Hot off the one-two punch of The Social Network and Moneyball, Academy Award-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin made his return to television last night with the debut of his new HBO series The Newsroom.  The premiere came with lofty expectations from The West Wing creator, and early screener reactions were passionately mixed-to-positive.  I’m an out and out Sorkin fan and, despite the show’s familiarity to the scribe's other series (specifically the super similar “stock” characters), I really enjoyed the pilot.  Yes, everyone speaks in eloquent soliloquies with insanely profound and accurate statistical arguments rolling off their tongues as if they were reciting a recipe, but Sorkin’s romanticism and wit is just too damned enticing for me to be bothered.The pilot sparked quite a bit of lively conversation on Twitter last night, and now HBO has put the full 73-minute episode online for free.  Whether you’re a Sorkin fan or not, I highly suggest you give the pilot a whirl and decide for yourself what you think of the show rather than buying into the pre-lash sight unseen.  Hit the jump to watch, then head to the comments with your reaction. Here’s the full pilot of The Newsroom via HBO, entitled “We Just Decided To”:

Ep. 1: We Just Decided To - Full Episode

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