I do like a glossy TV series, especially politics, intrigue, lots of idealistic people doing clever things and against the odds coming out on top. Loved Designated Survivor, Madam Secretary and of course Borgen. But I never saw The West Wing. I’m sure I’d love it but is it too old now? I mean, I’m re-watching the Sopranos again but that’s the greatest show ever. Is it too late to watch The West Wing?
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Black Type says
Absolutely not. You list the type of programme you like (political intrigue etc) – well TWW is the very definition of all that and then some. Brilliantly flawed characters you will come to love and really care about, razor-sharp, ridiculously well-choreographed dialogue (you’ll need your ears and wits about you), and plotlines/arcs with huge emotional depth. No, I’m not Aaron Sorkin 😉 One of the landmark series of our times, even though those times have changed utterly.
niallb says
@Twang, it’s the best series I’ve ever watched. I have watched it multiple times, and it never gets old. The writing, acting and production is second to none and some of the best tv scenes I have ever seen are in episode after episode. It grows, as well. The character development is terrific and there are so many occasions when I have punched the air in joy at a plot twist, or a particular speech.
Do not miss out. It is exceptional.
Junior Wells says
When watching, I have often replayed sections of dialogue just for its elegance or cleverness.
fitterstoke says
You may find that you have to reconsider The Sopranos as “the greatest show ever”….yes, it’s that good….
dai says
Never watched it, but how can it live up to the current reality?
Twang says
My point exactly!
moseleymoles says
If you want to read it against the current reality then it is only sheer escapism.
mikethep says
I loved Designated Survivor too…and then it disappeared, with the mother of all cliffhangers. Almost as if they said to themselves, where the fuck do we go from here?
Nick L says
Yes, another Designated Survivor fan here as well. Really enjoyed it, and can’t believe it ended.
Maybe I need to start on TWW which sounds right up my street…
Jaygee says
The first season of DS was great.
Sadly after that the quality fell off a cliff.
The West Wing was indeed terrific, but like many great
shows it probably went on for a season – and arguably two –
too long
Max the Dog says
I thought the third season was the best TBH. Season one and two were good but a little too much soft-focus deference to the political system and a bit too much flag waving. Season three, produced by Netflix, was a bit grittier and not afraid to cast a critical eye on the way things work. I would love to hear that a fourth season was in the works but Kiefer S seems to think it’s not going to happen.
Think I might buy myself TWW as a present to myself for Christmas.
mikethep says
Bum.
“ On July 24, 2019, Netflix announced the series would not be renewed a fourth season, stating that the third season made for a satisfying final season. However, Netflix will continue to stream all three seasons on their platform.”
Max the Dog says
On reflection, Mike, and trying not to get into any spoiler territory, carrying the story on from where we left it would put it at odds with the show’s title.
Gatz says
It’s superb television. Like fitterstoke, I rate it as among the best ever made. There are some snags of course, but I’ll leave you to find them for yourself.
moseleymoles says
Series 1-5 are quite superb, and anchored by Martin Sheen as the President we wished the USA had had. Its pleasures, from the super snappy walk and talks to the ‘pick a favourite’ role call of characters, are manifold. Series 6 and 7, with much less Jed, are somewhat different as it morphs into following a single over-arching storyline. Different but still superbly enjoyable.
Twang says
OK I’m in. If anyone hasn’t seen Madam Secretary that’s brilliant too.
Carl says
We like Madam Secretary, but do the producers think that the audience is too stupid to cope with changing the title to Madam President and would be confused and stop watching?
But I concur with the opinion expressed by others that The West Wing is excellent.
chiz says
Still the best thing on TV. It set the bar so high. I must have seen them all four or five times over 20 years. Sorkin’s dialogue is superb and his workrate – scripting 22 hour-long shows a year, for four years – is breathtaking. As a newbie you do have to put up with the sugary sweetness of some scenes, but you kind of grow to like that as you get to know the characters. Plus it’s proper funny when it wants to be.
The West Wing Weekly podcast is a great accompaniment and when you’re done with all 154 episodes start on The Newsroom, which is no less brilliant.
If this famous walk and talk doesn’t win you over you’re broken https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il-DowDFDo4
Askwith says
I was massively addicted to The West Wing a few years ago. It is superbly scripted and acted.
Tried to watch it again recently and enjoyed it less due to reality being much wierder than fiction at the moment.
fortuneight says
Did anyone watch Sorkin’s “Studio 60 on Sunset Strip”? I quite enjoyed it, and was miffed when it was cancelled. I’ve yet to watch West Wing…..
Sitheref2409 says
Yes, and Sports Night, which has all the Sorkin trademarks. Both excellent.
slotbadger says
It can be slightly winsome and saccharine at times, but TWW is a feast for the heart and soul. I think the current real life incumbent has desecrated the White House to such an extent, the idealised goodness of Bartlet and co seems a sad, distant liberal’s wet dream now.
I have seen on Bradley Whitford’s twitter that they are getting together to shoot some sort of reunion soon.. or have been shooting? (Pic of cast in masks)
chiz says
They’ve done a stage presentation of a Season Three episode, Hartsfield’s Landing, with the original cast. It’s to support the When We All Vote campaign. Don’t know when we’ll get to see it
Sitheref2409 says
if you are going to start it, you may also enjoy The West Wing Weekly podcast, hosted by Josh Malina, who joins the cast later, and Hrishi Hirway, who does Song Exploder, a podcast that just got picked up by Netflix.
Watch it. It can be patchy in places, but enjoy the fact that it’s a show that assumes your intelligence. The acting, with one notable exception, is excellent and the writing in 1 – 4 is superb.
chiz says
Mandy?
fitterstoke says
Don’t mind if I do….
slotbadger says
Amy Gardener. Dropping Josh’s phone in the stew, frugging to Van Morrison in the kitchen, always with the zany and that annoying voice
Sitheref2409 says
You may very well think that. I couldn’t possibly comment.
chiz says
On the West Wing Weekly they talk about Mandyville, the place where characters go when they suddenly disappear and are never heard of again, like Ainsley Hayes, Christian Slater’s naval officer or Matt Perry in the Counsel’s Office
Sitheref2409 says
Mandyville was the invention of Television Without Pity.
I may have read it.
count jim moriarty says
My favourite TV show of all time. It really is that good. Watched it most recently over last Xmas/New Year.
I believe that the original idea was that it would be exclusively about the West Wing staffers, and that the President was to be a Maris Crane/Elizabeth Mainwaring/’Er Indoors character – often mentioned but never seen. Just glad they dropped that idea.
mikethep says
This is not The West Wing. This is your. actual. White. House.
dai says
I think he has been replaced by a lookalike. Dave?
Askwith says
I think Kevin Kline would do a better job than Trump, provided he brought Charles Grodin in to help him balance the books 🙂
Moose the Mooche says
He Is Risen!
Job done. If you’re thinking “four more years” you’re thinking there’s going to be another election after this one.
bang em in bingham says
Still an incredible watch…..
Bozzo The Brave says
The West Wing is well worth watching and bears repeated viewing. Like other Afterworders it is my favourite tv series. The final 7th season is probably the weakest yet I still would give it a 5 star review. Studio 60 and Sports Night are highly recommended too.
Uncle Wheaty says
I have an unplayed DVD boxset in my cupboard.
I think it will be used when the next lockdown comes on 31st October.
nickduvet says
I discovered that TVNZ have it on demand for free. I’m on ep15 of season 1. Goes without saying it’s really good but it’s also a weird experience, with the references to this new thing called the internet, the prescience of some of the dialogue (eg, the greatest threat to mankind being a pandemic); the appearance of much younger familiar faces – Eliz Moss, Wolf Blitzer, Tucker Carlson! The idea that a press spokesperson could have a cordial relationship with the press seems preposterous in the current climate.
chiz says
All seven seasons are free to view on All4 in the UK from today. If you haven’t, you should. If you have, you should again. https://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-west-wing
nickduvet says
So, I’ve just come to the end of a mammoth binge watch of the seven seasons of The West Wing. Feeling emotional about the loss of these wonderful characters.
Indeed, the overriding feeling throughout has been the contrast between these passionate, committed White House staff acting out their noblest ambitions in the biggest roles any of them will ever play (as CJ said, “I’m busy living the first line of my obituary”) – and the soulless, humourless, artless charlatans there now.
Sorkin’s script as rightly lauded as a high point of screen writing. He may never have topped it. The tragedy is that the various storylines – about the joy and the beauty of the democratic process – are more resonant now, certainly more poignant, than they were back when the show was first aired 20 years ago.
I may have to go back.