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January 24, 2006
The end is near
I am a West Wing diehard. All television shows run their course, but it pained me to hear that NBC was canceling this one at the end of the season.
The reasons for the show's demise are many. Some characters ran out of gas, one literally died, and fans looking for romance surely gave up long ago on Donna and Josh.
Also, the series could not duplicate a vital aspect of the genius of America: the peaceful transition of power.
The West Wing isn’t ER. You can’t just plug in another doc or nurse. Once the Bartlet presidency began to wind down, the writers of The West Wing failed to create a quick and compelling transition to a new and interesting president.
Jimmy Smits and Alan Alda, two high-powered actors, have been running for president longer than an actual campaign, if you can believe that. If one of them actually won, the whole Bartlet White House would have to go. Same show, totally new cast – fat chance that would work.
I’ve enjoyed The West Wing for several reasons.
One is that Bartlet is from New Hampshire. This may seem parochial, but the real fun was watching for New Hampshire gaffes on the show – things about our state that the writers didn’t get quite right.
Another plus is plot complexity. The writing is excellent, and while I can’t follow every twist, it strikes me that the show is more life-like than some others because so many different things are going on at once.
Third, until the Bush presidency grew too pervasive to ignore, The West Wing created an alternative universe – a one-hour flight from reality.
In recent times, however, it hasn’t even been possible to guess when and whether The West Wing will be on. This seems to be the way of television these days – viewers are left to surmise because of spotty scheduling that a show is in its death throes. And the spotty scheduling can’t help but accelerate the demise.
Meanwhile, a pretender has arisen: the Geena Davis presidency. I like Davis as an actress. I think her show, Commander in Chief, is doing as much as popular culture can be expected to do to make the idea of a female president more plausible.
But by West Wing standards, the plots have been simplistic. The first few reminded me of the Roadrunner, with Davis as the roadrunner and Donald Sutherland as Wile E. Coyote. Of course, President Allen always overcame whatever Acme trick the cynical Sutherland had in his bag.
Now the show has changed tactics. The last episode I saw had Davis saving the world from nuclear war. A little subtlety would go a long way in the writing of this show.
At any rate, I’ll miss The West Wing. President Jed Bartlet filled a need I haven’t even mentioned. He lightened my psychic load, giving me hope that someday someone other than Franklin Pierce could actually be elected president from New Hampshire.
Posted by Mike Pride at January 24, 2006 04:17 PM
Comments
This is the year for feeling powerless...
No more privacy
No more Arnie
No more Wilson Pickett
and now
No more West Wing
Posted by: Joan at January 25, 2006 08:40 PM