Ramblememe January 20: what do you like about the West Wing?
A fine question from lost_spook, spoiled only by the fact that 'what don't you like' would be much shorter.
I like...
... that although there are relationships all over TWW, they don't overwhelm the narrative.
... that it's *funny*. Really funny.
... that I learned a ton about America, including some stuff about its laws and politics, but much more about protest, about campaigning, about big issues, about geography and stereotypes, about food and cars and guns and religion, just by watching. I learned what I didn't know about differences between the UK and USA, and that's so important. What you don't know you don't know can hurt you.
... that it's full of characters I can respect, who don't necessarily like each other. Toby is the obvious one there, but there are plenty of others. And Bartlet was absolutely wrong not to reveal his MS, but over time, that is allowed to drop.
... that it was plenty strong enough to survive the loss of Sam, who was obviously meant to be the POV character in the pilot, and of Maddy-the-feuding-love-interest even earlier, while retaining the feel of the series.
... that although it didn't quite follow 'real time' it did allow real progress and followed its natural arc and lifetime.
... the season six is fucking awesome in many ways, and season seven pretty good, after the lull of season five (although The Supremes is one of the most amazing eps, and the whole shutdown is done well). They moved on, people did difficult things, the Bartlet administration didn't dominate in its dying years, and the insight into campaigning was great (the convention!). Also, Arnie Vinnick is a star, and it's about time TV had a decent Republican character who's not just crying in a corner.
... that plotlines are allowed to carry on across many episodes, if not seasons. There are payoffs. Bartlet gets sicker.
... CJ. Obviously. And also Danny, but I like that their thing didn't dominate entirely.
... Leo. My god, what a character. Rocklike and so brittle at the core. He'd have been a great VP.
... Amy. She's a nightmare in many ways, and she's entirely right. And so funny too.
... Donna, increasingly. Even as the voice-of-the-common-man naive early on, she's great, but later she's better.
... Will. Just for a few episodes, he's the greatest introduced character ever. Fairly closely followed by Santos, though they both have a hint of Mary Sue, and both fade into honourable boredom to an extent.
... Kate. Because my god, she's gorgeous and gets no props for it, but is allowed to be brilliant and scary instead.
... Mrs Landingham. Because, yes. And yes to how they removed her from the series [I'm still trying not to spoil people for this, good grief], because it's not fair. But sometimes it happens.
... Charlie. Because he has the real arc of the series, and is our real POV character a lot of the time. And he and Zoe are lovely, but in no way dominant.
... and, obviously, Josh. Because he's a dick. But we can still sympathise with him. And yet we really do know he's a dick. And they remind us just how much in that very late episode when he gets his Donna-happy-ending. He's still out there, being a dick, and very good at what he does.
... and most of all, that they didn't actually achieve that much in government. They weren't useless, at all, but it was hard. They had good ideas, which were screwed over. They lost, often.
I don't love sanctimony, swelling music (sometimes it is fab, but sometimes too much), excessive plots involving kidnapping.
I like...
... that although there are relationships all over TWW, they don't overwhelm the narrative.
... that it's *funny*. Really funny.
... that I learned a ton about America, including some stuff about its laws and politics, but much more about protest, about campaigning, about big issues, about geography and stereotypes, about food and cars and guns and religion, just by watching. I learned what I didn't know about differences between the UK and USA, and that's so important. What you don't know you don't know can hurt you.
... that it's full of characters I can respect, who don't necessarily like each other. Toby is the obvious one there, but there are plenty of others. And Bartlet was absolutely wrong not to reveal his MS, but over time, that is allowed to drop.
... that it was plenty strong enough to survive the loss of Sam, who was obviously meant to be the POV character in the pilot, and of Maddy-the-feuding-love-interest even earlier, while retaining the feel of the series.
... that although it didn't quite follow 'real time' it did allow real progress and followed its natural arc and lifetime.
... the season six is fucking awesome in many ways, and season seven pretty good, after the lull of season five (although The Supremes is one of the most amazing eps, and the whole shutdown is done well). They moved on, people did difficult things, the Bartlet administration didn't dominate in its dying years, and the insight into campaigning was great (the convention!). Also, Arnie Vinnick is a star, and it's about time TV had a decent Republican character who's not just crying in a corner.
... that plotlines are allowed to carry on across many episodes, if not seasons. There are payoffs. Bartlet gets sicker.
... CJ. Obviously. And also Danny, but I like that their thing didn't dominate entirely.
... Leo. My god, what a character. Rocklike and so brittle at the core. He'd have been a great VP.
... Amy. She's a nightmare in many ways, and she's entirely right. And so funny too.
... Donna, increasingly. Even as the voice-of-the-common-man naive early on, she's great, but later she's better.
... Will. Just for a few episodes, he's the greatest introduced character ever. Fairly closely followed by Santos, though they both have a hint of Mary Sue, and both fade into honourable boredom to an extent.
... Kate. Because my god, she's gorgeous and gets no props for it, but is allowed to be brilliant and scary instead.
... Mrs Landingham. Because, yes. And yes to how they removed her from the series [I'm still trying not to spoil people for this, good grief], because it's not fair. But sometimes it happens.
... Charlie. Because he has the real arc of the series, and is our real POV character a lot of the time. And he and Zoe are lovely, but in no way dominant.
... and, obviously, Josh. Because he's a dick. But we can still sympathise with him. And yet we really do know he's a dick. And they remind us just how much in that very late episode when he gets his Donna-happy-ending. He's still out there, being a dick, and very good at what he does.
... and most of all, that they didn't actually achieve that much in government. They weren't useless, at all, but it was hard. They had good ideas, which were screwed over. They lost, often.
I don't love sanctimony, swelling music (sometimes it is fab, but sometimes too much), excessive plots involving kidnapping.