ambition all but thwarted by his so-called campaign manager George before being stopped literally dead in its tracks by a totally unanticipated act of violence. The Canadian-based guest stars this season are certainly an eclectic mix, including movie director David Cronenberg, newspaper columnists Linda McQuaig and Jeffrey Simpson, Conservative commentator Hugh Segal, hockey player Eddie Shack, novelist John Haslett Cuff, and TV producer Pamela Wallin ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

America, America
Reality Strikes
The British Accent
Say Cheese
The Second Coming
Death 1, George 0
Pushy Money Grubbing Cosmopolitan Racist
An Enormous Waste of Time
Anchors Away
One of Us
Never Read Symptoms
The Fifty
Slow Leak

The Newsroom: Season 03 (1998)
The 12-episode revival of the satirical Canadian series The Newsroom after a seven-year absence was originally heralded by the 2002 special Escape from the Newsroom, in which creator-writer-star Ken Finkleman makes no effort to hide his scorn for those rabid fans who insisted that he resurrect the series despite his (apparent) decision to kill it for good and all back in 1997. Though he seemed to be dead as a doornail at the end of the original series, dimwitted Toronto TV news anchor Jim Walcott (Peter Keleghan) awakens from a two-year coma and makes his way back to his former newsroom, where paranoid, backstabbing, ratings-obsessed news director George Findlay (Finkleman) still rules with an iron fist. When he's not making sarcastic comments about the Canadian TV industry or his viewers, George is running scared over the possibility that his fiefdom will be toppled by a nearby film crew shooting a movie with Brad Pitt and Nicole Kidman (and no, those two do NOT appear). Once the series' third season begins in earnest, we're introduced to several new regulars, among them news-segment producers Matt (Matt Watts) and Allen (Doug Bell), the latter suffering from an advanced case of self-loathing (just the sort of person that George Findlay loves to have around). The predominant theme this season is "Death"; George panics when a woman dies of food poisoning at the TV studio; an employee croaks while George wrestles with a labyrinthine job evaluation; an unknown sniper picks off a goodly portion of the Newsroom's viewing audience; and Allen is diagnosed with a tumor, making him more annoying than usual. In other episodes, George's not-so-well-hidden streak of racism rears up and bites him in the butt; Jim Walcott writes a book, astonishing those who thought he couldn't even read; segment producer Karen (Karen Hines "dumbs down" in exchange for a roll in the hay; and George comes to grief in his efforts to avoid jury duty on a controversial animal-rights case. The series' usual offbeat mix of guest stars this season include actor Colm Feore, director Atom Egoyan, Ugandan playwright George Seremba, and former Bush Administration speechwriter David Frum. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

One Dumb Idea
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Lolita
Latent Homosexual Tendencies
Baghdad Bound
Learning to Fly