“It’s just absolutely brilliant”: the series Jane Fonda called perfect TV
Like many performers of her generation, Jane Fonda was never interested in being known as a television actor because anyone who couldn’t make their name in movies wasn’t seen as enjoying a career worth having.
Her second-ever credit came when she played Gloria Winters in 1961’s made-for-TV feature A String of Beads, but that would be the last time Fonda appeared on the small screen for two decades. Ironically, when she did return, it ended up being one of the most memorable experiences of her professional life.
During her sabbatical from cinema in the mid-1980s, Fonda took passion project The Dollmaker to television after spending a dozen years trying to get it made, which promptly won her the first Primetime Emmy of her career when she took home the trophy for ‘Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie’.
Once again, though, it would be her final dalliance with TV for a long time. By the time Fonda ended her 15-year exile from acting in 2005’s Jennifer Lopez rom-com Monster In Law, though, the landscape had completely shifted. The second ‘Golden Age’ of episodic storytelling was in full swing, and the veteran was finally willing to commit to an ongoing series.
She hadn’t appeared on TV in any capacity for 18 years, but when The West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin extended her an offer to play a major part in The Newsroom, Fonda didn’t hesitate to accept. The show followed what went on behind the scenes at the fictional Atlantis Cable News channel, with Fonda bringing plenty of gravitas to the table as Leona Lansing, the CEO of the network’s parent company.
Admittedly, Fonda was speaking from a place of intense personal bias when she called The Newsroom a must-see TV. It couldn’t hold a candle to Sorkin’s The West Wing, nor is it regarded as one of HBO’s finest 21st-century originals. That doesn’t disqualify her enthusiasm, even if she did have plenty of skin in the game.
“Well, it’s just perfect television,” she told Alex Simon. “It’s just absolutely brilliant. I think it’s going to have a huge impact on people, And it is just totally amazing. I’m so proud to have a small role in it.” The Newsroom only lasted three seasons, but at least it wasn’t cancelled, with Sorkin and HBO making the decision to draw a line under the story at 25 episodes.
As tends to be the case whenever Fonda does anything onscreen, she won plenty of praise and notched two Emmy nods for ‘Outstanding Guest Actress’ because that’s what legends do. However, history hasn’t been overwhelmingly kind to The Newsroom, a show that not many would place among the pantheon of greats to have emerged since The Sopranos changed everything.
