The West Wing
This is the big one: certainly the best TV writing, acting, character development, execution, continuity, directing - just the best in ten years. If you're bored by politics, you'll like this series anyway.
Operating in a cynical system, the senior White House staff are portrayed as fundamentally decent and idealistic people, above all incredibly intelligent. At times they're shown as falling victim to their own vanity, arrogance or insecurity. My favorite moments from Season 1:
When press secretary learns her Secret Service code name.
When the president greets children for Christmas.
When a senior staffer arranges a veteran's burial in Arlington (you'll cry just like we did).
When we meet The First Lady for the first time (I've always been a sucker for Stockard Channing).
When the team pulls together and maximizes their incredible talent and wit.
The show refuses to apologize for being unsentimental and intelligent. That alone makes you so proud to have people like this leading our country. Consider the president, as played by Martin Sheen.
My friend described President Barclay as the president we wished Bill Clinton had been. He is a principled New England catholic who doesn't need multiple women. (H'mmm. Maybe he's the president we wished John Kennedy had been.)
Anyway, Sheen did such a good job in the first season that they wrote a lot more stuff for him here in the second season. He struggles here with more ethical concerns, many of which occur close to home. My favorite second-season moment: when he tells a trusted advisor who operates as an ethical canary-in-the-coal-mine to shut up.
But, again, the series was really about the senior White House staff: the operatives, press handlers, and political muscle men. It teaches at the same time as it entertains - somehow avoiding a fatal cynicism, we're fascinted by both how little and how much can be done within our system. Worst thing about Season Two: Season One. The bar was set so high by the first season that you begin to see a little deterioriation here. A gradual descent into cheaper entertainment occurs, especially soap opera type stuff and lurid plot twists. That said, though, you won't be disappointed.
I don't like politics, really. If anything, the show seems "poll heavy," which I initially wrote off to Pat Cadell's job with the series. However, I'm naive: politicians live and die by polls, so their significance is not to be underestimated.
You won't regret buying these DVDs for keeps; it's the best non-PBS television we've seen in the last ten years - no kidding.
Operating in a cynical system, the senior White House staff are portrayed as fundamentally decent and idealistic people, above all incredibly intelligent. At times they're shown as falling victim to their own vanity, arrogance or insecurity. My favorite moments from Season 1:
When press secretary learns her Secret Service code name.
When the president greets children for Christmas.
When a senior staffer arranges a veteran's burial in Arlington (you'll cry just like we did).
When we meet The First Lady for the first time (I've always been a sucker for Stockard Channing).
When the team pulls together and maximizes their incredible talent and wit.
The show refuses to apologize for being unsentimental and intelligent. That alone makes you so proud to have people like this leading our country. Consider the president, as played by Martin Sheen.
My friend described President Barclay as the president we wished Bill Clinton had been. He is a principled New England catholic who doesn't need multiple women. (H'mmm. Maybe he's the president we wished John Kennedy had been.)
Anyway, Sheen did such a good job in the first season that they wrote a lot more stuff for him here in the second season. He struggles here with more ethical concerns, many of which occur close to home. My favorite second-season moment: when he tells a trusted advisor who operates as an ethical canary-in-the-coal-mine to shut up.
But, again, the series was really about the senior White House staff: the operatives, press handlers, and political muscle men. It teaches at the same time as it entertains - somehow avoiding a fatal cynicism, we're fascinted by both how little and how much can be done within our system. Worst thing about Season Two: Season One. The bar was set so high by the first season that you begin to see a little deterioriation here. A gradual descent into cheaper entertainment occurs, especially soap opera type stuff and lurid plot twists. That said, though, you won't be disappointed.
I don't like politics, really. If anything, the show seems "poll heavy," which I initially wrote off to Pat Cadell's job with the series. However, I'm naive: politicians live and die by polls, so their significance is not to be underestimated.
You won't regret buying these DVDs for keeps; it's the best non-PBS television we've seen in the last ten years - no kidding.
posted by John Bernat @ 5:57 PM
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