The West Wing

Okay, the live debate stunt didn’t really work that well.

It was stiff and stuffy and naïve and even the “spontaneous” bits felt wholly scripted and badly staged (at least that’s the way the west coast edition came off…perhaps the earlier east coast version was more engaging.) It wasn’t exactly what we imagine the Lincoln-Douglas debates to have been (the part where moderator Forrest Sawyer had to shout down the candidates in order to get them to behave was kinda funny) but it would be interesting to see real Presidential candidates facing off like the two fictional ones did here (something that will, of course, NEVER happen in my lifetime…”real” campaigns are even more heavily scripted…and often just as badly staged…as this make-believe one.) It was an interesting effort and I give them credit for taking the flyer on it.

But, all that said, overall the current (and, judging by the ratings since the move to Sunday nights, very likely final) season of The West Wing has thus far proven to be a marked improvement over the first frustrating, unfocused post-Sorkin season (about which more here.)

It’s not back to the heady levels of the Aaron Sorkin seasons (that would be too much to ask at this point) but it is better. That said, it is not really recognizable as the show I fell in love with during the earlier seasons…most of the old regulars have been marginalized (even Martin Sheen’s appearances are few and far between this season, the only actor who has appeared in every episode this season has been the always masterful Jimmy Smits) and the goings-on in the titular environs of the White House are mostly an afterthought taking a backseat to the Presidential campaign between Congressman Matt Santos (Smits) and Senator Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda).

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, I guess…but I miss the wit and whimsy, the drama and the pathos, the engaging interplay between the original cast of characters. If the show really does end this season, then it will still have had a wonderful run…especially for those first few, often thought-provoking, sometimes utterly wonderful, seasons…and that’s cool with me.

The West Wing

Well, at least it's a little better than last season.

The show has shown fleeting flashes of its former glory this season...but those moments are few and far between and the overall feeling is one of watching a dear old friend die a painful death of a thousand cuts.

Last season, showing creator/chief writer Aaron Sorkin the door led to an awkward transition period wherein the characters lost a lot of their focus (and most of their once-sparkling wit.) The transition continues this season with abrupt shakeups in the West Wing staff (I realize that it was not likely that White House senior staff would stay together as a group for as long these folks had but hey we're working in a world where an unabashedly liberal Democrat/egghead economist...with a life-threatening medical condition to boot...could be elected and re-elected President of the United States, a little suspension of disbelief is not unprecedented) and a lack of smooth continuity.

The show has no center now...one week it's inside politics and medical melodrama in the White House, the next its on the road again with the men who would President and their trusty sidekicks (Josh, Donna, and Will having absented themselves from the White House to do the campaign thing)...and it seems unlikely to find its way anytime soon.

Jimmy Smits, Alan Alda, and, especially, Kristin Chinoweth are all interesting additions to the cast but it's probably too little too late to turn the fortunes of the show around (and in any case I'm personally not that interested in seeing a post-Bartlet West Wing...the show was about his Presidency and when that ends the show should end as well.)

As much as I've loved the show in the past...and even though that affection is still strong enough to keep me watching now...I have to say that it may be time to put it out of its misery (it's too late to let it go out gracefully...that ship has sailed.)