October 10, 2005
Those lazy West Wing writers
I’ve extolled the virtues of The West Wing ever since I started watching it. But it seems like intellectual laziness has crept in as of late.
Let’s take a look at some of the recent storylines:
1) A White House chief of staff being investigated for leaking classified material to a reporter. A reporter that ends up doing jail time for failing to reveal his source.
2) An election between a young candidate from Texas with an old DC insider with heart problems as his VP candidate, versus an experienced Senator. (Granted, this is probably just a little fun poking, rather than laziness).
3) Playing the “I voted for it before I voted against it” card. The Democrat voted for legislation in committee before voting against it on the floor, and actually says that to a reporter.
I seem to remember another one or two that I came across. Much of the dialogue is still as witty and intelligent as ever. But really, these guys are smart enough to write their own plot. Pulling themes (such as the Israeli/Palestinian conflict) is one thing, as any believable show on this topic needs to reflect the gravity of that problem. But trying to work in things like “I voted for it before I voted against it” is just gratuitous.
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He may have been an annoying left winger, but The West Wing was alot better when Aaron Sorkin was running the show. The past two years have been painful and the only thing that is making this year interesting is the fact that they are portraying a Republican — albeit a moderate one — in a positive light. So much of what is going on defies reason, though — the idea of a Congressman defeating a sitting Vice-President for a party nomination is laughable at best. The one thing that would be interest would be to have Vinick win the election, but I doubt they’ll do that.
Not that the results of the election matter; I doubt TWW will last beyond this season.
Well considering no-one has a contract beyond this season, I’d say you’re right.
Honestly this season (along with the second half of last season) is the best they’ve done since well before Sorkin left.
I hate most of the politics, but I love the dialogue and the humanity of the show.