The dramatic turning point in the career of Will McAvoy, the once inoffensive network anchor in the new hit drama The Newsroom, comes when he's asked to explain why America is the best country in the world.

McAvoy tries to dodge the question. But when pushed he sheds his milquetoast persona to deliver a tirade.

"There is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we're the greatest country in the world," he yells at a stunned audience. "We're seventh in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality [and] third in median household income … When you ask what makes us the greatest country in the world, I don't know what the fuck you're talking about – Yosemite?"