The West Wing

If The West Wing was made today, it might be cancelled within weeks.
Built around a Democrat administration that served back to back terms – and after President Bartlet’s second term, handed over to a third Democrat administration – it’s hard to imagine Repubicans warming to it in today’s increasingly polarised political landscape.
But in its time, it drew massive numbers. In all but the last season, the show averaged over 10 million a season – 17 million in seasons two and three and many episodes more than 20 million. Over it’s seven year run it collected 26 Emmys, including the Most Outstanding Drama four times, and many critics list it as one of, if not THE, best dramas of all time.
Even with the popular and critical acclaim it had its critics. Some on the right referred to it as “The Left Wing”, and even some on the left described it as smug, condescending and unrealistic.
None of that detracted from my enjoyment of the show. What I got from the show was exquisitely written dialog, performed by top flight actors, dealing with current issues and real world Realpolitik.
It didn’t bug me that it presented an idealised, Arthurian take on democracy in action. Nobility and altruism flowed in Bartlet’s White House, and while some found fault in that, I found it aspirational – how politics could look if we were guided by our better angels.
And for all of that, and for the criticisms of its inflated nobility, the chara ters had plenty of flaws. Like the Gods of Olympus, the central characters had more than their fair share of arrogance, pride and.. yes, smugness. But that just provides a frame for discussions that debate multiple philosophical viewpoints. It definitely still skewed to the left, which I confess I didn’t mind, but never simplistically it was often self critical.
And those discussions and the dialog of writer Aaron Sorkin’s that sets this show apart for me. Cleverly constructed plots, quick fire back and forths that made you listen attentively to keep up, and powerful rhetoric made the show resonate and remain with you.
It was also stylistically unique. While the show didn’t pioneer the long walk conversations… the walk and talk… it used them frequently, aided and abetted by the White House and it’s many wings providing extensive lengths of corridor in which to communicate. The Walk and Talks were largely due to directors Tommy Schlamme and John Wells who’d used them effectively in their time on ER.
And it was timely. Frequently it referred to real world events, never more powerfully than its allegorical reflection on the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre.
So The West Wing made you think, it made you reflect. It was blessed with an ensemble of superbly talented a torn who elevated the sublime words of possibly the greatest scriptwriter alive.
It was powerful, emotive, clever and funny and even though it was heavily aligned with one side of politics it popularised political discussion in the public domain.
Again, these are more polarised times and if attempted today, this show might fail. But it shone brightly in its time… one of the best shows I’ve ever seen.