HBO seems to be going for news-style dependability with its scheduling, debuting the second season of "The Newsroom" in June, one year after its first-season debut -- no fancy scheduling tricks, no moving it around to change time-slot competitors (not that HBO ever worries about that).

"West Wing" creator Aaron Sorkin's new political drama takes place, predictably, on the set of a fictional cable news show and features "Dumb & Dumber" (1994) star Jeff Daniels as the show's anchor.

It didn't have an easy time with critics last year, but it could be argued that has a lot to do with the high bar Sorkin has set for himself.

The ratings, for example, tell a different story -- "The Newsroom's" premiere drew 2.1 million viewers, making it one of HBO's most-watched, and the finale actually improved on that number, drawing 2.3 million. However, "The West Wing," the series against which all other Sorkin creations will be judged, had the love of both audiences and critics.

TVFanatic.com critic Matt Richenthal summed up the dilemma quite harshly like this: "I've never enjoyed watching a bad TV show more in my life." That said, he gave the show a B- in his season-end report card.

With these ratings numbers, though, it's unlikely HBO will be looking to change a whole lot going into Season 2.

The biggest thing to look out for is the high-profile-guest phenomenon that occurs with shows once they gain a little popularity (that is, once the high-profile guests can be sure they won't be appearing on a flop, or on a show that's canceled before their episodes air).

HBO has already announced a pair of such guests: popular comedian and actor Patton Oswalt and former "United States of Tara" star Rosemarie DeWitt will both appear in recurring roles this season, according to "The Hollywood Reporter."

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