Radio & Television
A Popular Vote?  NBC's The West Wing

Last season, out of boredom and curiosity both, I tuned into The West Wing, NBC's political offering about the fictional Bartlet administration.  I got hooked.  And, evidently, I wasn't the only one.

The one-hour show took the Emmy in its debut season last year for Outstanding Drama Series, as well as eight others, making it the all-time leader for most Emmys won by a series in a single season.  That in itself seems at least a little dramatic for a show whose main feature is lots of talk, lots of deliberation, and the decisions that flow out of it all.

Of course, the cast of The West Wing is strong.  The show stars ... well  ...  just about everyone in it.

A Fantastic Cast:  The big draw in the debut season, of course, was Martin Sheen, who plays New Hampshire Democrat, now President, Josiah Bartlet -- a New Englander of the well-educated variety, with strong convictions and an absolute passion about his country.  Surrounding Bartlet are his White House staff, including vivid characters and strong performances across the board.  Rob Lowe plays the young and eager Deputy Communications Director, Sam Seaborn, who, by turns, is encouraged and corrected by the considerably more sober, soft-spoken, ironic and tireless Toby Ziegler, the Communications Director, played at Emmy-award strength by Richard Schiff.  Matching Schiff's Emmy is Allison Janney as Press Secretary C.J. Cregg, savvy before the press and cameras if sometimes outspoken behind closed doors.  Paralleling Lowe's Sam Seaborn is Bradley Whitford as Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman, the equally energetic if more politically-minded cohort who helped to get Bartlet elected.  Riding this crew, sometimes with gentle neck-reining, sometimes with spurs, is the President’s Chief of Staff as well as ally and confidant, Leo McGarry, played by Emmy nominee John Spencer.  Even the supporting cast, in the persons of Dulé Hill as Charlie Young, the President's Assistant, and Janel Moloney  as Lyman's Staff Assistant Donna Moss, bring life to the show. 

Of course, the strength of this cast can't be hurt by those behind the scenes either, including Emmy Award winners Aaron Sorkin ("A Few Good Men"), the series’ creator & executive producer, and Thomas Schlamme ("Tracey Takes On") and John Wells (NBC’s "ER"), executive producers.  But, despite the strength of the line-up, and despite the season-ending cliff-hanger when the President and staff were shot at, with at least someone actually wounded, I suspect there's something more to the show's popularity.

What Makes West Wing Fly?
Aside from the strong cast, I think there's something else about The West Wing that makes it the favorite it has become.  And I don't think we have to long long or far to find out what it is.

Sheen's Bartlet, as well as all those around him, have a passion for what they do.  It's not the passion of winning elections, even though it's clear from last season's events that they want to.  And there's no doubt that decisions are sometimes influenced by partisan or political considerations.  But, when the stakes are high, as, for example, when an American pilot was downed by Iraqi fire, or when some are tempted to take advantage of the shooting to push for FBI investigations of all even remotely associated with the would-be assassins, decisions appear to be made without regard to focus groups or the effects on the polls.  So, as political viewers, while we may not always agree with the decisions, there is something refreshing, especially given our wizened attitude toward contemporary politics and politicians.

The passion these characters bring is a passion for doing the right thing.  Sure, they often disagree among themselves on what that might be.  But that's not the point.  The point is, we see characters whose commitment to what they believe in is what guides them.  We see a decisiveness we don't often get to experience once White House decisions make their way to The Hill and become muddied, saddled, or diluted.  And we want to know, I think, that such commitments are what fuels our elected officials and those with whom they choose to surround themselves.

In that light, West Wing may satisfy something a little deeper inside us that the need for good entertainment, though it is that ... and that would be reason enough to watch

lmc

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