In an interview on The Late Late Show with James Corden, alongside Academy Award-winning actor Mahershala Ali, Aaron Sorkin was asked about the whirling of rumors that had been circulating online concerning the return of his former hit-series The Newsroom. The show concentrated on the premise of a news division at a television network and its underdog-like battle in colliding with the corporate owners to provide an authentic and academical nightly news program that allowed the facts to speak for themselves. It starred rockstar anchor Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels) and his ex-girlfriend but credible executive producer MacKenzie McHale (Emily Mortimer).
The show came out strong, with raving reviews for the first season, especially Jeff Daniel’s infamous speech in the pilot which spoke on why “America is not the greatest country in the world.” The show began to lose its connection with critics and viewers in the second season, and then, inevitably, finalized in the third season where the Hollywood Reporter reported on the fact that Aaron Sorkin might be done with television writing — for good. Writing: “Sorkin told the Los Angeles Times that he’s likely done with writing for television and even noted that his failures — Sports Night, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and now The Newsroom — comprise more of his resume in this medium than The West Wing, his major success.”
In an interview later on in 2014, star Jeff Daniels spoke with IndieWire about the abrupt ending of the series, he responded by stating: “It’s really difficult to do well. Aaron writes every word of every episode, and that isn’t the standard way to do it on a series, whether it’s six, 10 or certainty 22 episodes. You pass them up. You write Episode 2, someone does Episode 4, another does 5. That isn’t how Aaron works, which means every 12 days, a new episode has to land on everyone’s desks, and it has to be great. It has to live up to him, it has to live up to what the last episode was, and that’s difficult. Every two weeks he has to climb up a mountain.”
Now, in 2019, with the flooding of rumors for a return, Corden asked Sorkin about the idea of bringing the series back to air. Especially with all of the socio-political conversations occurring in regards to news coverage and the lack of authenticity it can sometimes generate, it wouldn’t be the worst idea to bring a series to air that concentrates on the thoughts and ideas of an honest-to-god news division, a point that host James Cordon was quick to point to as well.
That said, Sorkin responded with an abrupt: “No.” Going on to say: “I wish the show was on the air now, I would love to be writing it now. But there are other things coming up. I have no plans to return to anything else I’ve done.” So, for now, it seems that The Newsroom isn’t making its return anytime soon, at least with Sorkin attached to it in any way. You can watch the full interview with Sorkin, Ali, and Corden down below: