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April 16, 2006
'West Wing' drama comes full circle
by Mark Dawidziak
Cleveland Plain Dealer
It's not uncommon for an aging series to stage a creative comeback in its final season. Even a show badly off the artistic track can rediscover its greatness in the homestretch to the farewell episode.
There are reasons for this prime-time phenomenon. With nothing to lose and no do-or-die ratings pressure on it, a network veteran suddenly might recall the top form of its glory days.
The writers and producers start pulling out the stops. They play loose. They take chances. They swing for the fences, and, in doing so, they get back in touch with those elements that first won them acclaim.
If you hadn't noticed, that certainly has been the case this season on "The West Wing." With the shadow of cancellation hanging over it, NBC's once-mighty White House drama is doing its best work in years.
This seventh season has been so good, many have called for NBC to rescind the cancellation notice and give "The West Wing" another year. It's not likely, given the complexity of network and studio contracts, although programming executives would be smart to find a last-minute way to reverse the decision.
But NBC programmers haven't exhibited a great deal of smarts over the last three seasons, so it seems that the last goodbye still will be Sunday, May 14, with a retrospective special at 7 p.m. and the series finale at 8 p.m. on WKYC Channel 3.
Yet there's a certain symmetry here: "The West Wing" began its celebrated run as the finest NBC program on the air, and, coming full circle, that's how the Oval Office series is ending its run. Having regained its sense of balance and its sense of purpose, it's going out in a blast of class.
And expect something special, moving and particularly poignant about tonight's episode, which airs at 8. President Josiah Bartlet (Martin Sheen), president-elect Rep. Santos (Jimmy Smits) and their friends bid goodbye to vice-presidential candidate Leo McGarry (played so brilliantly by John Spencer).
This is also the fans' chance to say goodbye to Spencer, who died of a heart attack in December. It was announced in January that Leo, too, would die of a heart attack, before Bartlet's successor was named.
"John's passing happened at a point where we had made a decision in how to go, and it changed a lot of the storytelling," said John Wells, executive producer of "The West Wing. "And we spent a lot of time during the Christmas holidays trying to figure out how we were going to deal with it. You know, we even had conversations about whether it was appropriate to continue to do the show without John. He was such a close friend and a wonderful actor and a central part of the ensemble and of our lives together."
Emily Proctor and Mary-Louise Parker are among those reprising roles from past seasons for the episode about Leo's funeral.
"It's incredibly difficult and hard," said Allison Janney, whose character, C.J. Gregg, succeeded Leo as White House chief of staff. "He was a man who meant so much to all of us. He was so generous with all of our work. He was so supportive of us. It feels like a very organic ending to the show with him gone because I just can't imagine doing it without him."
The sentiment was echoed by her co-stars.
Posted by Jo at April 16, 2006 03:54 PM