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September 24, 2003
A new chief slightly alters 'West Wing'
By Matthew Gilbert
Boston Globe
As "The West Wing" enters its fifth season, the greatest mystery is not whether Jed Bartlet will regain the presidency from a Republican warmonger played by John Goodman, or whether his daughter Zoey will survive a kidnapping.
The big unknown this fall is whether Toby, Josh, Leo, Will, and C.J. will still reel off lines that threaten to break the sound barrier. And will they continue to be thrown into overwrought dramatic situations? And can they possibly maintain their superhuman powers of nobility, intelligence, and political brilliance?
Tonight at 9 on Channel 7, the NBC series begins a new chapter under the guidance of a new leader, producer-writer John Wells. Aaron Sorkin, the show's creator and principal writer, left in May amid conflicts with NBC about overspending, tardiness, and his unwillingness to take their creative tips. Although the series did win its fourth best-drama Emmy on Sunday night, it had fallen into a much-discussed slump under Sorkin, and its once-passionate viewers were defecting. Wells, whose other series include "ER" and "Third Watch," is charged with restoring the series' prestige and its Nielsen virility.
It's not uncommon for a show to change hands as it ages. But the style of TV auteurs such as Sorkin and David E. Kelley is impossible to re-create -- imagine taking over a half-finished Woody Allen movie -- and "The West Wing" will certainly become a different product this season. As the writer of almost every episode, Sorkin infused the series with his trademarks -- most obviously his theatrical dialogue, which led to wonderful scenes of conflict as often as it led to smug elusiveness and didacticism. In press interviews, Wells has compared his current situation on "The West Wing" to that of stepping into "Gypsy" as Ethel Merman's understudy.
Still, it's hard not to see Sorkin's ghost in tonight's episode. Wells & Co. were obligated to pick up the curious threads that Sorkin left dangling last season, as Bartlet turned over his office to the Republican speaker of the House after his daughter was abducted. Wells may have less sensationalistic plot turns in mind for the coming season, but he must first see his way out of Sorkin's misguided twists, which have also included Bartlet's multiple sclerosis story line.
The hour is largely "West Wing" business as usual, despite NBC president Jeff Zucker's claim in The New York Times that the episode is the best in the series' history. It even ends with one of Sorkin's favorite crutches, an operatic montage set to the heightened New Age strains of Lisa Gerrard's "Sanvean" that rubs our noses in emotional catharsis.
The only obvious alteration on tonight's "West Wing" is the slight simplification and normalization of the dialogue. Amid the absurdities of the speaker-as-president and kidnapping situations, the tension between the regular characters and Goodman's President Walken provides a few quiet, subtle moments, particulary one involving Walken's tie. These unhappy interactions aren't as wordy as they might have been in Sorkin's hands, but Wells makes them quite tangible.
Let's hope Wells is faring better with his cast than Walken is with his new staff. Tonight's plot neatly parallels his own situation, as the show's fictional West Wing struggles with its own new boss.
While Wells has promised to make the show into a more bipartisan dialogue, President Walken is not the character who will save the series from accusations that it's a liberal fantasy. Goodman, known mostly for comedy, does a decent job in a dramatic context, but Walken is a bit of a Republican cartoon, tossing out lines such as: "If the Arabs are mad at us, we must be doing something right." Before we can truly judge Wells's vision for the show as both a political dialogue and as a drama, he will need time to clear out a good deal of clutter.
The West Wing
Starring: Martin Sheen, John Goodman, Bradley Whitford, Allison Janney, Stockard Channing
On: NBC, Ch.7
Time: Tonight, 9-10
Rating: TVPG
© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.
Posted by Jo at September 24, 2003 09:03 AM