by RL Shaffer JUNE 24, 2012

In 1976, world renowned filmmaker Sidney Lumet made a film called “Network”, with Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway and William Holden. In the film’s most famous sequence, a news anchor named Howard Beale (Finch) has a mental breakdown on camera. He engages his audience directly and rants for several minutes about the nature of journalism and humanity’s failings, culminating in one of cinema’s greatest lines,”I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!”

…”The Newsroom” (premiering Sunday, 6/24 at 10pm PST/EST), where Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels) has a similar outburst after being asked why America is the best country on the planet. While he’s nothing but calm, jovial and humorous in the moments preceding his rant…

While McAvoy’s anti-American outburst is perceived as ugly by the public and his peers, the rant is nothing more than an angry follow-up to Beale’s “Mad as hell” rant from more than 30 years ago…

…Naturally, “The Newsroom” does feature the usual left-of-center commentary from Sorkin, but for those who’ve long fallen in love with the writer’s ideals, cynical take on politics and hope for a better future, there’s much to adore about this new series. And Sorkin does his best to keep things refreshing, despite having played in similar sandboxes in the past, with shows like “Sports Night” and “The West Wing”, and with movies like “Charlie Wilson’s War” and even “The Social Network”.

“The Newsroom” debuts Sunday, June 24th at 10pm ET/PT on HBO.

via Faye DunawayHBOjournalismNetworkNewsPeter FinchProgramingThe NewsroomWilliam Holden