2 More Years of Bush Without The West Wing
Tonight the last episode of The West Wing aired, leaving millions of Americans without an alternate reality. While the show lost viewership post-Clinton White House, it also aired some of its best shows this last season. Tonight's final episode marked the changing of the guard from Jeb Bartlett to Matthew Santos, robbing an entire nation of a Jimmy Smits' presidency. Though the Smits candidate apppeared to be a bit of a new Democrat, he could have offered us the type of mirror-world that Martin Sheen's Jeb Bartlett did for years of TV viewing, while we plow through the remainder of the real-life Bush presidency.
If nothing else, this show illustrated how popular culture, smartly rendered, can both mirror a nation and catapult a nation forward as the show promoted a postive role for politics, showing that on good and bad days the White House can be like any back room office--or exalted like no place else on earth.
Cudows to all those who produced the show. Meanwhile, at least until the season finale of 24, we're left with two presidential options: a paranoid Richard Nixon wannabe, President Logan on 24, and the reality--George W. Bush. Thank goodness for syndication....
It's more than likely that popular culture will become part of the politicial free-fire zone as the 2008 presidential run begins. The West Wing was popular culture at its best. Still, it's a sad time in America when we won't be able to experience a Matt Santos presidency....someday, perhaps...
Thanks for posting this, Jo-Ann. For years at our house, my wife and I looked forward to Wednesday nights and The West Wing.
The show went through a rough patch after Aaron Sorkin left, but you are right, this season it got good again. We will miss our "TV President", Jeb Bartlett, and all of the other characters on The West Wing.
Don't much care for police and hospital shows, not to mention all the other prime-time programming. Is there any hope that they might go on with it?
May 14, 2006 8:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
I couldn't ever watch the West Wing. It was just so... I'm not sure I can describe it. Maybe because a friend of mine was so into it that her fangirlness turned me off the show. Personally, I'm much more interested in the series finale of Charmed.
May 15, 2006 4:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
The show always treated the office of President with the utmost respect...unlike the man currently slouching behind the Presidential desk.
May 15, 2006 5:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
A large part of the demise of the show was due to its scheduling. Placing a show in the 8:00 PM Sunday slot is a kiss of death. I said so when it was done, and is spite of its strong improvement with the Santos - Vinick campaign, it was placed there to fail. OTOH, as much as I'll miss West Wing, this provides a natural end to the program. Bartlett served out two full terms and left with his office succeeded by Santos, under the political direction of Josh. I think to attempt to continue the show under those circumstances would have required a largely new cast and really, a new show. It would, in effect, have been a sequel, and those don't work. It sure would have been a nice place to visit to escape the nightmare reality of Bushworld.
May 15, 2006 7:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
I watched with sadness...wondering if Bush was watching...as Sheen handed over his dog-eared copy of the Constitution, knowing that our "real" president could never undertake this gesture. Can you imagine elder Bush giving a copy to 10-year old George, or shrub bush carrying a copy around?
Another thought: it was no coincidence that NBC had Al Gore sitting in the White House on SNL and then aired this final episode of West Wing on Sunday night. A meme was planted here.
May 15, 2006 10:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well, reality needs an entirely new cast....let's just cancel the existing show being broadcast from D.C. and start over. Now. Prime Time.
May 15, 2006 10:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
You know, the Al Gore sketch on Saturday Night Live was one of the funniest, saddest, and most nostalgic things that I have seen recently. Yeah, I know that gas prices won't be 19 cents a gallon, Afghanistan won't be a theme park, and all the other stuff he said would not come true (although it would be nice if Europeans hugged us on the street). But, for one brief, shining moment, it was nice to know what could have been...
May 15, 2006 10:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
When I watched the show I always got the feeling that their message was one of hope...the people in the White House were always trying to make things better, even if the situation sucked right now. The people in charge cared about making things better, much like the feeling many of us had when JFK was elected, those Camelot days. It was such a sharp contrast to the Bush era, where everything is enveloped in arrogance, intolerance and conflict.
May 15, 2006 11:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
I wonder if they'll ever make a "West Wing" movie?
May 15, 2006 1:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
That was my first thought last night, there are so many story lines that could play out, where does Charlie end up in 5 years, etc. But then I decided it wouldn't work. At it's best WW worked becasue complex stories were allowed to play out over several episodes. I just don't think it would fit into a 2 hour movie.
Also, didn't Sorkin do "The American President" with Michael Douglas? It serves almost like a rough draft for the West Wing.
May 15, 2006 2:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
I missed most of the show last night, but I thought CJ was the real leak. How was that resolved? I saw Bartlett sign the pardon but did CJ just let Toby take the blame? I'm still confused. Wasn't CJ the one fighting her conscious over the space weapons program and didn't that episode end with her on the phone to a reporter? I never saw her say anything else about it. Someone help me.
May 15, 2006 5:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
That was all just misdirection to confuse people who didn't see that Toby was obvious.
An early episode this year implied that Toby's ex-wife Congresswoman rather than his late brother was the orginal source of the information to him.
May 15, 2006 7:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
EWK, you seem really on top of the story lines, so I'll ask a few other burning and weighty :
Did the President's daughter, Zoe(?), the one Charlie was seriously interested in, end up with the guy from France?
What are we "supposed" to make of how Will and Kate stand? Will is going to run for Congress in Oregon and Kate believes she is SOL for getting a high job in the Santos Admin because one of the top appointees really dislikes her, she thinks. They're obviously awkward together in the last episode--but they are together, watching the Inauguration as I recall.
And CJ is going to LA to decompress with Danny for a bit before deciding on her next move?
Allison Janney is amazing. It was odd seeing her in the pilot flirting with the guy on the treadmill before she falls off!--so out of (her later) character. I guess they had to try to generate a following early on. It would be good to see more of Janel Maloney in the future--she has talent. In a challenging role I thought Alan Alda did a phenomenal job this year.
I was a bit of a latecomer to WW but it became one of 2 or 3 shows I made a point of seeing. The dialog is so snappy I found myself videotaping it partly so I could go back and try to catch things I would otherwise miss. Really one of the very best written and acted shows I've seen on the tube. Based on how I felt watching it last night I am guessing I will miss it more than just about any other show I've followed.
May 15, 2006 8:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
It wasn't really resolved -- we just know that Bartlet pardoned Toby. Also, in earlier episodes, Toby denies that learned about the shuttle from his brother or from Leo.
PSA: There is now a Users' Help Forum.
May 15, 2006 9:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
We don't really know what happened with Charlie and Zoey, though about a year ago (?) the President caught Charlie leaving Zoey's room. ;)
Also, there were rumors someplace on the internets that the White House wedding this season was supposed to be theirs. Not sure about the validity of that one.
Not sure of where Will and Kate stand. He's going to move to Oregon to run in the 4th district. We don't know what Kate is doing. Since they left the White House together and I think they're delightfully dorky together, I think they just might try to make it work.
On CJ, based on her head-shake-and-smile at the end of the penultimate episode, I think she's going to take $10 billion and fix the world by building highways.
PSA: There is now a Users' Help Forum.
May 15, 2006 9:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
in the opening episode at the Bartlett Library we know that Will is a Congressman, Kate wrote a book, presumably she is with Will.
CJ and Danny live in Santa Monica and have a baby, presumably CJ runs her foundation from there.
The French guy was out of the picture after Zooey got kidnapped, remember he inadvertantly set it up by giving her Ecstasy and she finally realized what a loser he was. She and Charlie were together last season, but they left it hanging this year and never resolved it, kind of lame all in all that they couldn't even work in a short coversation with Jed and Charlie to close the loop.
May 15, 2006 10:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Do you think - and I'm really serious about this - that it might help to start a write-in campaign, asking the network to bring back the show?
The cast was so good, and it could be that many felt it was time to move on, I suppose. But with just a small number of the originals it could continue on as a very good show if the network was willing to consider it.
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May 15, 2006 11:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
NBC has announced their fall schedule and the creator of West Wing, Aaron Sorkin, along with the actors who played Josh and Danny, will be on a new show, starring Matthew Perry. Here's how they describe it:
"Viewers can be cheered that Aaron Sorkin will be back on TV: NBC has announced that his new series, “Studio 60 on Sunset Strip” will be on its fall lineup, with stars including “West Wing” alumni Bradley Whitford and Timothy Busfield."
It's a show about the backstage world of a network comedy show.
May 16, 2006 2:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
Viviane:
Ah yes, now I remember the scene with Charlie and Zoey you are referring to...
"Delightfully dorky" is a magnificent description of Kate and Will. MHO.
On CJ taking the $10 bill that would be my hunch, too. Bill Gates or Paul Allen, are you listening? As related in Suskind's book, even Paul O'Neill got really excited about infrastructure building in Africa before the Administration reigned him in. Maybe it was the prospect of hanging with Bono instead of W and his crew of know-nothing Mayberry Machiavellians? :
May 16, 2006 6:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
Gosh do I feel especially clueless. I don't have any recollection of an "opening episode at the Bartlett library."
Now it comes back re "the French guy." Yep, "loser" would be a magnificently apt description of him. It was a bit of a cheap shot at the French, wasn't it?
The Washington Post Style section had a blurb today (no free link--sorry)identifying some major gaffes in the closing episode, such as not seeing anyone's breath in supposedly freezing weather at the Inauguration, not seeing Santos' children anywhere in the crowd, CJ walking out the front of the WH onto an uncluttered Pennsylvania Avenue on Inauguration Day, Bartlett's plane flying above ocean at the end when it might have been tricky flying such a route from DC to New Hampshire, etc.
Did anyone notice the Supreme Court Chief Justice was a woman? Was that one of the two new appointees, one liberal and one conservative, from maybe last season or the season before? Didn't know she was to be Chief.
OK, so they got sloppy on some details winding up...
May 16, 2006 7:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
The continuity and logic errors have been an appealing part of the show from the beginning. (One was reminded of this re-watching the pilot that aired just before the finale). I think the bigger (and more frustating) hole in the final season was that a moderate, pro-choice republican from CA who looks and sounds like Alan Alda didn't win an election over a 3-term Hispanic Congressman who campaigned on a platform of universal health care.
I think the final season really lacked drama, since it relied almost entirely on implicit comparisons with the 2000 and 2004 election to generate interest. In its heyday, I thought the ensemble cast and stellar writing, rather than the always rather ridiculous plotlines and often hokey staging, made the show work.
May 16, 2006 9:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yep the non-Aaron Sorkin WW was a shell of it's former self.
This season rebounded a little and was clearly better than most of the network dramas, but wasn't close to the level of the Sorkin shows.
The rumor mill is that his new show is awesome.
May 16, 2006 11:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
I know "kudos" but where does "cudows" come from???
May 17, 2006 3:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
I read that orginally Vinnick (Alda) was to win the presidency but when they were cancelled they thought, what the heck, and switched over to Santos. Dont know if its true, but it was written and the person claimed sourcing from Lawrence O'Donnell, the democratic advisor to the show and said he pushed for the Alda to Santos switch. I always thought they could have tried to build a new season on Alda's presidency as an example of what a 'good' republican could be as president but its true that would have required wholesale cast revisions adn would have been essentially a sequel and as someone here pointed out: sequels dont work. Still, it would have been nice to try. Clearly, after Spencer died and they were cancelled, they just finished out the season without committing any great resources to great writing. Heck, NBC wouldnt even pay the actors for a retrospective episode to precede the finale, opting instead for the super cheap re-airing of the first episode. They did sign Rob Lowe to apear in the last 2 episodes, but were so cheap they cut it to one and he appears a few seconds only.
May 18, 2006 7:47 AM | Reply | Permalink