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August 16, 2004
'Wing' and a prayer
JIMMY SMITS FOR PRESIDENT?
By Alan Sepinwall
Star-Ledger
At last month's TV critics press tour, NBC entertainment president Kevin Reilly, discussing the struggles of "The West Wing," noted "the Bartlet administration is clearly coming to the end of its term, and I think that's going to foster some really interesting developments."
Add that hint to the news that Smits is in negotiations to join the show's cast as a three-term congressman from Texas, according to Daily Variety, and it's not hard to connect the dots: The show introduces Smits as a presidential candidate this year, then installs him in the Oval Office next year to replace Martin Sheen .
As Hail Mary passes go, it's not a bad one. Smits is still a potent TV star, and he has a history with this sort of thing, having stepped in to replace David Caruso in the second season of "NYPD Blue."
But "Blue" at the time was in vastly better shape than "West Wing" will be. "Blue" was only a year old and scorching-hot when Smits stepped in, with the rest of the cast and producers at their peak. "West Wing," on the other hand, has been on a steady decline, both in quality and the ratings, for more than two years.
Lots of theories have been posed about why the show sank so far so fast, from competition with "The Bachelor" to real-life politics upstaging the show's fictional kind, but as James Carville might say, it's the writing, stupid.
Even if creator Aaron Sorkin 's last couple of years on the show were mired in never-ending scandal and terrorism plots, they were still infinitely preferable to the "West Wing 2.0" run by John Wells , where the lighting is dark and the characters are darker.
In a misguided attempt to woo viewers who will probably never watch the show under any circumstances, Wells introduced a posse of new Republican opponents who weren't so much more likable than Sorkin's conservative clowns as they were more successful.
The Capra-esque sense of hope that characterized the best of Sorkin vanished, replaced by a White House where the once-tight staffers suddenly hate each other and compromises are the only possible victory. (Realistic? Sure. Entertaining? Nope.)
Virtually every "West Wing" fan watched for two reasons over the years: Sorkin and affection for the regular characters. Sorkin ain't coming back, and the others should be gone if/when Smits becomes Commander-in-Chief.
Reilly and Wells could point to "The Practice," where James Spader became so popular that the rest of the cast was jettisoned for a Spader-led spin-off. Except that Spader's "Practice" wasn't actually that popular. Creatively, it was better, but all he did was stop the Nielsen bleeding from the previous year.
Smits has already starred in two successful series (don't forget "L.A. Law"), and the list of people with three TV hits is very, very short (Heather Locklear, Lee Majors and Ken Berry are all somehow on there, though).
A spokeswoman for the Warner Bros. studio, which produces "West Wing," said talks with Smits are in the very early stages, so there could be some time to reconsider. Just let President Bartlet and company finish out their second term (which, if the series is still moving in real time, should happen in two years, not one, but why quibble?) and let the show be consigned to history. Please?
Posted by Jo at August 16, 2004 12:46 PM