WEST WING: S1 (DVD)

I was never really interested in watching this show. I often saw it playing on TV while I was living in Toronto, Canada, but was never captivated to sit indoors and watch it (I spend most of my spare time in outdoor activities).Then one day Bush junior took office. Then came September 11, then the US invasion of Afghanistan, followed by the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. Then Moore's Fahrenheit 911 hit the screens to become a box office hit. Then came Bush's second term, which I did not expect he'd win, followed by the lowest approval ratings in US history. Iraq was a disaster; Afghanistan was becoming another problem as the Taliban regrouped and regained strength; and Bin Laden was still evading capture.Suddenly I found myself interested in American politics. I wanted to know more about what goes on behind the scenes. What makes a US President popular? How are decisions taken? Does the President act on his own or as a team? Can the President sleep at night when US troops and innocent civilians are dying? How does the secret Service protect the President? My questions could fill several pages. I could easily have gone on the internet and typed each question on Google. Better still, I could have gone to the Library, a trip few of us take today with the advent of the internet. But I decided to watch Season 1 of the West Wing, and am I glad I did.The West Wing will give you an inside look at the American Presidency. You will really learn a lot about American politics. Did you know, for example, that the American Eagle holds thirteen arrows in the left talon and an olive branch in the right talon? When at peace, the Eagle faces the olive branch. When at war, the Eagle faces the arrows. In the halls of Congress the carpets are actually changed to reflect this.Did you know that the Secret Service is aware at all times of the location of the President, even while he is in the White House? A Secret Service agent radios the Central Command when the President enters the Oval Office and when he leaves it. A Secret Service agent is practically positioned at every door in the White House, radioing where the President is at all times. There is little privacy for the President in the White House. Maybe being the President of the US is not as glamorous as we all think if one has to forego his privacy and freedom.Every word the President utters must be well thought off, and the consequences of the words calculated ahead of time by his team. A US President goes through rehearsals before giving speeches and before standing in front of journalists. He is always surrounded by a team of experts advising him of how he should answer questions, and which questions should not be answered. One wrong word could mean a slide in approval ratings.The Secret Service also protects the President's family. Could you imagine an unfriendly country kidnapping the President's daughter? What would the President do in such a case? Would he make the wrong decisions in order to save his daughter? Would his daughter come first, or the country? Would the President be relieved of his duties in such a situation as not to compromise US security? This series will answer a lot of these questions.This series will also show you the relationship between the President and his staff. The Vice-President is not necessarily always on the President's side, and he often has his own agenda. Sometimes he would act to his own benefit in order to gain popularity for a possible run at the Presidency. Politics can be a dirty business, and a very selfish one.I enjoyed learning about the press core in the White House, and how they retrieve news. I now watch CNN in a new light.The characters in this series are well thought off, very believable, and likable. There is one character I did not particularly like, and I think he was later replaced in other Seasons. Martin Sheen plays the President, and I don't think anyone could have played the part better.This series is exciting, with many twists. The series ends with an attempted murder at the US President and his daughter, and someone is shot, but we don't know who. You'd have to watch Series 2 to find out.If you've always wanted to learn more about the US Presidency and US politics in general, this series will be a great start. Get your notebook out and join US Presidency 101! You are going to enjoy this course.

The West Wing is easily one of the best television shows ever created, and hands down is the best drama to come out of the 1990s. This look at a fictitious Democratic administration in the late 1990s is a wonderful mixture of drama, lessons in government, humor, empathy, and a master class in witty writing and the value of a strong ensemble cast. A network television staple, this television show is safe for teenagers and even those fourth through sixth graders who are incredibly interested in American government. It's amazing that 20 some odd years later we are still arguing about the same things, and while this show does tend to air on the idealistic side, you can't help but be inspired by these characters and their drive to lead with integrity and make the country a better place.Season 1 in particular is a standout of the show, not least of which because these characters were in their early days and the writers and creators were figuring out how to make the best use of them. There's not a single member of this ensemble cast that is weak, including Moira Kelly who often gets overlooked for her contributions to the show since she was only in season 1. Martin Sheen is at his best, with a career defining role for Allison janney and beautiful solemnity and cantankerousness from Richard schiff. You can't forget the powerful impact of Rob Lowe and Bradley whitford and of course John Spencer, Dule Hill, and Janel Maloney.The show is highly quotable, and feature some of the best holiday episodes of television ever created. Get the tissue box ready when you watch the season 1 Christmas episode In Excelsis Deo. I still cry when I hear the Little drummer boy.Give this gem a watch. And as President Bartlett would say, "What's next?"

Watching the first season of "The West Wing" again from the perspective of fifth it is interesting to reconsider how the show began, especially now that creator Aaron Sorkin is gone. When watching the pilot episode you have to remember that originally that President Jed Bartlett (Martin Sheen) was going to be a minor, recurring character, and that the series was really going to be about the staff in the West Wing: the authoritative Chief of Staff, Leo McGarry (John Spenser), the wunderkind Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford), the cranky Communications Director Toby Ziegler (Richard Schiff), debonair Deupty Communications Director Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe), and Press Secretary C.J. Cregg (Allison Janney). However, getting Martin Sheen to play the President was just too good of an actor in too good of a role to ignore, and "The West Wing" became something else.One of the best ways of noting how the series took off in a direction that was not originally anticipated would be to note how Public Relations Consultant Mandy Hampton (Moira Kelly) never became part of the family, while the role Donna Moss (Janel Moloney) became increasingly more significance, and she was added to the main cast for Season 2. That was mainly because of her comic relationship with Josh Lyman, although I have to add that Marlee Matlin as Joey Lucas was a much better fit for the group as well. Ironically, the Josh and Donna tag-team combined with the additon of Charlie Young (Dulé Hill) as the personal aide to the President, derailed the idea that Josh was the son that Jed Barlette never had (the idea was to bring a person of color into the mix of the main cast). The President refers to Josh as his son in the second season in his rant to God at the National Cathedral after the death of Mrs. Landingham (Kathryn Joosten), but clearly Charlie assumes that role, even without taking into account his dating Zoey Barlett (Elizabeth Moss).All of this underscores the fact that the supporting cast is as good as the main roles. Not only Donna and Mrs. Landingham that first season, but John Amos as Admiral Fitzwallace, Timothy Busfield as Danny Concannon, Roger Rees as Lord John Marbury, Tim Matheson as Vice President John Hoynes, and, of course, Stockard Channing as as First Lady Abbey Bartlet M.D. That is without starting to check off the impressive list of guest stars like Karl Malden, Ken Howard, Edward James Olmos, and CHH Pounder.The biggest flaw in the first season is the idea that the Vice President would be so out of the loop. Even with the history lesson of the animosity that existed between JFK and LBJ, no New England intellectual elected to the White House is going to waste having a powerful former Senator from Texas in his administration. Every since Jimmy Carter thoroughly vetted the cream of the Democratic party for his Vice President it has been an imperative that the spot be picked by somebody qualified to be president from day one, and other that Dan Quayle that has certainly been the case. Gary Cole is a nice addition to the supporting cast, but Bartlett being 0 for 2 on Veeps is not a good thing.That is why the idea this season that the Republicans would force some junior Congressman into the position is so offensive. The key historical precedent would be the selection of Nelson Rockerfeller: qualified to be President and approved with the caveat this would be his final government job (i.e., he would not be on the ticket when Ford ran in 1976). But if the show was intended to not be about the President but his staff, then the Vice President is a minor concern. So it is interesting to be revisiting that idea this fifth season, just as it is watching Josh get into and out of the doghouse the same way C.J. does in a minor story arc in the first season.Best Moments from Season One: the first appearance of the President, quoting the First Commandment in the "Pilot," Danny bringing C.J. a goldfish on the advice of Josh, Charlie coming to Zoey's defense in "Mr. Willis of Ohio," the President getting a gift from the one Cabinet Secretary who will not be attending the State of the Union address in "He Shall, From Time to Time...", and the prophetic father's worst nightmare that Bartlett lays out for Zoey in "Six Meetings Before Lunch" (which also has the classic fight between Sam and Mallory on school vouchers).Final Thought: It would be interesting if when Barlett's second is up if the show continued with a Republican Administration. It will not happen, but it would certainly be interesting.