TV Show of The Month: The West Wing

If there is a better year to rent/Netflix/catch a re-run of this show, I can't think of one. A perfect compliment to the political chaos of an election year, The West Wing is an impressively detailed, perfectly cast, brilliantly written political drama set in the West Wing of the White House and follows the troubles, struggles, tribulations and triumphs of the Bartlett Administration, with President Jed Bartlett played ably by Martin Sheen one of the twin centers of gravity of this show (the other being late veteran actor John Spencer as Chief of Staff Leo McGarry)

Coming out of the late 90s era of scandal-ridden politics, The West Wing, I think proved appealing to many people because it painted a picture of 'the way things outta be' I know that's a tired old chestnut and it gets rapped by conservatives for being fairly cloyingly liberal (at least through the first four seasons under the direction of Aaron Sorkin.) It's interesting, because when this show stumbled, it paralleled America's entry into the post-9/11 world where suddenly the whole nature of politics in this country changed and The West Wing suddenly seemed anachronistic at best, melodramatic and over-blown at worst. With the departure of Aaron Sorkin after Season 4, the show lost it's compass for a season before show runners seized on real-life chronology (President Bartlett was nearing the end of his second term) and made the last two seasons about who would follow President Bartlett. As a result, the West Wing saw a late surge of brilliance with Jimmy Smits and Alan Alda ably played off against each other as Democratic and Republican Presidential candidates respectively.

But this show was never just about the ins and outs of politics, it was about the people in politics. From the President on down, every character has their moment throughout this show. Every character has flaws and struggles that they have to overcome and when it comes to the tough calls you have to make when you run a country, they talk, they debate and they struggle with those as well. The West Wing stands to me as one of the best television shows of the past twenty years with brilliant writing, brilliant acting set on the ultimate world stage.

TOM SAYS: ****(out of 4)

P.S. This clip isn't really one of my favorite clips, but I think you can get an idea of the pace of the writing and the ability to stage a pretty dramatic moment when required.