Aaron Sorkin showed a rare apologetic side while speaking at the Tribeca Film Festival last night, addressing criticism leveled at The Newsroom and explaining where he went wrong in writing the HBO series.

"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 crowd.

The executive producer then said he never intended to set his show in the recent past in order to criticize how various outlets covered real-life events such as Benghazi or the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

"I think that there's been a terrible misunderstanding," Sorkin said. "I did not set the show in the recent past in order to show the pros how it should have been done. That was and remains the furthest thing from my mind."

So, what was Sorkin's goal in doing this?

"It was going to be weird if the world that these people were living in did not in any way resemble the world that you were living in... also, I wanted the option of having a terrific dynamic that you can get when the audience knows more than the characters do...

"So, 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 was renewed for a third and final season in January and will return some time this fall.

Among other topics, viewers can expect an episode set around the Boston Marathon bombing of last year.

Looking to watch up before its return? You can watch The Newsroom online now.

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.