Vote Bartlett! (West Wing)

Member Name: alocin

Product:	West Wing
Date:	20/04/03 (225 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Compelling and inspiring drama, With excellent acting + directing, Lighter moments as well

Disadvantages: Helps if you know a bit about the US political system

The West Wing is probably my favourite tv programme on at the moment, definately the best tv drama series. It has won bucket loads of awards in America where it is set and produced and has not recieved the praise it deserves here in the UK. I blame the stupid times Channel 4 put it on at - around 11pm on a Sunday, earlier on a Saturday, they move it around so much that an audience can't build up properly. They also show it on E4 in advance, but on nomal tv we are in the missle of season 3.

The West Wing is all about president Jed Bartlett played by Martin Sheen, and his band of advisors as they go about he day to day running of the USA. The president is a commited liberal democrat (a democrat who is liberal not a lib dem as we know them in the uk) who is also religious and really wants to do the right thing. He comes across as a very sincere man who many viewers would prefer to be in the real White House - during the last US election there were bumper stickers printed saying "Vote Bartlett"! The show does not focus on the president alone - the ensemble cast is highlighted as a team. Most were little-known actors before the show but the majority now have cupboards filled with awards. I inlcude a brief cast list with some info below:

Martin Sheen - Jed Bartlett: Martin Sheen is himself a commited liberal and he injects a dignity into the role that makes him more believable than some real politicians. President Bartlett has a wealth of knowledge about very boring subjects such as National Parks and geology that he likes to share with his often unwilling staff during quieter moments. In the second season it emerges that the president has multiple sclerosis and there is a scandal as he kept quiet about it during his election.

John Spencer - Leo McGarry: Leo is the White House Chief of Staff and an old friend of the president. He runs a tight ship and is a recovering alcoholic - this produces problems for the administration durin
g the first season. He served in Vietnam before becoming a "major player" in the Democratic party and is divorced from his wife in the first season.

Bradley Whitford - Josh Lyman: Josh is Leo's deputy, very clever but with overly strong opinions on some subjects. He has a long running relationship with his assistant Donna that never seems to really get off the ground. He is shot in a cliffhanger episode and is nearly killed, but recovers, only to suffer PTSD which Leo helps him with. Hope that doesn't spoil things for people who have not seen those episodes!

Richard Schiff - Toby Ziegler: Toby is the Communications Director (speechwriter + advisor) - he has a repuation for being difficult to get along with and always has a dry sarcastic comment. He tends to drink when stressed and is cynical but is probably my favourite character.

Rob Lowe - Sam Seaborn: Toby's deputy, he would be classed as the "young idealistic one", he does not have as much political experience as the others but makes up for it with vauge geekiness on political matters (such as reciting the members of congress in alphabetical order). He is probably not going to be around much longer due to a pay dispute.

Allison Janney - CJ Cregg: CJ is the White House Press Secretary who had a thing with one of the reporters in the first season. She is sometimes kept out of the loop on political matters, which she does not like. She is often left unprepared, having to invent answers as she goes along in tricky situations.

Dule Hill - Charlie Young: Charlie is the only main character who is coloured and he is the assistant to the president, which causes some raised eyebrows at first. His mother, a police officer, was killed on duty and he was left to raise his younger sister alone. He is a realist who often has to bring the others back down to earth, and he soon learns how to handle the president and his slightly eccentric ways.
r>Janel Moloney - Donna Moss: Donna is Josh's assistant and is one of the funniest characters. She is very sarcastic and manipulates Josh so well that he often doesn't even notice. Most of the best, funniest moments are between Josh and Donna. Josh tries to explain things to her she doesn't want to know about and she tries to get her way - there is almost "a relationship" but it does not develop.

The West Wing is not a comedy, but like the best dramas it has lighter moments. Most of the humour is from the interactions between characters - the president boring people about National Parks, Josh and Donna, and "Big Block of Cheese Day" - where the staff listen to people they could care less about such as the Society for Topographical Equality (maps and equality). The programme is full of people walking through corridors having hundreds of hurried conversations as extras rush here and there, and one of the best moments is where Josha and Sam suddenly realise they were so involved they both forgot where they were walking to!

The producer Aaron Sorkin has created a wonderful series about politics. If only real politics was this entertaining and, frankly, inspiring. Serious subjects are handled in every episode - the death penalty, discrimination, war, back room deals in politics. The characters are not snowy white and there is not always a happy ending yet it is this realisim that makes the programme seem to almost be more than real life. You get the feeling that the characters do exist, and that you wouldn't mind them running America - they always have good intentions whatever their actions. What is wrong with idealism? I just wish real politicians were as good as the fictional President Bartlett.