Aaron Sorkin

Most media viewers pay scant attention to the credits, I suspect.  The lead actor plus a couple more in supporting roles are the most visible and well known, while those behind the scenes - writers, producers, directors, etc - rarely gain fame.  It takes a real blockbuster or three to catapult a Hitchcock or a Spielberg or a Lucas into the spotlight.  Aaron Sorkin, the writer, was recently catapulted into our awareness via the current HBO TV series, The Newsroom.  A friend told us about it, we test drove it, and loved it. The second season just became available on DVD.

We're latecomers to this party.  Many folks who watch regular TV programming discovered Sorkin a few years ago via The West Wing, the popular, much-awarded series that ran 1999 - 2006.  I was aware of it's popularity but had never viewed an episode until recently.  Now, we're streaming it and enjoying it.  We backtracked and found another Sorkin series, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. We just finished it, and liked it also.

The 3 series mentioned above are similar in format: rapid-fire, witty dialog between behind-the-scenes people dealing with myriad deadlines and crises.  Before the presidential announcement, before the 'big-3' TV network anchorman goes on the air, it's a chaotic and ever-changing scenario for those doing the prep work.  There's plenty of humor in the dialog, much of it banter, inspiring frequent laughs from Trish and I.

Sorkin also did some fine screenplay writing, including A Few Good Men, The American President, and Moneyball.  I've seen them all and enjoyed them all.  If, you've missed out on Sorkin's work, give it a shot.  I wrote this because I wanted to share the fun and to provide a viewing hit list.