April 20, 2010. Will McAvoy comes back to his national news anchor desk two weeks after a PR disaster at a college forum. He discovers that most of his staff are following his executive producer to another show, and his boss has hired Mackenzie MacHale as the new EP. McAvoy wants nothing to do with her and talks to his agent about getting her fired. While he and MacHale hash things out in his office, the news wire carries a report about a fire at BP's Deepwater Horizon oil well. McAvoy's old EP dismisses the intelligence that MacHale's assistant is discovering. How will McAvoy handle the opportunity to devote an hour to this news - and can the team put a show together on the fly? Written by jhailey@hotmail.com

Less than a week after their breakthrough report on the Gulf oil spill, McAvoy wants to lead with Arizona's new immigration law that Governor Brewer will sign that day. Jim preps Maggie for her call to Brewer's press aide in advance of McAvoy's interview of the governor, which will open the broadcast. Maggie neglects to give Jim a crucial bit of information - and the show doesn't go as planned. Will heads roll? Meanwhile, MacHale lays out her vision of the program to McAvoy - is he in or out? Written by jhailey@hotmail.com

Over several months leading up to the 2010 election, McAvoy takes on the Tea Party, leading the evening news with interviews and reports on their funding, knowledge, and tactics. Jim talks Maggie through a panic attack, and her relationship with Don is on again and off again. To Mackenzie's dismay, Will has his dates meet him at the studio after the newscast; Maggie speaks up. On the 44th floor, Charlie faces a litany of complaints from two suits in front of the company's owner, Leona Lansing. Is she going to stay with Charlie's vision of the show? Written by jhailey@hotmail.com

New Year's Eve, 2010: Don encourages Jim to hang out with Maggie's roommate; Maggie objects. Will, in a tuxedo, decides to be sociable at the station's party, chatting up a visiting columnist. He objects to something she ways, she tosses her glass of Champagne in his face, and a couple days later, a local gossip column accuses him of groping her. A similar event and newspaper report happen a couple days later. What's going on? Then, on Saturday, January 8, by a fluke, everyone's at the station when a major story breaks. Will everyone keep their heads? Written by jhailey@hotmail.com

It's the week leading up to Valentine's Day, 2011. ACN needs someone on the ground in Cairo: Neal helps them recruit Amen (the hidden one), a young blogger who masks his face. Before they'll use him, the network insists that Amen drop his anonymity. Governor Scott Walker seeks elimination of collective bargaining for government employees in Wisconsin; Will covers the story with reports of behind-the-scenes funding from the Koch brothers. Someone is playing Mackenzie, the network's morning show repeats gossip about her furnished by Nina Howard, and the newsroom staff finds a touchstone in the movie Rudy. Written by jhailey@hotmail.com

April, 2011: Will has insomnia and drops by a psychiatrist's office for a prescription. The doc, the son of a man Will consulted four years before, invites Will to sit: their session becomes flashbacks of the previous week. The Japanese may be downplaying the danger at Fukushima, Will presses Sloane to ask tougher follow-up questions, Mackenzie directs Jim and Maggie to do opposition research on Will (so Charlie can anticipate the next gossip attack), Will insists viewers' Internet comments no longer be anonymous and he receives a threat on his life, and Rick Santorum explores running for President. An engagement ring appears, a gay man interviewed. Who are the bullies? Written by jhailey@hotmail.com

Sunday evening, May 1, 2011. The ACN news team is at Will's for a party to mark a year of good reporting. Charlie gets a call alerting him to a major news announcement at 10. By 9:00, everyone's on their way to the studio (with Will under the influence of a Vicodin and two pot-laced cookies). Don, Sloan, and Elliot are stuck on the tarmac at LaGuardia waiting for a gate. As the team uses brains and sources to narrow the possibilities - and get confirmation of what's going on - Charlie has to make the call as to when they go on the air: get it right without collateral damage. By evening's end, he gets a second tip suggesting that another story is brewing. Written by jhailey@hotmail.com

May, 2011. Ratings have dropped like a stone with viewers switching to Nancy Grace for the Casey Anthony trial. Charlie insists they start reporting on Anthony fearing that the ratings fall will mean ACN won't get to lead on presidential debates (they have a game-changing idea) and that Leona will have her excuse to fire Will. Mackenzie pitches fits and grumbles. Then, Anthony Weiner's genitalia become news, and there's precious little room for Sloane to report that a Congressional decision to debate the debt ceiling will precipitate fiscal havoc. Will invites Mac's ex to audition for a cover story about the show. A scandal is brewing, and the weather also wants a piece of the hour. Written by jhailey@hotmail.com

The pitch to the RNC requires one last push to drive ratings up: Lisa knew Casey Anthony in high school, so Jim and Maggie visit her at work to beg her to appear on the show. The day of the pitch arrives: Will takes the team of Republican presidential hopefuls through a mock debate. Will asks his psychiatrist why he can't forgive Mackenzie; she hits some emotional high notes about both the Anthony coverage and Brian's presence in the newsroom. Flowers are in Will's office; how they got there prompts Mackenzie to tell Jim to gather his rosebuds. Neal, with Sloan's help, hatches a new plan to get his troll license. There's danger in both Jim and Neal's actions. Written by jhailey@hotmail.com

On a night in August, 2011, there are many top stories as voter ID laws take hold and Congressional Republicans hold the nation's credit hostage. In flashbacks, we see the eight days leading up to a hard-hitting broadcast. Will is in hospital, resolved not to come back to News Night, Brian's published a savage piece in New York, Charlie's source at the NSA may not be rock solid, and Nina is pursuing confirmation that Will was high on the night he announced bin Laden's death. Sloan surprises Don, Don surprises Maggie, Jim takes a Sex and the City bus tour, Neal eggs on the haters, and a somewhat-familiar young woman sits in the newsroom. Written by jhailey@hotmail.com