Season 3
The third and final season of The Newsroom finds Will and Mac and the staff of "News Night" facing two explosive situations: the possibility of a hostile takeover of the network looming on the horizon, and leaked classified government documents that unleash a legal fire storm that threatens to topple more than one professional career.
Going beyond the headlines, the six-part season turns its attention inward, focusing on a series of internal events at ACN that rock the very foundation of the network, and tackles such topics as privacy issues, the influence of social media on traditional news gathering and corporate takeover.
The men and women of "News Night" are faced with personal and professional dilemmas that will forever determine their futures.
Set against the backdrop of the Boston Marathon bombing, The Newsroom kicks off the season with a highly charged look at the core issue of maintaining journalistic integrity in the era of 24-hour news cycles, while crowd-sourcing and "citizen journalism" result in the dissemination of misinformation.
Season 3 begins in the wake of the Genoa debacle, where Will (Jeff Daniels), Mac (Emily Mortimer) and the "News Night" team decide to err on the side of caution in reporting a major breaking story, which may enhance credibility, if not ratings.
Neal (Dev Patel) faces a slippery slope when he's contacted by an anonymous source in possession of stolen government documents revealing how false press stories planted in newspapers spawned fatal riots in Kundu.
Sloan (Olivia Munn) looks to solve a takeover puzzle and Maggie (Alison Pill) is forced to pinch-hit for Elliot (David Harbour) in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings.
Jeff Daniels stars as Will McAvoy and Emily Mortimer stars as Mackenzie McHale, the show's executive producer.
Other returning cast regulars for the third season are: Sam Waterston as Charlie Skinner, Will's old-school boss; John Gallagher, Jr. as Jim Harper, Mackenzie's loyal producer; Alison Pill as associate producer Maggie Jordan; Thomas Sadoski as Don Keefer, Will's former executive producer; Dev Patel as resourceful self-made newsman Neal Sampat; and Olivia Munn as financial news analyst Sloan Sabbith.
Returning guests for Season 3 include Jane Fonda as Leona Lansing, the CEO of ACN's parent company, Atlantis World Media; Chris Messina as ACN president Reese Lansing; David Harbour as reporter Elliot Hirsch; and Marcia Gay Harden as ACN attorney Rebecca Halliday.
New to the guest cast in Season 3 are B.J. Novak (The Office) as Lucas Pruit, a suitor for control of ACN; Kat Dennings (2 Broke Girls) as Reese's half-sister, Blair Lansing; Mary McCormack (The West Wing) as Molly, an FBI agent who's a friend of Mac; Tony Award winner Joanna Gleason (The Skeleton Twins) as Charlie Skinner's wife, Nancy; and Clea DuVall (Argo) as Lily, a mysterious woman who works for a government contractor.
Created by showrunner Aaron Sorkin, the Golden Globe-nominated HBO drama series The Newsroom follows the "News Night" team at the cable network ACN on their quixotic mission to do the news well in the face of a fickle audience, corporate mandates and tangled personal relationships.
Season 3 is executive produced by Sorkin, Scott Rudin (No Country for Old Men) and Alan Poul (Six Feet Under), with Denis Biggs (Entourage) and Paul Lieberstein (The Office) joining the show as executive producers.