Will McAvoy

And perhaps more importantly, I actually imagined I could be one because of the character CJ Craig.

Later in my career, Will McAvoy rang in my ears on a daily basis.

And regular viewers of Deadline White House know that a week does not go by without a quote from an Aaron Sorkin script being invoked.

But this week's episode is not a tribute.

the musical theater thing is such a Sorkinism.

There's a point where Will McAvoy has, uh, Jenna...

I don't know if you even know this, but the girl at, who asks him the question in the opening scene he hires as an intern.

And he in season two at one point has her memorize who wrote the lyrics and music to several old, uh, Rodgers and Hammerstein, George Gershwin musicals.

The next day.

Okay.

And it's especially ironic because season two of The Newsroom is all about Will McAvoy railing against how shitty Mitt Romney is.

So very confusing.

anyone who doesn't know there are elements in that show that he recreates certain like the boston uh bombing marathon there's a sequence in the show where they show you how you're supposed to cover that and there's a lot of people in the industry were looking at him like oh are you talking down to us is that is that you're saying the way we do it is wrong and that's something that he likes to do and it's a critique that even i will get to him that And sometimes the issues with Aaron Sorkin is that a lot of his characters, over time, they start to kind of sound the same or be the same.

For example, the Will McAvoy character in Newsroom sounds a lot like the Bartlett character in The West Wing.

Interesting.

The Charlie character newsroom is the Leo character in West Wing and vice versa.

It's that you guys are doing it badly.

And he, that is a massive theme of what Aaron Sorkin has talked about in a lot of his shows and movies, especially in the newsroom.

It's something, there's a great scene where Will McAvoy is apologizing for the way he's been doing the news.

And he talks about the monetization of news.

Deputy Travis Jr. and Deputy Raineesha Williams are characters on what TV show? [upbeat music] Question four.

Name the actor who played Harry Dunne in Dumb and Dumber and Will McAvoy in The Newsroom.

[upbeat music] Question five.

In September 2026, it was announced that television actor Dennis Haskins had passed away at the age of 75.

Deputy Travis Jr. and Deputy Raineesha Williams are characters on what TV show? Reno 911.

Question four.

Name the actor who played Harry Dunne in Dumb and Dumber and Will McAvoy in The Newsroom.

Jeff Daniels.

That kind of got away from me, didn't it?

You got trapped by your own syntax, as Will McAvoy said in an episode of The Newsroom.

Pages by Christopher Priest and Daniel Samper.

I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly.

Not to get too deeply into it.

I think this is a, you know, a Will McAvoy.

Right.

For those of you to follow.