The only TV show Quentin Tarantino watched three times: “Just so I could listen to the dialogue one more time”
You may not have noticed—he tends to keep it quiet—but Quentin Tarantino has an undeniable passion for movies. In addition to directing ten films so far, he has acted in several, both his own and others, written scripts for fellow filmmakers, penned articles and essays on cinema, and even adapted one of his own screenplays, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, into a novel. Throughout nearly his entire career, the man with the improbable name has lived and breathed the big screen.
That doesn’t mean he hasn’t ever ventured into TV-land, though. In 1995, he directed an episode of the medical drama ER and, in 2005, got behind the camera and wrote the story for an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. If you watch ‘Sophia’s Wedding: Part 1’, the sixth episode of the fourth season of Golden Girls, you’ll see a young Tarantino performing as part of a group of Elvis Presley impersonators. Humble beginnings but fascinating to look back on now.
Variety tried to get to the bottom of what TV shows Tarantino watches in his spare time. “The last two shows that I watched all the way were Justified and How I Met Your Mother,” he said, giving the interviewer an idea of the breadth of his tastes. As for the shows he’s watched more than once, there was only one answer.
“The HBO show I loved was Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom,” the auteur revealed. “That was the only show that I literally watched three times. I would watch it at seven o’clock on Sunday, when the new one would come on. Then after it was over, I’d watch it all over again. Then I would usually end up watching it once during the week, just so I could listen to the dialogue one more time.”
The Newsroom ran for three seasons between 2012 and 2014. It stars Jeff Daniels as Will McAvoy, anchor and managing director of a fictional rolling news channel. When his ex-girlfriend Mackenzie (Emily Mortimer) gets hired as his show’s new executive producer, McAvoy must attempt to reign in his personal feelings for the good of the network. For his work on the show, Daniels was a regular presence at the Emmys during its lifetime, winning the award for ‘Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series’ in 2013. Jane Fonda was also nominated that year for ‘Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series’. She plays Leona Lansing, CEO of the station’s parent company, and has spoken very highly of her time working alongside Mr Sorkin.
Despite its awards success, The Newsroom didn’t always get the best reviews. When asked what he thought of this, Tarantino gave a very Tarantino response. “Who the fuck reads TV reviews? Jesus fucking Christ,” he exclaimed. “TV critics review the pilot. Pilots of shows suck. Why would it be surprising that I like the best dialogue writer in the business?”
As well as The West Wing, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and his work on movies like Moneyball and The Social Network, Tarantino would have been aware of Sorkin’s prowess as a writer through firsthand experience. The pair both worked as script doctors for Michael Bay’s Alcatraz-busting action movie, The Rock.
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