MovieChat Forums > The Paper (1994) Discussion > Wouldn't this make a great tv show?

Wouldn't this make a great tv show?


Unfortunately I did not discover this gem of a movie until today. I realized that this setting, as far as I know, is an untapped area of brilliance that would make an enthralling comedy/drama tv show.

What do other people think?

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Aaron Sorkin tried to make a show similar to this one, it was called Sports Night.

I don't think a show like this would fair well in the current market, hell Sports Night was only on for a year.

I've seen the show many times in the past 13 years and every time I see it's on, I stop and watch it, did the same thing tonight and it's only 2:30 AM. But I don't think it'd be possible to replicate this every week for a tv series.

My 2 cent.

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I was just gonna say Sorkin, DAMN!!!

But I still think it would be a great idea!!

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Sports Night lasted two seasons. Great show.

Short Cut, Draw Blood

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Newspapers are on the way out so this wouldn't exactly be the best time to do a show about a newspaper

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Might it actually the best time to make a show about a newspaper?

On Showtime or HBO, of course.

The VERY REAL stories of Newspapers trying to survive.

Short Cut, Draw Blood

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Well not totally about just the newspaper but the last season of The Wire dealt with a newspaper which was declining and that was like 5 years ago.

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Thought that "Deadline" was a television spinoff from this, but guess I am wrong.

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It would be fun to have a TV show shot in a style like "The Office", set in a modern "newspaper" but remember nowadays things are less mechanical more electronic than way back in 1994... Part of the story, IIRC, was time-focused so nowadays that same kind of urgency is gone. It's like watching the movie "The Rocketeer" the other day, the period it is set in they didn't have cell phones or email so had to stand in line for the phone when an "extra extra read all about it" event suddenly took place.

Times sure have changed...


- - -

Chipping away at a mountain of pop culture trivia,
Darren Dirt.

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As someone currently working in the newspaper industry, I can say the deadline pressure is still alive and well. That aspect hasn't changed.
The difference now is you would have broken the story on your Web site and updated it for print at a moer leisurely pace.
You still have an angry pressroom manager calling if you fall behind schedule or a managing editor nickel and diming you to death.

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maybe a good hbo show so they can keep with the tone...make it like an hour, since theres no commercials they could do a lot with the time

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Still wouldn't be completely accurate. There would be too many cynical, bitter characters if it were true to life. Also, you'd have to lose a character every three episodes to reflect each wave of layoffs.

And yes, deadlines are still important. Getting all the facts....not so much, at least, not until the print version runs.

"When you're pushed, killing's as easy as breathing."

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The backdrop would have to be considerably different, impacting the storyline, since print journalism is rapidly dying. But, let me tell you, that would make for an interesting backdrop to any show. There's something intrinsically dramatic about working in a place where you have to be completely devoted and willing to put in all kinds of extra work just to get the paper out the door every day, and on top of it, your dealing with cutbacks so severe that people just vanish from one day to the next and you have to get approval to use a pack of paper. The line about worrying if they're going to fold every six months would have to be changed to every quarter, to keep it realistic.

As for changing to setting, the previous posters are right, Sorkin did the best that can be done with Sports Night as far as broadcast goes.

"When you're pushed, killing's as easy as breathing."

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My thoughts exactly, When I watched it. It would be perfect for a TV-series!

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I think this would fit better as a TV show rather than a movie. The movie was amazing I haven't seen it in a long while. They have all these other office type shows on NBC The Paper would fit in perfectly.

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[deleted]

That's a smart suggestion.

There aren't that many journalism shows, past and present.

I really liked the sitcom, "Suddenly Susan."

Passenger side, lighting the sky
Always the first star that I find
You're my satellite...

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