Gone West (Wing)
August 18, 2009 14 Comments
This week saw the end of a Sunday morning tradition for me; watching the previous night’s episode of The West Wing on Sky Plus. Yes, after 7 seasons and 156 episodes, I’ve finally reached the end, as More4 screened the final ever episode, ‘Tomorrow’. Now look, I’m totally aware that The West Wing actually ended over 3 years ago, but it was the end for me, so I feel entitled to comment on it. Having missed the show the first time around, More4′s weekly repeats were a godsend.
I tweeted to this effect on Sunday, whilst thinking that I’d be the only one watching . A subsequent search of Twitter proved me very wrong; there were lots of people who had just watched the final episode, and even more people who were dedicating their Sunday to watching TWW on DVD. My fellow West Wing latecomers have proved that there is still enough interest in the show to post about it. So I am.
What conclusions do I have to draw about 7 seasons of one of the most highly-acclaimed dramas in TV history? Well, it’s not quite that straightforward; after watching something for 150 straight weeks, it induces, what I like to call, ‘The Soap Effect’.
The first time I encountered ‘The Soap Effect’ was in the mid-nineties, and my late teens, as Sky One started to show the whole of Star Trek: The Next Generation, every week night, seemingly forever. I started to watch as it seemed a slightly higher-quality alternative to the rest of tea-time telly. Before I knew it, I was hooked, and had to see every episode – it’s like really getting in to Neighbours, but with much higher production values (and in space).
The thing is, almost immediately after watching my final episode of The Next Generation, I came to absolutely hate it. I wouldn’t watch a repeat episode if you paid me; I can’t stand the sight of the smug, sanctimonious twats in their stupid pyjamas. My sudden change of heart may seem like the behaviour of a mental case, but its just the result of ‘The Soap Effect’ wearing off. There’s a reason that seemingly intelligent people watch soap operas, it’s because they draw you in, and play to your basest human need for a cliffhanger. People don’t watch soaps because they actually think they’re good (well not everybody). Needless to say, my brother has never let me forget that I wanted Sky One to show Star Trek episodes rather than Diff’rent Strokes. It’s a shame I’ll never live down.
So back to The West Wing, and how does that apply? Well, I certainly don’t hate it, and I don’t hate their stupid pyjamas (but then again, they didn’t wear them, although you can’t be too sure what Toby was wearing after he got the sack). I do get the slight feeling, however, that part of the reason I liked it so much was due to the long-running commitment rather than genuine love for it.
The reason that I think this is that I can vaguely remember being REALLY annoyed by the show back in Season 1, and I can’t remember when they feeling went away or why. I’m sure that at the time I had a huge list of reasoned arguments about why the show wasn’t as great as was purported, but now they’re just a distant memory (other than Mandy being the most annoying character on TV, luckily she didn’t last long). It’s really annoying that I can’t remember my reasons, and I wish I had made notes at the time to see if my criticisms still held water, but I didn’t, and so I can’t. The nearest thing is to compare it to Aaron Sorkin’s subsequent show, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, which I thought was deeply flawed, for a myriad of reasons, whilst being very similar to TWW. Studio 60 only lasted for one season before cancellation, and many people thought this was a disgrace, but I could fully understand why.
Anyway, enough with the negative, I must have liked the show well enough, or I wouldn’t be writing such a long post about it. Here are some of my ‘highlights’ of The West Wing:
- Being so enamoured with President Bartlet that it convinces you that if Martin Sheen ever ran for President for real he would win.
- I have huge respect for a show that could maintain an unspoken sexual chemistry between Josh and Donna for so long, and only pay off at the end of Season 7. Most shows can’t go 6 episodes before the will-they-won’t-they plot becomes so annoying that you want to put your foot through the screen.
- CJ’s transition in to Chief of Staff was gripping TV, even though it was sadly due to John Spencer’s ill-health.
- Allison Janney’s all round portrayal of CJ Cregg was amazing, creating a totally believable character, and the only one of the staff that you’d want to be stuck in a lift with.
- Shifting the focus of Season 7 to the presidential campaign was a risky but inspired change of direction. Stalwart characters were sidelined, and Toby virtually disappeared, but you didn’t seem to mind.
- Finally, the perfect length for a TV show, running the entire length of President Bartlet’s two terms in office. Unlike most shows, it had a natural shelf-life, and had the good sense to stick to it.
Many people see The West Wing as the best drama to ever appear on TV, and while I wouldn’t agree, it was certainly an enjoyable part of my Sunday morning and it will be missed…..hmmm I wonder what More4 are showing next Saturday night.
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Enjoyed reading this, thanks!
I’d happily be stuck in a lift with Josh though… Or maybe not. I can see him getting increasingly frustrated and that getting annoying! Sam maybe then.
You’re absolutely right about Josh and Donna – that was done brilliantly, and the under-statedness of it was what made it. Of course the fact they are both incredibly attractive kinda helps too. And fantastic characters that you like and want the best for.
And yes, Allison Janney – brilliant stuff. I wanted to punch Danny at the end of series 1/beginning of series 2 when she had just been shot at and instead of being nice to her all he seemed to want was a good story! Also priceless – her falling into the pool when Toby gets
I finished my run on Friday and it’ll be a while before I get over it…
I’d be willing to bet my bottom dollar that the reason you found season 1 was irritating was Mandy… I also seem to remember feeling at the time that all the episodes were stand-alone and there were few overarching themes that carried you through the series, but having re-watched it recently, I’ve changed my mind!
Speaking of Mandy, the one thing I felt they didn’t do well was dispose of characters: viz Laurie, Cathy, Bonnie, Gina, and whatever happened to the fact that Margaret was pregnant?!
Out of interest, if it’s not the best show on TV, what is? I need something to fill the void…
Enjoyed reading this, thanks!
This show has EVERYTHING – drama, intelligence, romance, good-looking and likeable characters, amazing music. And many quotable one-liners!
I’d happily be stuck in a lift with Josh though… Or maybe not. I can see him getting increasingly frustrated and that getting annoying! Sam maybe then.
You’re absolutely right about Josh and Donna – that was done brilliantly, and the under-statedness of it was what made it. Of course the fact they are both incredibly attractive kinda helps too. And fantastic characters that you like and want the best for.
And yes, Allison Janney – brilliant stuff. I wanted to punch Danny at the end of series 1/beginning of series 2 when she had just been shot at and instead of being nice to her all he seemed to want was a good story! Also priceless – her falling into the pool when Toby goes to recruit her for the Bartlet campaign.
I finished my run on Friday and it’ll be a while before I get over it…
I’d be willing to bet my bottom dollar that the reason you found season 1 was irritating was Mandy… I also seem to remember feeling at the time that all the episodes were stand-alone and there were few overarching themes that carried you through the series, but having re-watched it recently, I’ve changed my mind!
Speaking of Mandy, the one thing I felt they didn’t do well was dispose of characters: viz Laurie, Cathy, Bonnie, Gina, and whatever happened to the fact that Margaret was pregnant?!
Out of interest, if it’s not the best show on TV, what is? I need something to fill the void…
Hi Claire
Thanks for reading, and thanks for leaving such an in depth comment (I’ve actually published both comments that you sent as they are *slightly* different… I guess I’m just desperate for comments!).
I like Josh, don’t get me wrong, but I’m sure in real life he could get a bit much. CJ somehow managed to get along with all these highly strung types and still seem like a normal person.
I was always intrigued by the way that characters disappeared from the show – the one that really got me was Ainsley Hayes. They built her up to be a main character, and then she was gone after about 3 episodes. I think that maybe this was done on purpose to show that ‘The West Wing’ was the only constant, and that people who worked there could quite easily come and go.
It’s always difficult to pick ‘the best show ever’ as it is so subjective, but I’m quite happy to go for ‘The Wire’ – amazing… Have you watched it?
Great post.
I have to agree with the points you made about some of the highlights of the West Wing, and especially about Mandy. Although I must confess I do strangely warm to Mandy just before the end of season 1. Still, I am always happy when I get past season 1 to see she is no longer there. Brutally, they just never mention her again. Stalinist!
I’d love to be stuck in a list with Ainsley… she’s just so adorable! But then I’m glad she was by and large written out of the show because it meant that she didn’t get annoying.
Having seen the West Wing from start to finish three times, I have found that my favourite characters changes with each time I watch it all the way through. The first time it was Jed and Josh (and I was somewhat irritated by Sam). The second time it was Sam and Toby. The third time it was Toby, Josh and Leo. With each viewing I saw something I missed the previous time, or maybe just a trait I failed to pick up on. I’m now onto my fourth run of the series and I sadly don’t have any favourite characters yet, but I put that down to my disjointed viewing of it – I watched season 1 in two blocks many months ago, season 2 in one go around April, and I’m struggling to find time to get into season 3. Having read your blog post I’ve decided to make an effort to watch it properly again.
Oh and I forgot to mention Danny. He’s fantastic.
I can also think of a lot worse things to happen than get stuck in a lift with Ainsley!! I didn’t consider her originally because she appeared in so few episodes. Danny was also an excellent character, and it seems fitting that he and CJ ended up together (I’ll forgive them for giving CJ the obvious happy ending since she was my favourite character).
I’m interested to try a repeat viewing just to see what my opinions are on the early seasons a second time around. The complete series on DVD always seems to be on offer for around £50 with seems a total bargain (and if you spot this deal and have never seen the show then it’s a no-brainer). I just wonder if I would ever find the time to watch 150+ episodes when I struggle to watch what I currently have on my Sky Planner.
I’m currently re-watching ‘The Wire’, but FX have had the good sense to show one episode a week, making it easy to fit in the schedule, as opposed to BBC2 showing 3-4 episodes a week. Hopefully Channel 4 will choose to show them all from the beginning again at some point.
A friend of mine seems able to watch all 150+ episodes of the West Wing in a shockingly short timespan. He’s seen it at least four times from start to finish… now that’s commitment/obsession!
I’m a big fan of The Wire, but I’ve only seen up to episode 4 of season 4. I have it all on DVD but there’s so many other things to watch. I don’t understand there can be so many critics of American television these days when there is so much quality coming from there. I regularly watch 24, Entourage, Chuck, The Big Bang Theory, Lost, House, Heroes, Dexter, Scrubs, the list probably goes further but there’s too many to think of!
Believe me, Sherby, it’s funny but the time just seems to appear, out of nowhere!! (even if it does occasionally lead to missing out on sleep!)
Well, I’m sure I could make time appear if I really tried, but I don’t know if my mental health could take it lol. And I need all the beauty sleep I can get! I can’t imagine watching the whole lot 4 times through! The only DVD boxset I’ve watched that many times is Arrested Development, but that’s only 53 episodes, and they’re only 20 minutes long! I’ve watched DVDs of British comedy series countless times, but it’s easy when there is only six episodes.
The only drama series that I have on DVD is Battlestar Galactica (the new version of course), which is well worth a look even if you’re not in to sci-fi (and is well worth a blog post of its own). You should really try and watch the rest of The Wire, it’s just superb, and is almost designed to be watched multiple times. And that’s another blog post I need to write (you can’t call something the best TV show ever and not blog about it!!).. The only thing with writing about The Wire is that everything has already been said about it, so it’s a challenge to think of a fresh angle.
I can’t believe that people still criticise US TV, but then there are plenty of people who go completely the other way and slate UK TV. There was a time a decade or two ago when the US produced a lot of schlock TV, but since the advent of HBO, those days are long gone. I don’t like it though when people become so polarised as to only liking UK TV or US TV – they’re clearly both good at different things… And there is the third new blog post that I have to write!!
Hey there
I absolutely loved TWW. Still do. And adored practically all the characters. CJ (obviously), Josh, Toby, Leo, Donna, Sam, the Pres….aw heck, just about everyone except the cursed Mandy, the loathsome Amy Gardner (boo! hiss!) and the you-are-no-Sam-Seaborn-stop-trying-to-be-you-whiny-ass Will Bailey. Beautifully crafted, special, funny and serious tv that said something worth saying just about every week and was hugely influential to boot. I know what you mean about S60, which was flawed, but for me it was always just a doomed attempt to recapture TWW magic but you can’t make running a comedy show seem as worthwhile as running the country so it was never going to work as well. Have any of you ever tried Sorkin’s “Sports Night” though? A sort of early S60 set behind the scenes of a sports newscast and a pre-cursor to TWW – it was really good as well.
(BTW, on the Ainsley front, I thought she disappeared because the actress got the regular gig on CSI Miami? I could be wrong….)
But the part of your post that really struck a chord with me Sherby was about the Soap Effect – for me it didn’t kick in for STTNG (which I watched once a week on BBC2 right till the bitter end) but fellow ST show Voyager and also (shoot me now) JAG. I somehow got sucked into watching them because they were more or less on all the time, despite the fact I thought they were terrible. I forgot about that soon enough and became addicted, just like you describe. Now they’re both finished, but still on endless repeat, and if I switch either one of them on, I can stand about a minute before wanting to put my foot through the tv. ARGH.
Lol, well it’s certainly reassuring to hear that I’m not the only one who has suffered the dreaded ‘soap effect’.
It’s actually quite an interesting phenomenum when you apply it to US TV, which obviously has much longer running series. I still watch Smallville because I’ve been watching it for so long, even though it makes me want to put my foot through the telly.
How much TV do people watch out of some kind of loyalty? I think I probably need a separate post about ‘the soap effect’.
As promised (earlier in these comments), here are my thoughts on The Wire:
http://poursomegravyonme.co.uk/2009/09/01/man-on-the-wire/
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Another post inspired by this one, read more about ‘The Soap Effect’: http://poursomegravyonme.co.uk/2009/09/25/the-soap-effect/
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