A wingnut confesses
With the recent announcement that The West Wing would be ending its 7 year run, I began thinking about its impact on not only me but our culture.
To be honest I didn’t really start watching the show until its 3rd year. I was never really that into politics and it just didn’t appeal to me. But a friend from work kept talking about the show and I decided to give it a shot.
It was hard to follow in the beginning as there was extensive backstories that made it difficult to fully understand the plots. But I soon started to realize why it had won the best drama emmy a record 3 times in a row. The writing was amazing and invoked a passionate response. It made you care and also gave you hope about how our government ran. It didn’t matter what your view on politics was, it just reaffirmed that the people in these jobs were dedicated and responsible.
Then two years ago the Bravo network started airing all the episodes starting from the series beginning. It gave me the opportunity to watch all the episodes I hadn’t seen and to make a personal investment into the show. The first three years were without a doubt the strongest and were almost like mini movies, the stories deeply developed and the performances so good it just sucked you. At times it was funny, dramatic, and emotional all at once. It was both raw and real but it also seemed to have an overriding theme of hope and humanity.
It didn’t shy away from contraversial topics like abortion, the death penalty and terrorism. It even made seemingly mondane topics like federal budgets, foreign policy and torte reform exciting and enthralling.
Many episodes really touched me but one in particular about a deceased homeless veteran getting the military funeral he deserved really moved me in a way that television never had. It was poignant and moving without being preachy.
It was the most celebrated show on television and was the talk of Washington after every episode aired. Many aspects of real life politics took from the show and terms like “spin zone” and “potus” were now discussed and even emphasized on talk shows and commentaries. Some say that what people didnt realize was the show was actually making a comment on what politics had become, that it was mocking the type of sensationlistic over glamourized it portrayed in certain episodes. This was actually even the case in the last presidential elections as many of the shows had very similiar takes on how the show portrayed the inner workings of debates and cuacases. Life was imitating art and many questioned why.
But to me it was a show that made me think, made me take an interest in how our government worked, how the world interracted with itself. I started to read and learn about politics. It started my interest in shows like Meet the Press and Hardball. It opened a new world to me.
After the 4th year the creator and virtual sole writer of the show Aaron Sorkin left. Some say it was burnout, others say it was the pressure from the network. He insisted on writing virtually all of the scripts and at times it caused anxiety and frustrations as he was sometimes working on dialogue until the last possible moment causing stress for the crew, actors and the network. It seemed writing the best show on tv somehow came with added pressure instead of the creative freedom one would think it would have earned. Some say this is why television, at least network television will never be great again. Too much involvement from network execs that know nothing about the creative process.
The show changed a lot after he left and began a more flash than substance period in hopes of being more controversial and exciting. The dialogue that had been present before was almost impossible to imitate. It had been written in iambic pontameter, it had a distinct rythym and feel. Its not something that could easily be duplicated. And it wasnt.
Over the course of the next 2 years the show changed a lot and some plot lines just didn’t feel right. The ratings started to slip and they tried to shake up the show by changing the dynamic of the power structure within the administration. That’s not to say the show was suddenly weak, it just didn’t have the same feel and energy.
Then at the end of the 6th season and entering this season the show started to take on different tone as the writers started to get better even though some decisions upset loyal fans, the show was getting back to its roots, causing the viewer to once again get emotionally involved. The ratings didn’t rebound as expected and it seemed it was destined to slip away. Its the start of the new season the plotlines took the majority of the show out of the west wing and onto a campaign trail. A lot of the actors roles were greatly diminished and some were virtually invisible. Then the actor that had a major role passed away and that left everyone scrambling on what to do. Most wanted to just end the show at once but it was determined to air the episodes that he had filmed as a tribute to his work.
So when the announcement was made that the show was ending it wasn’t a shock but still made me sad. It changed my life and I can’t really say that about any other tv show. It made me more well informed, more engaged and made me challenge the impact I have on my community. It changed me forever and for that I will always be thankful.
Sidenote: It seems the Aaron Sorkin has signed a deal to write and develop a new show on NBC and the buzz is that the pilot episode script is one the of the most amazing things ever written for television. So hopefully this might not be the last time I feel this way about a show. Now if we can just get NBC to leave him alone this time. So be on the lookout out for Studio 7 on the Sunset Strip next year.