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October 15, 2003
'West Wing' unlikely to soar as before
by Chuck Barney
Contra Costa Times
AS IT TURNS OUT, the rumors of "The West Wing's" demise have been greatly exaggerated.
When word came last spring that Aaron Sorkin, the show's highly respected creative heart and soul, was leaving NBC's political drama, TV critics all over the country, including the one you're reading, began polishing their eulogies. "The West Wing" (9 tonight, Channels 3 and 11), after all, was already mired in a ratings slump, and Sorkin's absence supposedly would only hasten its extinction.
But we're now four weeks into the administration change and "The West Wing" not only is not dead, it is enjoying a bit of a revival. Ratings are up over last season, and the show is routinely beating ABC's "The Bachelor," something it usually failed to accomplish last season.
Just as significantly, the series, now under the guidance of executive producer John Wells ("ER," "Third Watch"), has extricated itself from an awkward storytelling jam that Sorkin created: the kidnapping of President Bartlet's daughter, Zoey (Elisabeth Moss), and the just-keeping-your-seat-warm presidency of John Goodman. Now Zoey is out of danger and Bartlet (Martin Sheen) is back in power, and the show is on track once again.
And so, by the looks of things, NBC has foiled the critics. But looks can be deceiving and this question begs to be raised: Nielsen numbers aside, is "The West Wing" a better show?
Depending on how you look at it, yes and no.
Before proceeding, let's first dispel the myth of Sorkin as flawless auteur. The truth is that while he had a virtuoso's skill for spellbinding dialogue and engaging character interplay, he was prone to excessive preachiness and, on occasion, he seemed to fall in love with his own words at the expense of dramatic structure. Even Shakespeare realized that it was all about the story.
During his years at the helm of "The West Wing," Sorkin occasionally painted himself into corners with ludicrous twists and turns that were out of step with the overall tone of the show. For proof of this, one need only review the final episodes of his "West Wing" stint, during which an improbable series of events -- an assassination, a vice president's resignation, a drugging, a kidnapping and a father's fretting -- all conspired to create a perfect storm on the Beltway and plop Roseanne's TV husband into the Oval Office.
Combine this storytelling overkill with Sorkin's heavily liberal leanings -- at a time when the country was veering in exactly the opposite ideological direction -- and it's rather easy to see how some viewers felt alienated and why ratings for the show plunged 20 percent last season.
Into this mess stepped Wells. While he's no Sorkin when it comes to marvelous wordplay, Wells is a savvy, Grade-A television producer who arguably has a better feel for complex plotting and character development than the man he replaced. Wells wrote the first two "West Wing" scripts this season and one of his initial moves was to resolve the John Goodman story arc that he inherited from Sorkin. (Wells told reporters he "begged" Sorkin to come back and write the initial episodes, but Sorkin respectfully declined.)
Some critics insist that Zoey's rescue and Goodman's ensuing exit came off way too neatly and quickly. The complaint has some merit: Goodman was wonderful and I could have watched him for a while longer. On the other hand, Wells was smart enough to know that story line was not the essence of the show. He needed to swiftly get back to basics and he did so, for the most part, in compelling style.
While Sorkin was highly involved in every "West Wing" script, Wells, like most TV producer/writers, will take a show-by-committee approach. For example, Carol Flint, an Emmy-winning veteran of "ER," penned last week's absorbing teleplay in which Bartlet and his family dealt with the emotional fallout of Zoey's ordeal.
Ironically, this system might prove to give the series more of a cohesive, efficient feel. As talented as the prolific Sorkin was, he also was notorious for flying by the seat of his pants and turning in scripts past deadline.
Only now that the series is moving away from the Zoey incident will we truly be able to begin gauging Wells' influence. He has said that he hopes to incorporate more GOP points of view into the show (Bartlet's Democrats will be wrangling with a Republican-controlled Congress), but beyond that, don't look for a lot of radical changes. "Our hope," he said, "would be that you don't sense that it's very different."
In many ways, "The West Wing" is not very different at all. Obviously, those are still Sorkin's characters up there on the screen and they're still being played by enthralling performers who have the power to lift any material to a higher level.
All that said, discerning viewers certainly realize that Sorkin, when at the top of his game, had the vision and talent to make a good show great. The very best "West Wing" episodes always contained his golden touch -- clever and witty rapid-fire banter, sharp, cliche-free insights into the human condition, and the ability to convey heartfelt drama in seemingly mundane political machinations.
Will we see these elements in high supply during the new John Wells regime? Maybe, but probably not. My guess is that, while "The West Wing" is far from dead as a Nielsen contender, the highly distinctive show that we once knew is now a museum piece soon to be available for viewing only on Bravo and DVD.
Posted by Jo at October 15, 2003 05:36 PM