Vulture obtained the script (a few months after The Daily gave us a synopsis) to Aaron Sorkin’s forthcoming HBO pilot, about an embattled news anchor who compels his audience through didactic monologues. Sounds a bit like the Sidney Lumet classic Network, a comparison not lost on Mr. Sorkin. The anchor is on the network UBS–which Vulture fails to note the same network Howard Beale used to announce he was “mad as hell.” (Aaron Sorkin’s last series, set at a Saturday Night Live-style sketch comedy show, took place at “NBS.” The man isn’t subtle with his network names!)
Vulture breaks down the similarities between this script and past Sorkin shows, but Mr. Sorkin’s tip-of-the-hat indicates that point of comparison may well be Network–though, as with every other Network reference of late, we question whether anyone actually watched the film. (Howard Beale isn’t actually a truth-teller, guys, or even the hero of the film–he’s a mental case exploited by businessmen, for cash!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90ELleCQvew
ddaddario@observer.com :: @DPD_
