The Newsroom

The tumultuous TV newsroom world of overbearing regional news director George Findlay, who is solely motivated by casualty statistics which will improve his ratings.

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Director: Ken Finkleman

Cast:Ken Finkleman , Peter Keleghan , Karen Hines , Tanya Allen , Jeremy Hotz , Pamela Sinha , Mark Farrell , Matt Watts , Holly Lewis

1Season 1

Season 1, Episode 1

October 21, 1996

George needs to hire an assistant to take care of such pressing matters as returning his shoes and fetching bran muffins. But he faces a dilemma; should he hire the qualified African-Canadian lesbian or the inexperienced yet attractive ski bunny?

2Season 1

Season 1, Episode 2

October 28, 1996

When a sexy new co-anchor is hired to bring life back to the show, Jim feels threatened. He turns to George, who supports him pharmaceutically. However, when the ensuing power shift starts to affect George, it's time to fight dirty.

3Season 1

Season 1, Episode 3

November 4, 1996

Cutbacks are coming to the network; but who will it be? George vows to 'go to the wall' to save jobs but everyone knows someone has to go. Back-stabbing, clandestine job hunts, prostitutes and religious conversions prevail.

4Season 1

Season 1, Episode 4

November 11, 1996

When failed screenwriter Shane threatens suicide on tape, George turns it into a ratings booster. Also, a killer virus in Zaire could be hitting town - maybe even the newsroom.

5Season 1

Season 1, Episode 5

November 18, 1996

George is having a bad day: he’s in trouble for hitting on a woman half his age, he made derogatory comments about Mr.Dressup, he offends Linda McQuaig (as herself) and she walks off the show, suicidal Shane is back, his BMW needs a new muffler, and Jim tells more than he should to a documentary crew (led by Dan Redican).

6Season 1

Season 1, Episode 6

November 25, 1996

George's quest for the perfect bran muffin leads him to the cafeteria where he starts a fight with the cook. Later, he offends one of the country's top stars, Cynthia Dale (as herself), who is observing the newsroom as research for a role in a film.

7Season 1

Season 1, Episode 7

February 10, 1997

George's quest for an indoor parking spot is thwarted when the Corporation hires Gillian Soros (Elisa Moolecherry) as the new head of regional programming. Gillian has definite ideas about George and the Toronto News.

8Season 1

Season 1, Episode 8

February 17, 1997

George is annoyed when his name is left off the Globe and Mail list of government employees who make over $100,000 per year. Lise Leger (Guylaine St. Onge) appears on Toronto News with Linda McQuaig (as herself) to discuss the Canadian unity situation. Lise is inexplicably attracted to Jim.

9Season 1

Season 1, Episode 9

February 24, 1997

George’s crusade for an indoor parking space continues, George’s paranoia surfaces after he receives a mysterious and vague voicemail and his office couch disappears. He immediately assumes the worst: the Corporation wants him gone.

10Season 1

Season 1, Episode 10

March 3, 1997

When there is a potential nuclear accident only hours away, each of the newsroom staff react in their own way. David Cronenberg (as himself) is a guest on Toronto News to promote his latest film 'Crash’.

11Season 1

Season 1, Episode 11

March 17, 1997

With the potential nuclear meltdown approaching, George’s priority is finding the right experts and analysts while trying to make them real but entertaining.

12Season 1

Season 1, Episode 12

March 24, 1997

Unable to deal with the potential of how own death, George goes to into denial and can't cover the impending nuclear meltdown story.

13Season 1

Season 1, Episode 13

March 31, 1997

After the collapse of public broadcasting, Jim runs for political office in a provincial election, George and some of the newsroom staff manage the campaign in this one hour series finale.

1Season 2

Season 2, Episode 1

January 12, 2004

Jim is hired away by a hot US morning show in New York City where he bites off more than he can chew of the Big Apple and is soon escorted out of the country by the authorities.

2Season 2

Season 2, Episode 2

January 19, 2004

George fails a Kafkaesque job evaluation in ways he never could have imagined. A valued veteran newsroom employee dies. George's empathy is qualified.

3Season 2

Season 2, Episode 3

January 26, 2004

Has a terrorist infiltrated the newsroom? Ken Finkleman and his crew handle the issue of racism with their usual warmth and sensitivity.

4Season 2

Season 2, Episode 4

February 2, 2004

A sniper kills again. A dog dies in the office, a power lunch goes wrong and George regrets ever having used the handicapped washroom.

5Season 2

Season 2, Episode 5

February 9, 2004

George's dream date is just that: nothing more than a dream. The intelligent segment producer Karen dumbs herself down for sex and Jim makes a book deal.

6Season 2

Season 2, Episode 6

February 16, 2004

George hires a temp from an old established WASP family thinking that connections will pay off. When they don't, it's George that pays.

7Season 2

Season 2, Episode 7

March 1, 2004

George dodges jury duty in an animal rights case and ends up entangled with a virus-infected monkey. Allan suffers from prostate cancer, Alzheimer's and a brain tumor.

8Season 2

Season 2, Episode 8

March 8, 2004

An argument between George and Alex over finding a $50 bill results in Alex losing his job on principle and then buying it back from George for a considerable sum - also on principle.

9Season 2

Season 2, Episode 9

March 15, 2004

Jim finds the perfect woman who is also heir to an $800 million fortune. This makes George insane with jealousy and leads to his arrest for stealing expensive cherries at a high-end grocery store.

10Season 2

Season 2, Episode 10

March 22, 2004

When a documentary film crew invades the newsroom, George keeps one eye on the camera and one eye on his back. Colm Feore guest stars.

11Season 2

Season 2, Episode 11

April 5, 2004

George tries to sell a brilliant idea for a cheese commercial to an ad agency brought in to rework the network news brand. Jim develops a unique form of anorexia nervosa.

12Season 2

Season 2, Episode 12

April 12, 2004

George hustles a corporate paid vacation but his temporary replacement forces George to kill the trip and replace it with a tanning cream which leads to fears that he has developed liver failure.

13Season 2

Season 2, Episode 13

April 19, 2004

George's failure of empathy when Alex gets dumped by his girlfriend causes Alex's attempted suicide. When George tries to rectify the situation, Alex fabricates a major news story, which leads to George making a book deal on the entire incident.

1Season 3

Season 3, Episode 1

February 14, 2005

Jim gets abducted while taping a feel-good pet segment in war-torn Afghanistan, and George is on the shortlist for the Order of Canada.

2Season 3

Season 3, Episode 2

February 21, 2005

George and his staff of segment producers have a sudden interest in producing sitcoms - at $50,000 per episode all they need is one dumb idea.

3Season 3

Season 3, Episode 3

February 28, 2005

Media tycoon Conrad Scott (Doug Lennox) visits the newsroom and is offered a life-changing gristly steak.

4Season 3

Season 3, Episode 4

March 7, 2005

George is asked to lecture at the local university and, thanks to a bit of charm and a stolen thesis, wows the class enough to hold 'office hours'; with a very attractive, very young student, Lolita.

5Season 3

Season 3, Episode 5

March 21, 2005

George's therapist falls into a coma after suggesting that George has latent homosexual tendencies.

6Season 3

Season 3, Episode 6

March 28, 2005

It is the end of the world in all dimensions.