Aaron Sorkin Apologizes for The Newsroom: "I'd Like to Start Over"

Aaron Sorkin says he'd like to apologize to people who may have misinterpreted his intentions with his HBO series The Newsroom.

"I think you and I got off on the wrong foot with The Newsroom and I apologize and I'd like to start over," Sorkin told the audience at a Tribeca Film Festival event Monday, referencing the criticism over his choice to set the show in the recent past. "I think that there's been a terrible misunderstanding. ... I wasn't trying to and I'm not capable of teaching a professional journalist a lesson. That wasn't my intent and it's never my intent to teach you a lesson or try to persuade you or anything."

The Newsroom, which stars Jeff Daniels and Emily Mortimer as the anchor and producer of a nightly newscast, often depicts media coverage of real events, including the killing of Osama Bin Laden and the 2012 presidential election.

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Added the West Wing creator: "I like writing romantically and idealistically. I try to balance that with just enough realism so that it feels like whatever romantic ideal is in there is somewhat attainable."

The upcoming third season of The Newsroom will be the show's last, and Sorkin teased at Monday's event that one episode will chronicle the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.

"I feel like I'm just now starting to learn how to write it," he said of the show. "I've very proud of The Newsroom. ... But there is a learning curve and unfortunately, those lessons are learned in front of several million people. ... I'm feeling really good about how the third season is going. I'll look back on it fondly and proudly, and wish I could get every scene of every episode back so that I could do it all over again."

Listen to Sorkin's full interview here: