Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin is poised to win the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay come Oscar time in February given the plethora of honors he’s already received for The Social Network. However, the man’s also known for his phenomenal work on the small screen. He’s served as creator/showrunner/head writer on three television series: Sports Night, The West Wing, and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. The West Wing won an ungodly amount of Emmy awards, including Best Drama Series four years in a row, and now it looks like he’ll be returning to TV sooner rather than later, this time on HBO:
“I love television, and I’m going to be doing another television series as well, this time on HBO, and it’s going to take place behind-the-scenes at a nightly cable news show. It’s going to be happening soon. I’ve written the pilot episode and we’re casting it right now.”
We’ve known for some time that he’s been working on a new television show, but no one knew it was this far along. He revealed the information in an interview with BBC News. Hit the jump to hear more from Sorkin regarding the project, including what outlets he visited to prepare, and an update on his feature film directorial debut The Politician.
When asked what he’s done research-wise to prepare for his new television venture, Sorkin responded thusly:
“I’ve spent some time at CNN…with Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews, Fox News, I’ve spent some time being a fly on the wall at those shows…What the hope is, is that I can bring the same kind of idealism and romanticism that made government seem sexy on The West Wing, and I can bring it to the news and journalism, which in America is held in at least as much contempt as government.”
In addition to the new television series, Sorkin is also working on adapting Andrew Young’s tell-all book The Politician, which centers around the John Edwards-Rielle Hunter controversy. Sorkin said that he’s gearing up to start writing the film (after the Oscars, presumably) and will make his directorial debut with the project. He spoke about how the themes of The Politician are similar to those in The Social Network:
“I think that the John Edwards story has a lot in common with The Social Network in that it’s a very modern backdrop, you know we all read about it, it seems like yesterday, but these ancient themes are set against that modern backdrop. Tremendous motivations, decisions based on those motivations, and horrible consequences.”
Personally, I’m more than thrilled to see Sorkin returning to television. Add in the fact that he’ll be on HBO, where he’ll have free creative reign (not to mention longer breaks to work on films in-between seasons), and I’m absolutely giddy. Cable news is a pretty touchy subject to be tackling at this point in time, but if any profession needs a healthy dose of Sorkin-romanticism, it’s cable news. Next stop: casting.
Here’s the video of Sorkin’s interview with BBC:
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Sorkin on HBO is pretty much a dream. I loved Studio 60, thought that Matthew Perry had never been better and the ensemble there was truly fantastic – was incredibly annoyed to see that fall by the wayside. This is definitely a show I’ll be eagerly anticipating any and all news on.
Daniel speaks for me.
Couldn’t agree more.
Sweet. This should be good.
I was also a huge fan of Studio 60 and I always found myself thinking about the advantages it would have being on HBO. This really is a dream. Hopefully, this has the same feel as Studio 60. High hopes for this one.
Everytime I talked about Sorkin doing a new show I always said one thing–the only way it would work these days were if it were on HBO.
A dream come true!
Agreed with everything said so far. I loved Studio 60 and The West Wing is probably my favorite show of all time. Sorkin having the time and creative freedom he’ll have on HBO is just beyond perfect. I’m excited to see this new show.
Sorkin is the worst. The absolute worst. Too bad HBO keeps producing shit like this and BOARDWALK EMPIRE. Luckily AMC and FX are picking up the slack and are producing the *only* television worth watching anymore (except for a few on Adult Swim, too).
I am psyched for this now all they need is Garry Shandling to play a talking head on this and I will be soo happy
hopefully Matt Albie and Danny Tripp will be the main characters again! They’re frickin hilarious! Would love to see Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford star in it! They had amazing chemistry!