''The Farnsworth Invention'' is a stage play by Aaron Sorkin adapted from an unproduced

screenplay A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a '' teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of w ...

about

Philo Farnsworth Philo Taylor Farnsworth (August 19, 1906 – March 11, 1971), "The father of television", was the American inventor and pioneer who was granted the first patent for the television by the United States Government. Burns, R. W. (1998), ''Televisi ...

's first fully functional and completely all-electronic

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

system and

David Sarnoff David Sarnoff (February 27, 1891 – December 12, 1971) was a Russian and American businessman who played an important role in the American history of radio and television. He led the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) for most of his career in ...

, the RCA president who stole the design.

Screenplay

''Variety'' reported in September 2003 that Sorkin was working on a screenplay about Philo Farnsworth. On April 29, 2004,

New Line Cinema New Line Productions, Inc., Trade name, doing business as New Line Cinema, is an American film production, film and television production company that is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, a division of the Major film studios, ...

announced they had acquired the drama script ''The Farnsworth Invention'' from award-winning writer Aaron Sorkin. Thomas Schlamme was set to direct. The release read in part: "''The Farnsworth Invention'' tells the story of

, a boy genius born in

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, who later moved to Rigby,

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, where he began experimenting with electricity. In 1920, when Farnsworth was 14, he showed his high school chemistry teacher a design he had made for an electronic television only to become involved in an all-or-nothing battle with

, the young president of RCA and

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's first communications mogul." Schlamme described the movie as "a classic American tale driven by the conflict between a Mormon farmer and a

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n immigrant over the ownership of the most influential invention of the 20th Century." Following its initial press release, New Line did not disclose any additional information about the film. As a result,

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s such as The Internet Movie Database (

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) incorrectly anticipated a film in 2005. IMDb eventually removed the entry.

Stage play

In 2005 it was announced that Sorkin was adapting the screenplay for the stage and the play would debut in the Abbey Theatre in

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. It was staged at the La Jolla Playhouse from February 20 - March 25, 2007 as "a page-to-stage production" with Jimmi Simpson (''

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'') playing Farnsworth and Stephen Lang ('' Gods and Generals'') as Sarnoff. Award-winning composer Andrew Lippa penned 45 minutes of music to underscore the drama. It was scheduled to open on Broadway on November 14, 2007, but this was delayed due to the 2007 Broadway stagehand strike. It opened at the Music Box Theatre on December 3, 2007, with Hank Azaria in the Sarnoff role due to Lang's commitment to

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's 2009 film ''

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''. The show closed on March 2, 2008. Simpson was honored with a Theatre World Award for his performance. An

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n production directed by Louise Fischer officially opened on July 13, 2011, at the New Theatre in Newtown.

Historical accuracy

The play is not historically accurate and is an intentional alteration of the story. It shows Farnsworth as being defeated legally by Sarnoff, and then spending his life in obscurity. In reality, Farnsworth won the lawsuit, later received a $1 million payment from RCA for the purchase of his TV patents, and went on to have an illustrious career in technological research. There is a statue of Farnsworth in Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol. This issue was later addressed on a

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question where Sorkin wrote:

Critical reception

In ''

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'', Ben Brantley panned the play with faint praise: In the ''

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'', Clive Barnes awarded it 2½ out of 4 stars and stated, "Sorkin's take on the Farnsworth/Sarnoff standoff would be better suited to a screen, either big or small. Even now, while crackling with crisp dialogue, ''The Farnsworth Invention'' often has the air of a clumsy stage adaptation of, say, ''

Citizen Kane ''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American Drama (film and television), drama film directed by, produced by and starring Orson Welles and co-written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz. It was Welles's List of directorial debuts, first feature film. ...

''." Joe Dziemianowicz of the ''

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'' described it as "disappointing and ho-hum" and "seldom deeply involving . . . Scenes play out like brief vignettes from a

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biopic . . . without stirring emotions." In ''

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'', Linda Winer called it "vintage Sorkin and crackling prime-time theater . . . breezy and shrewd, smart-alecky and idealistic." In '' Variety'', David Rooney said, "The plot-heavy drama is light on fully fleshed-out characters or subtext, making it likely to play more satisfyingly when it inevitably reverts to being a film or

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project . . . tnever fully moves beyond its stream of over-explained factoids." In the ''

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'', Hedy Weiss described it as "a firecracker of a play in a fittingly snap, crackle and pop production under the direction of Des McAnuff, the drama has among its many virtues the ability to make you think at the same time that it breaks your heart." Chris Jones of the ''

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'' called it "slick yet deeply conflicted" and "restless" and added, "this is one of those Boomer-friendly, media-savvy, self-aware pieces of effective theater that feel like they owe a lot to TV writing and our celebrity-obsessed culture . . . this is a jumpy piece of writing. It feels like the writer is worried the audience might change the channel. That's not entirely a bad thing. As fans of Sorkin's TV shows know well, the internal psyche of Sorkin is a very stimulating place in which to dwell for a couple of hours. His characters are uncommonly articulate and witty—albeit without much differentiation. He has mastered all the dramatic rules so well, he can titillate you by deconstructing and then reassembling them. And in this case he certainly knows how to make a dry scientific quest into a provocative piece of theater."

References

External links