If the show just has Munn pretend to be a new anchor I think that can work, but when she was off fake camera she was a pretty big drag. Especially since she was up against Mortimer who killed it tonight. As did Pill for that matter. It is troubling, I think, that gender roles are being perpetuated in generic fashion (as was the blunt foreshadowing earlier about how Mac couldn't work the e-mail system) while challenged in a lazy fashion, but as a whole I found the relationship dynamics mixed with the news to be a good deal more compelling this week even if cliches were being trotted out.
The execution of the news segments continue to be a highlight, but I find the interconnectedness of the newsroom itself to be fairly compelling as well. Even if it works, so far, in cliches when it does take some time to work with how each person is reliant on the other to create this idealized whole (and the struggles that go in to even making that work for a single episode of fake television) it works nicely.
There are still some notable problems that need ironing out (and again the musical cues, while more subtle this week, are completely unnecessary and with the Big Three of Pill, Mortimer, and Daniels they become even more obvious as points of disinterest), but I've enjoyed the first two episodes enough to keep coming back even if the show hasn't vaulted (or perhaps shown enough sustained potential on a single episode basis to suggest that it will vault) in to the immediate list of best programs on TV, but I certainly wouldn't call it bad or mediocre by any means.
Also, over this past week, and giving a read of the AV Club's review of tonight's episode, I have been completely floored by how much collective animosity the tastemakers and critics seem to have against Sorkin. Dunham caught shit from viewers and comments in blog posts, but the shots taken directly at Sorkin seem even worse, despite basically being notably less harsh since his physical appearance hasn't been called in to question...yet, coming from supposed authority figures. In some ways I would even call the attacks equal because I can understand why Joe Schmo would make direct personal attacks about Dunham against her because there's anonymity and ignorance that are given and not super surprising from people posting on AV Club comments sections or the [as] boards, but to have critics blatantly attack Sorkin is absolutely stunning to me.