Aaron Sorkin and Jeff Daniels recently spoke on a panel at the Television Critics Association press tour. Find out what the creator and star of HBO’s The Newsroom had to say to the very critics who have panned the show.

We have already reported that Sorkin confirmed an approximate season 2 release date of June 2013, and the timeline of real events he was planning. But what did the show creator have to say in response to criticisms of his show?

Sorkin’s correction: Writing staff not fired

Without the prompting of a question, Aaron Sorkin addressed the recent news story that he had fired all of his writers prior to commencing work on season 2, with the exception of his ex-girlfriend. At the time the story broke, HBO released a statement downplaying the changes, but no flat-out denial. Sorkin said:

“The writing staff was not fired….I love the writing staff. …A couple of staffing changes were made that included promoting our two writer’s assistants to story editors, but the writing staff hasn’t been fired — I’m looking forward to coming back to work with them soon.”

Critical reviews

On the contentious issue of critical reviews, Sorkin said, “Anytime that people are talking this much about a television show, it’s good for television,” while Daniels was bolder, telling a room full of television critics:

“I’ve gotta be honest with you — I completely get why you do what you do, God bless you, but you don’t do it for me. It took me a long time as an actor to stop reading you. You love me, you hate me … where do I go? Did I just offend all of them? I did!”

Portrayal of women

The Newsroom has faced criticism over the portrayal of women, including Mac, Maggie, and Sloan. Sorkin told critics, “I completely respect that opinion, but I one hundred percent disagree with it.” Daniels jumped to his defense, stating that, “One of the things I like about Aaron’s writing is all of his characters, men and women, have flaws.” Sorkin went on to cite Will as an example:

“We present Will’s mission to civilize as something everyone rolls their eyes at and something that always blows up in his face. Hubris in this show is always punished. Men and women screw up in the same way.”

In conclusion?

So what is the point of The Newsroom? Critics and fans seem to have different expectations, however, what does the man behind it all think? “It is is a chance to do what I love doing, creating a workplace environment that becomes a workplace family…They’re reaching unrealistically high and they will fall down a lot.” Well, we aren’t complaining.

Quotes courtesy of Huffington Post and Vulture.

Has anything Sorkin said changed your opinion of the show? Do you agree or disagree with him?