The West Wing Series 1
Jesus, if I had a hard time selling CSI to you, then this could be my finest hour. A drama set around the White House and its many incumbents. How the political machine keeps rolling. The people who are the oil and fuel. The folks who create the laws of the land (not here of course), and who hold an iron grip over the rest of the world. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you The West Wing.
[rimg]west
Jesus, if I had a hard time selling CSI to you, then this could be my finest hour. A drama set around the White House and its many incumbents. How the political machine keeps rolling. The people who are the oil and fuel. The folks who create the laws of the land (not here of course), and who hold an iron grip over the rest of the world. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you The West Wing.
I have first of all got to admit that I am very surprised how popular this show is. Not because it lacks class, intelligence or ability; but because it probably has too much! This show at first glance is a very highbrow, intellectual zone. Politics is not the first thing you would think the majority of people would know a heck of a lot about. Especially British viewers on American politics. I must confess that I don't know damn much about the political system in the U.S. After watching this I don't want too either, there is so much spin and back biting it is unbelievable. It's probably the same here, which is why I have never voted.
What makes this show so watchable is the way the characters interact with each other. The fact that they all genuinely seem to believe that what they're doing is noble, and for the good of the people. This sounds a bit smug, but that's not the way it comes across. All the main players have different personalities and opinions, which is what gives the show such body. The fact that even though they may not agree they still fight like dogs for each other is really impressive.
Martin Sheen (President Bartlet) is excellent as the eccentric, but brilliant President. A man who is knowledgeable on many subjects, much to the annoyance of his staff, as he usually bores the hell out of them! Rob Lowe (Sam Seaborn) is perhaps the least convincing as a white-hot legal brain, but he makes up for it with his comedy moments. John Spencer (Leo McGarry) is the Presidents oldest friend and now chief of staff. He is a recovering alcoholic but brilliant political brain. Allison Janney (C.J. Cregg) is the woman who gets most of the flack off the media, as she is media spokeswoman. Bradley Whitford (Josh Lyman) is deputy chief of staff, and probably my favourite character. He tells it like it is and takes no prisoners. Janel Maloney (Donna Moss) is his assistant and the nuttiest of the lot. She has opinions on most of the subjects you would least expect at a dinner party. Richard Schiff (Toby Ziegler) is the one you want to give a hot dinner to, as he always looks like he is either going to explode with rage or cry like a baby. The thing that stood out to me was the lack of private lives these people have. Not so much from media obtrusion, but from the fact that the job is their life. I knew politics meant a lot to people but it isn't the church and you don't have to be celibate!
The plots are varied each episode, but amazingly these do tend to be quite similar. They usually end up rounding up some senators or whatever and asking them to vote for the cause in question. Of course there are personal issues which play a big part, divorces, tragedies, shootings and the like. There is nearly a third world war, but nothing to worry about!
The DVD itself was a bit of a let down. The sound, which is Dolby 2.0 Digital, was pretty awful. The picture wasn't much better, as most of the time the screen was way too dark to be acceptable. I know most of it is set indoors, and at night, but it actually hurts your eyes after a while.
The extras featured interviews with cast, creator and director. Plenty of variety and depth here, so worth a watch. A 30 min trailer about the show. Featurette 'Making The West Wing.' TV spots and weblinks. These were pretty good and really informative, worth a watch to get all the facts.
I maybe haven't persuaded you to buy this box set, which is fine. I know that the material is very much an acquired taste. I can't understand why I watched all 22 episodes in less than a week though! I was hooked pretty much from the start. I know this is supposed to be a drama, but it has a lot of dark comedy mixed in, which maybe is what attracted me. I couldn't suggest a better way to spend those idle hours you may have, but be warned if you don't like it I told you that too!
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