HBO famously renews its original series incredibly quickly, but Aaron Sorkin’s drama show The Newsroom is barreling towards the final two episodes of its second season and we have yet to hear official word of a renewal.  That appears to have changed, though, as star Jeff Daniels recently tweeted, “It’s Official. #Newsroom coming back for a Season 3.”  Though we still haven’t heard official word from HBO regarding season three, we do know that HBO wants a third season.  The holdup has actually been a matter of scheduling instead of concern over ratings or reviews.  Hit the jump for more, including why The Newsroom just might return a little later than usual. 

Though The Newsroom suffered some harsh words from critics in its first season (some deserved, some not), the show has shown a considerable increase in viewership in its second season, and while critics still haven’t lovingly embraced Sorkin’s latest effort, it has been drawing less snark than last year.  HBO programming president Michael Lombardo said last month that he would be “shocked” if the series didn’t return, and the only hurdle has been dealing with Sorkin’s schedule.

The Oscar-winning Social Network scribe signed on to pen a fascinating biopic of Steve Jobs last year, and he has apparently been trying to parse out when he’ll devote time to that project.  That’s been the obstacle in agreeing to tackle another season of Newsroom, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he and HBO came to some sort of deal that saw him postpone work on the second season for a couple of months so that he can focus on the Jobs film—HBO has certainly done similar scheduling in the past with The Sopranos and The Wire.

Though we still haven’t received a press release from HBO regarding The Newsroom season three, I can’t imagine Daniels would jump the gun on something that isn’t going to happen.  As someone who is a fan of the series despite its flaws, I look forward to catching up with Will McAvoy again sometime next year.