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From The Huffington Post, here’s an account that gets the big points right: Farnsworth is a nuanced, albeit largely fictional account of its controversial genesis. Still, it raises the ultimate question: Who owns the means of production? If you guessed the big, bad corporation, you win. The question remains, of course, why was it necessary […]

Warren Beatty’ likes the play: WARREN Beatty was so impressed with Hank Azaria’s turn as TV pioneer David Sarnoff in Broadway’s "The Farnsworth Invention," he rushed backstage to greet him after a performance last week at the Music Box. Azaria was shocked to see Beatty and his wife, Annette Bening, standing there, our spy reports:

Link: Science Friday Archives: The Farnsworth Invention. In this segment, Ira talks with Des McAnuff, director of the play ‘The Farnsworth Invention,’ with Jimmi Simpson, the actor who plays the role of Farnsworth in the play, and with Hank Azaria, who plays the role of David Sarnoff. And here’s a link to the audio archives

Lying On The Beach Talks Fact Vs. Fiction Behind Aaron Sorkin’s Broadway Play “The Farnsworth Invention”. Did Emmy-Award winning scribe Aaron Sorkin stick to the truth or play fast with the facts in his Broadway play, “The Farnsworth Invention” about the invention of TV and the patent war that ensured? Lying on The Beach gets

Silicon Valley columnist Vindu Goel recently saw The Farnsworth Invention, and offers some intriguing suggestions why the play is pertinent for today’s tech-revved audiences: Although Sorkin’s fictionalized account distorts some important historical facts – shame on him – it’s great fun to watch. (Imagine the witty dialogue of "West Wing" coming out of the mouths

One writer puts The Farnsworth Invention on his "best" side of his best/worst 2007 theater ledger: 8. The Farnsworth Invention Okay. Historical liberties aside, Aaron Sorkin’s play about the patent race on television is both inspiring and compelling. Of course, I can’t help but comment:  if he thought the play was "both inspiring and compelling,"

Link: The Farnsworth Invention, by James E. O’Neal.  Granted, it’s all very "technical," but this might be one of the most comprehensive blog entries I’ve read yet that explains all this teeth-gnashing over a Broadway play: In taking issue with a particular chamber of commerce’s version of the landing of the Mayflower, Will Rogers once

Like me, this blogger came to the show as an avid fan of Aaron Sorkin’s previous work. I, too, always felt a twinge of sadness at the final fade-out of a West Wing episode.  "That’s it?" I’d wonder.  "It’s over?  Now what am I gonna do?"  Turning of the TeeVee was usually the best solution

It never dawned on me that when the David Sarnoff character says in his opening speech that "the ends do justify the means," that he was talking about the play itself…Link: Show Showdown: The Farnsworth Invention. The Farnsworth Invention is a clever, well-written, exciting piece of semi-fiction. Those expecting it to be more are clearly

Now for something completely different. At the heart of this whole "Farnsworth -v- Sarnoff" story is the American patent system, which has changed considerably in the 200+ years since the Constitution first authorized Congress to protect the rights of "authors and inventors."  Now there is legislation brewing that would make the already crippled patent system