History Characters / TheNewsroom

Maggie's roommate who she sets up with Jim in season one.

* ClosestThingWeGot: He was only a legal correspondent when he anchored for the first time. All the other anchors were grounded due to a national emergency, and he was the only person on hand to anchor. [[TheWarOnTerror It was 9/11.]]

A journalist Will brings in to write a story about News Night 2.0. He's also Mackenzie's ex-boyfriend, whom she cheated on Will with for 4 months.

* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: Brian's bread and butter was writing for newsmagazines and he was formerly on the masthead at Newsweek. When it was sold, he invested his buyout money in a failed start-up. Now, he has a blog.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Will's infamous answer to the question "Why is America the Greatest Country in the World?" where he refuses to give a genuine answer until he his prodded and then inspired by Mackenzie assisting him. He then goes on a massive takedown of the question where he even cites statistics to back up his claim. In a direct parallel to the answer he gave, Will can be a great and powerful source of journalistic good, but he has become complacent and needs help from important people in his life to get him back there.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: In-universe, Will was thrust into the limelight after being dragooned into anchoring for the 9/11 coverage.

!!'''Tess Westin''' [-(Margaret Judson)-]

!!'''Tamara Hart''' [-(Wynn Everett)-]

!!'''Martin Stallworth''' [-(Thomas Matthews)-]

!!'''Herb Wilson''' [-(John F. Carpenter)-]

!!'''Jake Watson''' [-(Charlie Weirauch/Brian Huskey)-]

!!'''Joey Phan''' [-(Trieu Tran)-]

!!'''Jennifer 'Jenna' Johnson''' [-(Riley Voelkel)-]

!!'''Don Keefer''' [-(Thomas Sadoski)-]

!!'''Reese Lansing''' [-(Chriss Messina)-]

!!'''Nina Howard''' [-(Hope Davis)-]

!!'''Jerome 'Jerry' Dantana''' [-(Hamish Linklater)-]

!!'''Lisa Lambert''' [-(Kelen Coleman)-]

!!'''Wade Campbell''' [-(Jon Tenney)-]

!!'''Kaylee''' [-(Natalie Morales)-]

!!'''Dr. Jack Habib''' [-(David Krumholtz)-]

!!'''Brian Benner''' [-(Paul Schneider)-]

* NeverLiveItDown: "You have been nothing but bad news since you raised your hand at Northwestern." [[invoked]]

!!'''James 'Jim' Harper''' [-(John Gallagher, Jr.)-]

* ReplacementLoveInterest: She is a more stable, stronger version of [[spoiler: Maggie]].

!!'''Kendra James''' [-(Adina Porter)-]

!!'''Charlie Skinner''' [-(Sam Waterston)-]

!!'''Elliot Hirsch''' [-(David Harbour)-]

!!'''Lonny Church''' [-(Terry Crews)-]

!!'''Taylor Warren''' [-(Constance Zimmer)-]

!!'''[=MacKenzie=] Morgan "Mac" [=McHale=]''' [-(Emily Mortimer)-]

** Not to mention that he opened the season and began his crusade with a particularly [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome epic rant.]]

** In Season 2 he fixes new tires to his chair and WD-40s them. He not only falls over backward twice, [[CrowningMomentOfFunny it makes him look like a midget behind his desk.]]

* HeelFaceTurn: He started off very antagonistic and unlikeable, fighting with Will and being quite [[{{Jerkass}} jerkish]] to Maggie, but once he [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome stood up to Reese]], he became the unofficial SixthRanger of the team, helping and supporting News Night even though it's not his show.

Gossip columnist for TMI, AWM's tabloid magazine. Will initially tries to hit on her, but is repulsed by the fact that she is dedicated to reporting gossip and sleaze. Later on turns into a minor antagonist whom Will [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome verbally bitchslaps.]]

A print journalist and Mackenzie's boyfriend before Will, whom she cheated on Will with for 4 months.

* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: Brian was formerly on the masthead at Newsweek, and when it was sold he invested his buyout money into a failed online start-up. Now, he has a blog.

Mackenzie's boyfriend before Will, whom she cheated on Will with for 4 months.

* BettyAndVeronica: He's the {{Adorkable}} Betty to JerkWithAHeartOfGOld Don's Veronica for Maggie's Archie, [[spoiler:until Don and Maggie break up in Season 2]]. He's also the Archie to Maggie (Betty) and Lisa (Veronica) in Season 1, [[spoiler:and in Season 2, Hallie takes over the Veronica role after Lisa breaks up him]].

* LittleNo: [[spoiler: When she sees that Jim was on the SexAndTheCity bus tour.]]

* RantInducingSlight: Went completely ballistic after being splashed with water by a SexAndTheCity tour bus and hearing the tour guide say that the characters let viewers 'live the typical life of a single woman in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity', which launched her into a tirade about how she, being a typical single woman in New York City, was [[TakeThat not like the women in Sex and the City,]] [[spoiler: and then confessed that she had fallen for Jim. [[ItMakesSenseInContext And Jim was on the bus]]]].

* HotScoop: Now that she's more reliable in front of the camera. See MsFanservice below.

* ThreeAmigos: Will, [=MacKenzie=], and Charlie. They're the main decision makers of the team, all three of them are [[LargeHam Large Hams]], HotBlooded, refer to themselves as Literature/DonQuixote analogues, and have many, many mutual [[BerserkButton Berserk Buttons]]. They take turns disagreeing and reining each other in, but god help you if and when they all agree on something.
** Will is TheSpock, preferring to be pragmatic and practical despite a deep and well-buried idealism. At the same time he is also Don Quixote to keep that allusion going.

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Being a former lawyer and a prime time news anchor, Will is damn good at doling these out like candy.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: In universe, Will was thrust into the limelight after being dragooned into anchoring for the 9/11 coverage.

** This trope gets overtly addressed in "Election Night, Part 2" when Taylor Warren calls him out on it. Will insists he genuinely is a Republican, saying he believes in free market capitalism, common-sense reality, and the need for self-defense against dangerous enemies. What he doesn't like is how the list of requirements to consider yourself one has expanded to include things such as homophobia, Christianity, denial of scientific facts and dismissal of intellectualism, the idea poor people have it easy, and - he says ultimately - that he has to hate the Democrats rather than just disagree with them.
** Someone with Will's views being a republican seems like FoxNewsLiberal, but in some ways it's actually TruthInTelevision, as many Republicans with centrist views have been driven to the fringes in recent years as the party mainstream has become dominated by extreme culture warriors and the Tea Party. Will's views as expressed on the show are pretty similar to those of many of these now-obscure moderate republicans, his positions on most issues seem like they could be based on Colin Powell or Fox News anchor Shepard "Shep" Smith, who has a reputation for refusing to put up with his colleagues and interviewees alike lying, obfuscating, or outright ignoring facts and who expresses his discomfort with the more extreme positions of the party quite regularly.

* MushroomSamba: Claims to take marijuana due to pain he still experiences from injuries sustained during his youth playing baseball, but totally misjudges his intake [[spoiler: the night Osama bin Laden is killed]] and takes 2 whole cookies plus 1 Vicodin, leading Will to behave very... interestingly.

** Certain similarities can also be drawn between Will and Creator/JonStewart. Despite the comedic tone of Stewart’s reports, they share a startling amount of similarities. They are both relentless in their persuit of truth without agenda, focus heavily on criticising the way that news media in America works, comment heavily on the bizarre nature of political discourse, got into scraps with the corperate sponsers/allies of their show- the Koch brothers, gained reputations for behaving like prosecutors towards their guests, and strove to or achieved the status as one of the most trusted news voices in America.
* NoSocialSkills: In the beginning of the show, Will has no idea that people think he's an asshole. In episode four, he and Sloan talk about how they have no ability to mingle at a party. We also see him piss off several women in what were supposed to be romantic moments. In spite of all this, Will gets plenty of dates.

* RantInducingSlight: Has a tendency to go off on one of these. Peeves include gossip columnists, inane Twitter messages, and other people in the path of his mission to civilize. Usually Charlie has to cool him down. Mac sometimes tries, but often gets caught up debating him. Either that, or she's the cause.

* BelligerentSexualTension: She very clearly wants Will to forgive her and love her again, but is often exasperated by his pragmatic approaches to news ratings. Then there are the many times he plays mindgames just to torment her.

* RantInducingSlight: She tends to launch into one whenever her idealism is countered by pragmatism or stupidity, such as when she learns how Nancy Grace emotionally manipulates viewers by using planted 'experts' and editing tricks. She also has an epic meltdown after being emotionally tormented for weeks by Will, who then refused to cave in to the Republicans because they demanded Will to drop Mac for their dumbed-down debate.

** In another episode he got hit in the head twice in the space of less than 3 minutes, by the same glass door, both times by Maggie slamming it into his forehead. Then he started bleeding, and Maggie tries to [[WorstAid clean his wound.]]

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Relentlessly deals a bunch of these while travelling on the Mitt Romney campaign bus, calling out on Romney's backpedalling and inconsistencies. It annoys the hell out of everyone on the bus.

** ImportantHaircut: Turns out the reason she did was because [[spoiler: a young boy she was protecting got shot and most likely shielded the bullet from her. She vividly remembers a light-hearted conversation with the boy's teacher about how blonde hair means she's trouble, but takes it to heart afterwards and dyes her hair likely because of this.]]

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Goes to absurd lengths to track down the woman who put up the video of her ranting, in an effort to convince her to take it down. [[spoiler: The woman not only doesn't take it down after promising to, but she herself goes to great lengths to track down Lisa - the person Maggie didn't want seeing the video in the first place - to tell her about it, because she didn't like Maggie or Sloan's attitude towards her.]]

* RantInducingSlight: Went completely ballistic after being splashed with water by a SexAndTheCity tour bus and hearing the tour guide say that the characters let viewers 'live the typical life of a single woman in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity', which launched her into a tirade about how she, being a typical single woman in New York city, was [[TakeThat not like the women in Sex and the City,]] [[spoiler: and then confessed that she had fallen for Jim. [[ItMakesSenseInContext And Jim was on the bus]]]].

** It gets worse in "Election Night", when he's being hounded by both Sloan and Mac to do ultimately minor personal favors [[SeriousBusiness in the middle of the election coverage]].

* HotScoop: Now that she's more reliably in front of the camera. See MsFanservice below.

An associate producer for News Night. Slightly senior than Tamara by virtue of the fact that she was hired in the morning while Tamara was hired after lunch on the same day.

* ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler: Her low rank and innocuousness was instrumental in relaying Will's message (disguised as a dinner menu) telling Neal to start running from the FBI]].

* BerserkButton: Imply that Will is incompetent or insult Will, and he will scream in your face and threaten to beat the crap out of you. Also mess with any of his staff, or bungle catastrophically and you will feel his unbridled wrath.

** In Season 2 he fixes new tires to his chair and WD-40s them. He not only falls over backwards twice, [[CrowningMomentOfFunny it makes him look like a midget behind his desk.]]

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's callous and pushes the people around him a little too hard, but he honestly cares about them, and takes his job at being a good newsperson very seriously.
* NotSoDifferent: He clashes with Will a lot on how to deliver the news, but they're both dedicated newsmen who are caring, if a little callous, to the people around them, and they annoy the hell out of the people working with them because they're pushy and demanding in their quest to do good news. They both also get better at it eventually, and are extremely loyal to the people they work with.

* TheResenter: See JerkassHasAPoint. Don believes he could have done a "great" news show similar to Newsnight 2.0. But he can't, since he doesn't have Will's autonomy. Jim making fun of him for doing stories about the McRib doesn't help matters. He gets over it as the first season progresses.
* RomanticRunnerUp: PlayedWith. [[spoiler:Don and Maggie end up moving in together at the end of season one, making Sloan and Jim their respective runner-ups. They breakup, however, early on in season two, so they actually end up being each other's runner-ups in the long run.]]

* {{Jerkass}}: Is only interested in ratings and viewership, and is constantly on Will, Mac and Charlie's asses to report entertaining fluff pieces instead real news.

* UnderestimatingBadassery: Will thinks he can just walk into the clinic and grab a prescription for sleeping pills, and is totally unprepared for Jack to quickly pick apart Will's emotional and psychological issues, when Will is already an expert at hiding his emotional and psychological issues.

* TheMovieBuff: Tends to quote a lot movies in his conversations.

* ObstructiveBureaucrat: She stonewalls Jim's questions at every single turn while on the campaign trail. Jim is a little WrongGenreSavvy to notice that he's in the wrong place to be an intrepid reporter, and that Taylor is actually just doing her job.

* TheDitz: Probably the biggest one in the team, considering she thought Creator/ChristianBale was an Australian actress who appeared in {{Spider-Man}}. She's still a competent newsperson, though.

* ThreeAmigos: Will, [=MacKenzie=], and Charlie. They're the main decision makers of the team, all three of them are [[LargeHam Large Hams]], HotBlooded, refer to themselves as DonQuixote analogues, and have many, many mutual [[BerserkButton Berserk Buttons]]. They take turns disagreeing and reining each other in, but god help you if and when they all agree on something.
** Will is TheSpock, preferring to be pragmatic and practical despite a deep and well-buried idealism. At the same time he is also DonQuixote to keep that allusion going.

** Will's story arc in the first season also parallels DonQuixote. He starts off as a fairly sensible, harmless man, but then he becomes possessed with antiquated ideals and mounts a massive crusade against seemingly imaginary monsters and foes, to the point that most people consider him delusional or insane, which he wilfully and gleefully ignores. Everybody else on his team is pretty much [[{{Sidekick}} Sancho Panza]] or [[RunningGag the donkey]]. He also quotes the movie/musical in the first season finale, which also mirrors Quixote [[spoiler: in which he is shown a mirror (the New Yorker's magazine article) that reveals him for the fool that he is, and he has a HeroicBSOD before being rejuvenated with his old purpose after a visit by his Dulcinea ([=MacKenzie=]/Charlie/Nurse Cooper).]]

* {{Expy}}: Will is an [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness eloquent news anchor]] who tasks himself with [[RantInducingSlight lambasting idiot Republicans]] while trying to use his show [[TheFettered to inform and inspire the public]] but is [[ScrewedByTheNetwork in trouble with the news company he works in]] and has a HairTriggerTemper that has given him a reputation for [[JerkassWithAHeartOfGold alienating friends and co-workers]]. If this sounds familiar, it's only because Creator/AaronSorkin did his initial research for this show by being an off-camera guest at CountdownWithKeithOlbermann.

!!'''William Duncan 'Will' [=McAvoy=]''' [-(Jeff Daniels)-]