On Sunday night, the first installment of the USA network miniseries
Political Animalspremiered opposite the fourth episode of
The Newsroom. Both offer big-canvas portraits of workplace environments that fascinate the media (politics and, well, the media); both star actors who normally don’t “do” television (Sigourney Weaver; Jeff Daniels); both come from producers who’ve done interesting TV work in the past (
Everwood and
Jack & Bobby from Greg Berlanti;
The West Wing and
SportsNight from Aaron Sorkin). While no one would argue that Sorkin’s resume doesn’t carry more weight (a feature film career that includes
The Social Network, A Few Good Men, and
Moneyball — of which I really liked two out of three — will do that for a fella), Berlanti’s work here feels fully up to the level of Sorkin’s latest as fast-paced entertainment. It’s also received better reviews in the most prominent outlets.
Which leads to the question: Why?
The Newsroom is on classy HBO and arrives with the most thoroughgoing TV critique of the TV news media since
Jon Stewart sat down for an interview with Rachel Maddow.
Political Animals is on USA, home of
Suits and “Characters Welcome” and features a performance by Ciaran Hinds as Weaver’s ex-husband ex-President so hammy, Jimmy Dean recently called from the grave to see if he could do the “Political Animals Pork Sausage” merchandizing.
Still, Political Animals, at least based on two episodes I’ve seen, is the more enjoyable, less irritating viewing experience for a few reasons. First, it is what it is: A glossy nighttime soap with particular things to say about how women are treated in politics and the media, packaged in a way that suits the product. The Newsroom is, with the exception of a few performances (Jeff Daniels’; Thomas Sadoski’s; Sam Waterston’s; maybe Jane Fonda’s), an overreaching drama that tries to pass itself off as a tough, realistic, insider expose. With, last night, Coldplay music and the shooting of Gabby Giffords used as a shorthand way to clinch an hour-long argument about how rotten the Real Housewives franchise is.
