Aaron Sorkin's 'Newsroom' debuts to so-so ratings

Monday June 25, 2012 6:32 PM By Kirthana Ramisetti

After a lot of buzz and a little controversy, Aaron Sorkin’s latest TV drama, “The Newsroom,” debuted on HBO on Sunday night, drawing 2.1 million viewers. Though not a flop out of the gate, the ratings could be cause for concern — the episode was unable to retain half the audience from its lead-in, “True Blood,” which attracted 4.7 million viewers.

For comparison’s sake, the 2010 premiere of HBO’s hit drama “Boardwalk Empire” had 4.8 million viewers after similarly receiving a lot of lead-in hype.

“The Newsroom” has garnered mixed reviews. Although many critics have lauded Sorkin’s signature rapid-fire dialogue, others have expressed dismay over the show’s perceived sexism and use of real news stories in the plotlines.

Sorkin himself has been making headlines for recent questionable behavior during an interview with a female reporter from the Globe and Mail. The Scarsdale native called reporter Sarah Nicole Prickett “Internet girl” after she suggested that a TV show should be made about the popular site Gawker.com. Sorkin scolded Prickett, saying, “It wouldn’t kill you to watch a film or pick up a newspaper once in awhile.” As the interview concluded, he repeatedly asked her for a high-five and ended their exchange by saying, “Let me manhandle you.”

For Sorkin’s sake, let’s hope ratings for “The Newsroom” improve so that his show will make news instead of him.