‘The Newsroom’ will get third and final season on HBO

Aaron Sorkin’s cable news drama “The Newsroom� will be back for a third and final season.

HBO announced production on the final season would begin this spring with plans for a fall debut.

Jeff Daniels stars in the series as outspoken cable news anchor Will McAvoy, who puts together the program “News Night� with his production staff, including Emily Mortimer as the executive producer. Daniels won an Emmy for best actor in a drama series last September.

In a statement, HBO programming president Michael Lombardo said: “‘The Newsroom’ is classic Aaron Sorkin -- smart, riveting and thought-provoking. I’m sure this farewell season will be one to remember.�

WINTER TV PREVIEW: Full coverage of the season’s shows

Sorkin’s much heralded return to series TV faced mixed reviews during its first season, but was seen to have improved a bit in its second season. One of the main criticisms leveled against the show was its decision to have the series use real-life news events as the topics of its show, as opposed to thinly-veiled fictions. However, Sorkin has said in interviews that it was the choice to use real-life news events that made the series seem workable for him.

In 2012, Sorkin told NPR: “I know that this device has bothered some people who think that I’m leveraging hindsight into a way to make my characters stronger. That wasn’t the idea.�

One interesting behind-the-scenes change to note is that Paul Lieberstein, better known as Toby the hapless HR guy from “The Office,� will be joining the show as an executive producer. Lieberstein also was a writer on “The Office.�

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