Plot Synopsis

Set at the fictional cable network ACN: Atlantis Cable News -- but using news stories from actual past events -- THE NEWSROOM goes behind the scenes of a nightly newscast when ACN "News Night" anchor Will McAvoy returns from his leave of absence to find an overhauled news staff, including his former girlfriend, MacKenzie McHale, as the new executive producer. McAvoy had found a safe niche with bankable ratings on his 8pm flagship cable show, "News Night," but he also lost his passion, having become stoic, complacent, and cynical on-air while saving his cutting sarcasm and general unpleasantness for his news team. In the blink of an eye, McAvoy's world changed after a spontaneous outburst led him to tackle the principles of American patriotism in a public forum, resulting in a forced vacation from "News Night." While McAvoy is away from the set, Charlie Skinner, the unapologetically old-school president of ACN's news division, covertly orchestrates the hiring of Will's new executive producer, the one person who can restore Will's passion and bring the best out of him. With a new EP in place and several new team members brought on board after most of his staff jumped ship for another show, McAvoy returns to face an immediate challenge when breaking news comes over the wire. More suprisingly, McAvoy finds his new EP is his former girlfriend, McHale, back from 26 months embedded in Iraq and Afghanistan. Because they were romantically involved, McHale knows exactly how good McAvoy can be, and she challenges him to realize his full potential by delivering the news with integrity, causing him to abandon the successful, middle-of-the-road approach that had previously made him so popular with both sides of the aisle. The rest of the news staff includes: Jim Harper, McHale's loyal senior show producer, who is 27-years-old but more like the old-school reporter Skinner; Margaret Jordan, a young intern-turned-associated producer, who is already in a relationship with Don Keefer, McAvoy's former executive producer; Neal Sampat, a young self-made newsman, who writes Will's blog and scours the Internet for stories, often finding leads his colleagues have missed; and Sloan Sabbith, ACN's beautiful and brainy financial news analyst, who McHale enlists to do a nightly segment. The second season, which premiered on Sunday, July 14, 2013 at 10pm ET/PT on HBO, covered actual events during the period from August 2011 to November 2012, touching on the administration's anti-terrorism policy, Occupy Wall Street, Troy Davis, Trayvon Martin, Benghazi, and the primaries and general election. THE NEWSROOM returned for its six-episode third and final season on Sunday, November 9, 2014 at 9pm ET/PT on HBO. Season 3 finds Will and Mac and the staff of "News Night" facing two explosive situations: the possibility of a hostile takeover of the network looming on the horizon, and leaked classified government documents that unleash a legal fire storm that threatens to topple more than one professional career. Set against the backdrop of the Boston Marathon bombing, THE NEWSROOM kicks off the season with a look at the core issue of maintaining journalistic integrity in the era of 24-hour news cycles, while crowd-sourcing and citizen journalism result in the dissemination of misinformation. New guest cast for Season 3 includes: B.J. Novak as Lucas Pruit, a suitor for control of ACN; Kat Dennings as Reese's half-sister, Blair Lansing; Mary McCormack as Molly, an FBI agent who's a friend of Mac; Joanna Gleason as Charlie Skinner's wife, Nancy; and Clea DuVallas Lily, a mysterious woman who works for a government contractor.
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On Sunday, December 14, 2014 at 9pm ET/PT, HBO premiered the series finale of THE NEWSROOM. In the series ender, "What Kind of Day Has It Been," a sudden death leads Will and Mac to ponder the milestones that transformed the newsroom, and look ahead towards ACN's uncertain future. Maggie lands a field-producer interview in Washington; Neal's digital site is shut down for repairs; Leona offers sage advice to Pruit.