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November 07, 2005
West Wing's' live show was more than a stunt
by Mike Brantley
Mobile Register
Forgive me for devoting Tuesday's television column to a Sunday program that used to air on Wednesdays. But it is my first opportunity to comment on Sunday's impressive live episode of "The West Wing" on NBC.
Current "West Wing" executive producer John Wells in 1997 gave us a live episode of hospital drama "ER" that was so impressive partly because it managed to be so similar to every other "ER" episode that is prepared in advance of airing. His production of "The West Wing" on Sunday night, meanwhile, delivered something different than the typical White House or campaign trail story the series has specialized in over six previous seasons.
The show is in the midst of the campaign to replace Martin Sheen's character, President Bartlet. The live episode gave us a debate, no holds barred, between Jimmy Smits as Democratic candidate Matt Santos and Alan Alda as Republican candidate Arnold Vinick.
The subject matter -- the debate -- was perfectly suited for a live episode. It helped these characters and their campaigns seem all the more real to viewers who have followed the show to Sunday, as well as those who sampled the live episode just because of the novelty of the stunt. Airing scripted shows live is a rarity these days, although it was the norm in TV's earliest days and NBC tried the attention-getting device earlier this season with the season premiere of comedy "Will & Grace."
Sunday's "West Wing" seemed real, but it was the kind of real debate on real issues that doesn't really happen anymore. At the start of the episode, Vinick startled his rival, his handlers and the debate moderator (newsman Forrest Sawyer, playing himself) by suggesting their carefully negotiated rules be thrown out. He saw them as a substance-squeezing straitjacket, as they have proven to be in real-life debates.
Said Vinick, as played by Alda, "When the greatest hero in the history of my party, Abraham Lincoln, debated, he didn't need any rules."
He suggested they "junk the rules."
"OK, let's have a real debate," responded Smits as Santos.
And so they did. It seemed so realistic, but who can recall a presidential debate that has been more about substance and less about the choreography?
Through seven seasons on "The West Wing," Sheen's President Bartlet has been a card-carrying liberal, but a tough one that most of the country could get behind if he wasn't merely fiction. This season and particularly in Sunday's episode, Santos and Vinick have shown they, too, are both men and leaders of conviction.
Either one would make a fine television president -- or a real one.
I wish we could all feel as good about our real elected leaders and the challengers who aspire to their offices.
In the meantime, I'm feeling good about "The West Wing" again. Once more, it's a series worth watching.
Posted by Jo at November 7, 2005 07:49 PM