The Annotated “Newsroom”

In which we attempt to identify and expound upon all the pop culture references from the latest episode of “The Newsroom” one day later. Here we take on last night’s “Willie Pete”, the third –and best, thus far — episode of the season. Great work by Grace Gummer (Meryl Streep’s progeny) and also by the woman playing Romney’s press attache, who you may recognize as Ari Gold’s paramour-or-less from “Entourage”.

We’re walking and talking…

1. “Go Corporal Klinger faster than you could put on a yellow taffeta picnic dress…”

Our hero Will MacAvoy (Jeff Daniels), in calling out the cowardice of those who would boo a gay serviceman in Iraq but who would be afraid to serve themselves, references Corporal Maxwell Klinger (Jamie Farr) of M*A*S*H, prime-time’s first cross-dresser (p.m. upate: My bad. Milton Berle was prime-time’s first cross-dresser. How did I miss that?) . Klinger donned women’s clothing in hopes of being granted a Section 8, a discharge based upon the fact that he was nuts. Poor Max. If only he had known that all he needed to do was make out with Frank Burns…

2. “We’re like made men, we’re like Joe Pesci in ‘Goodfellas’…”

Will proceeds directly from a walk-and-talk with McKenzie in the episode’s second scene to a banter sparring fest with his boss, Charlie (Sam Waterston), in the third. Charlie references three notorious characters from the three most popular gangster films of all time (Joe Pesci’s Tommy DeVito in “Goodfellas”, James Caan’s Sonny Corleone in “The Godfather”, and Al Pacino’s Tony Montana in “Scarface”) and each time Will —who is Sorkin, gently correcting our errors– notes that all three of those characters met a bloody, violent end. “Have you seen any of these movies?”

Note: both Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino appeared in two of those three films.

3. “Was Don Quixote de La Mancha done with his mission to civilize?”

“Yeah, he died of being crazy.”

Spoiler alert! Thanks a lot, Charlie, for giving away the end of The Man of La Mancha. You really are the Sancho (Sancho Panza) in this relationship, which is exactly how Sorkin has cast you: the loyal but sardonic sidekick. Sorkin has overtly used the title character of this book –and the musical version of Miguel Cervantes’ work –as the model for MacAvoy’s mission. Which means that it is the impetus for Sorkin’s mission. See, he doesn’t just want to be Matthew Weiner, creating the best dramatic series of the 21st century. He also wants to be making us “an inch nicer.”

4. “You can fire the shot heard ’round the world…”

Here Will embarks on his quixotic quest to persuade gossip columnist Nina Howard (Hope Davis) to NOT run a juicy iten on why he did not appear in ACN’s 9/11 10-year anniversary special. He is either alluding to the first musket blast from the Battle of Lexington and Concord in April, 1776, or Bobby Thomson’s pennant-winning three-run home run for the New York Giants versus the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1951 at the Polo Grounds. The Giants trailed 4-1 in the bottom of the ninth in the deciding contest of a three-game playoff series to decide the pennant. Thomson’s blast off Dodger reliever Ralph Branca with one out provided the winning margin. Thomson would later say: “It was the best thing that ever happened to me. It may have been the best thing that ever happened to anybody.”

Notes:

A) New York actually trailed Brooklyn in the National League race — there were no divisions and the pennant winner proceeded directly to the World Series — by 13 1/2 games in mid-August before finishing 37-7 to tie Da Bums and force the three-game playoff.

B) The Giants literally crossed the Harlem River to meet their foe for the World Series, the New York Yankees (the two stadiums were within walking distance) but would lose in seven games, blowing a 3-1 series lead.

C) Thomson was born in Glasgow, Scotland. He had eight 20 home run seasons in a pre-PED era and made three All-Star teams.

D) The aforementioned game, which took place on October 3, was the first major sporting event televised coast to coast.

E) As noted, Thomson hit his epic shot to left field with one out. Had he struck out, the batter waiting in the on-deck circle was Willie Mays.

F) In the words of Cate Blanchett, “Wikipedia is a useful tool.”

G) This is not to be confused with “The Gar Heard ’round the World” (my coinage) from the 1976 NBA Finals.

H) We still think Will was discussing the launch of the American Revolution.  The phrase itself originated in a poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson titled “The Concord Hymn.”

 

5. “What The World Needs Now is Love”

Will enlists a pianist to play Burt Bacharach’s 1965 classic about healing while wooing Nina. Wooing her not to print her scoop, that is. You could think of it as the title track/salve for the 1960s. Originally recorded by Jackie DeShannon, it has been covered by more than 100 artists (I prefer Dionne Warwick’s version). Also in 1965 Bacharach married Angie Dickinson, who was the hottest piece in Hollywood at the time. It was a good year for Burt Bacharach.

You may only remember the song from “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery”, in which Austin deploys Bacharach himself to perform it from the back of an open-aired limo as he and Vanessa Kensington parade down the Las Vegas Strip. However, those of you who are fans of Danish Zodiac porn comedy (you know who you are) may remember hearing it in I Jomfruens tegn.

6. “Mean Girls… Heathers” “Lord of the Flies.”

As Will and Nina discuss gossip and civility, he tosses out two films about high school females being bitchy to one another. The first starred Winona Ryder and the latter starred Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams. I was waiting for a “Bring It On” reference myself. Nina counters with a male analogue, “Lord of the Flies”, although that really does not fit. Will begins to correct her, but then realizes that here discretion is the better part of valor. Nice move, Don.

7. “I’m gonna own somebody/There’s gonna be a heartache tonight…”

Will interrupts the daily staff pitch meeting to ask, “Who the $%#* leaked the story to Nina Howard?” In so doing he references a 1979 song by The Eagles that surely no one on the staff would know…if they even know who The Eagles are.

8. “We all got pregnant by reading Lady Chatterly’s Lover.”

A 1928 D.H. Lawrence novel that was the “Fifty Shades of Grey” of its era.

9. “It happens in every road movie. Bing Crosby and Bob Hope…Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin.. and you can be Dorothy Lamour.”

Jim, Grace Gummer and Drunk, Fat Guy (“Tequila!”) are sitting around a bar after a day of covering the Romney campaign when Drunk, Gat Guy suggests that Jim let down his guard some. “Road” movies have always been popular (“Midnight Run” celebrated its 25th anniversary last week), but the genre’s paragon are the seven Crosby and Hope films from 1940 to 1962 (Road to Morocco, Road to Zanzibar, etc.). You know what another terrific “road” film was? Dumb and Dumber, though I cannot seem to remember who starred in it.

Dorothy Lamour played the paraLamour-or-less (yes, I’m going to that pitch more than Mo goes to the cutter) of the two men, strictly PG. That was what the sarong reference.

10. “Find me an informed member of the Pajama Party…”

McKenzie sure does know a lot of old American references for a Brit. Or maybe she’s just Canadian. Anyway, this is a condescending reference to Occupy Wall Street in which she is equating them to the gang of vapid youths from a 1964 beach party film.

11. “Will: We ride.”

I’m pretty sure this is another Don Quixote reference.

12. “They need us! Okay, who’s with me?”

Heeyyyyyyy, maybe just maybe it is JIM who is playing the role of Don Quixote de La Mancha. The scene on the bus in which Jim asks for volunteers to revolt is very reminiscent of the “O Captain! My Captain!” scene at the conclusion of Dead Poets’ Society, which I am sure that Sorkin wishes he had written.

And suddenly, as Jim, Gummer and Fat, Drunk Guy are booted from the bus, we have our “Road” movie.