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I watch very little television but since it’s first airing back in 1999 I have been an avid fan of The West Wing, which finally, after 7 series, is about to leave our screens for good.
A couple of weeks ago I decided to start watching them again from the beginning, the early episodes that were so startlingly different. Once again I am struck by the dazzling quality of Aaron Sorkin’s writing, the complexity of the story lines, the light but subtle humour and the high standards of both acting and production. It is rare for television drama to be this sophisticated and this good even if it does suffer from the typical American moralising that infects all of their television output. The West Wing set the bar far higher than most US and indeed British television dramas, especially in those first four series before it started to get tired. But that’s still 88 episodes of sheer pleasure!
There is, however, a problem – and that’s credibility. I would love to believe that the people who staff the White House – and indeed the equivalent people here in the UK – are really that intelligent, thoughtful, fair-minded, devoted, hard working and just plain nice! Somehow, especially in the case of the current incumbents, I can’t help thinking that they fall short of that ideal by a seriously long way.
l have to agree this has been a great program l think the only way we or the U.S.A. would get thouse sort of people is if we used the actors and the writers, this of course would be a great improvment on what we have now as we have people who act but dont have a script or at least are not following it and like the emporer and his new clothes they think we dont know that they have not got a clue and that they can fool all of the people all of the time but our day will come.
I remember hearing about a genuine ‘Bartlett for President’ movement… but yes – it’s the script!