What’s the Best Newsroom-Style TV Show Ever?

7. Being Mary Jane (2013-19) 

The Plot: Gabrielle Union stars as Mary Jane Paul, a powerhouse cable news host with a very messy personal life, in this BET drama from Mara Brock Akil, 51, the creator of the hit sitcoms Girlfriends and The Game. With so few Black female lead characters on television, Union’s flawed, ambitious, realistic Mary Jane felt even more vital, and she won an NAACP Image Award in 2014 for the role. 

Newsworthy Tidbit: Akil said that she based Mary Jane on her good friend and former Today host Tamron Hall, 50.

Watch It: Being Mary Jane, on Hulu, Paramount+

6. The Newsroom (2012-14)

The Plot: West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin, 60, had already tackled the backstage drama of a television studio twice before — with Sports Night (see below) and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip — and in this controversy-courting series, he turned his attention to a cable news network called ACN. Jeff Daniels, 66, won an Emmy for his role as volatile anchor Will McAvoy, who decides to stop playing it safe (he’s called “the Jay Leno of news anchors”) and start really going after the truth. The series takes place in the real world, meaning we hear McAvoy’s takes on topics like the rise of the Tea Party, the Trayvon Martin killing and the war in Syria. 

Newsworthy Tidbit: Jane Fonda (83) — whose third husband was CNN founder Ted Turner (82) — plays the CEO of ACN’s parent company. 

Watch It: The Newsroom, on HBO Max

5. Great News (2017-18) 

The Plot: Tina Fey (51) co-executive-produced this witty and underappreciated 30 Rock follow-up, which is set behind-the-scenes at a cable news show called The Breakdown, hosted by former network anchor Chuck Pierce (John Michael Higgins, 58) and self-promotional upstart Portia Scott-Griffith (Nicole Richie). Briga Heelan stars as segment producer Katie Wendelson, who’s faced with a unique work challenge — her mother, Carol (played by the legendary Andrea Martin, 74), has joined the team as an intern! 

Newsworthy Tidbit: Fey has a recurring role as network head Diana St. Tropez. 

Watch It: Great News, on Netflix

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4. Sports Night (1998-2000) 

The Plot: While it lasted only two seasons, this Aaron Sorkin dramedy was quietly revolutionary in the way it subverted sitcom tropes to tackle such big topics as steroid abuse and sexual assault — proving that “sports news” could be every bit as important as straight news. Set at a fictionalized version of ESPN’s SportsCenter, the series features Josh Charles, 50, and Peter Krause, 56, as the show’s hosts, Dan Rydell and Casey McCall; Felicity Huffman, 58, as executive producer Dana Whitaker; and Robert Guillaume as managing editor Isaac Jaffe. 

Newsworthy Tidbit: Sports Night was Sorkin’s first TV show, premiering exactly one year before The West Wing. 

Watch It: Sports Night, on Amazon Prime Video

(Back row, left to right) Vicki Lewis, Andy Dick, Maura Tierney, Stephen Root, Khandi Alexander; (Front row, left to right) Joe Rogan, Dave Foley and Phil Hartman

Brillstein-Grey Entertainment/Courtesy Everett Collection

3. NewsRadio (1995-99) 

The Plot: One of the most underrated shows of the 1990s, this workplace comedy followed the shenanigans at WNYX, an AM news radio station in New York City, with an ensemble that included Dave Foley (58), Stephen Root (69), Andy Dick (55), and Maura Tierney (56). When Phil Hartman, who played news anchor Bill McNeal, died in between seasons four and five, his old SNL castmate Jon Lovitz (64) stepped in. “I’m doing this for Phil,” he said at the time. “There’s nothing more to say.” 

Newsworthy Tidbit: According to show lore, the entire cast and crew was banned from the SAG Awards after one appearance, when they took their shoes off, stole wine from other tables, and got drunk and rowdy. 

Watch It: NewsRadio, on Crackle

2. Murphy Brown (1988-98, 2018) 

The Plot: Candice Bergen racked up five Primetime Emmys for her portrayal of the titular investigative reporter and anchor of the 60 Minutes–like newsmagazine FYI. Set in D.C., the show featured a rotating door of high-profile guest stars, including Connie Chung (75), Katie Couric (64) and even Newt Gingrich (78). In 2018, the show came back for a one-season reboot to tackle the political and media landscape in Trump’s America; in a nod to one of the show’s long-running gags, Hillary Clinton (73) cameos in the premiere as a candidate to fill Murphy’s open secretary position. 

Newsworthy Tidbit: The show made headlines of its own when Vice President Dan Quayle (74) criticized Murphy for being a single mother. The writers later incorporated his speech into the 1992 episode “You Say Potatoe, I Say Potato” — and Bergen thanked Quayle in her Emmy acceptance speech the next year. 

Watch It: The 2018 revival season is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video

(Clockwise from bottom left) Betty White, Ted Knight, Gavin McLeod, Ed Asner, Mary Tyler Moore and Georgia Engel.

CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images

1. The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-77) 

The Plot: Ranked fourth on Entertainment Weekly’s 100 best television shows of all time list, The Mary Tyler Moore Show is undeniably “important”: The story of Mary Richards, an unmarried Minneapolis news producer, set the template for all future workplace comedies and shows about single women in the city. But what really made the show sing is that it was absolutely hilarious, with one of the most well-oiled comedy ensemble machines in television history. Who wouldn’t want to work alongside grumpy producer Lou Grant (Ed Asner), vain but lovable anchor Ted Baxter (Ted Knight), trustworthy writer Murray Slaughter (Gavin MacLeod), and, yes, even the Happy Homemaker herself, Sue Ann Nivens (Betty White, 99)? 

Newsworthy Tidbit: The groundbreaking sitcom picked up 29 Emmy wins and launched three successful spinoffs: Rhoda, Phyllis, and Lou Grant.

Watch It: The Mary Tyler Moore Show, on Hulu