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May 17, 2006
Saunders: 'West Wing' ends seven-year term with integrity
by Dusty Saunders
Rocky Mountain News
As inauguration day dawned, Abigail Bartlet grabbed her husband's hand, telling him, "You did a lot of good, Jed . . . a lot of good."
The scene between Stockard Channing and Martin Sheen was one of many poignant segments when NBC's The West Wing ended its seven-year TV term Sunday night.
As a weekly series, The West Wing did more than "a lot of good."
It displayed a lot of quality, showing that weekly dramatic network television can survive and thrive on story lines dealing with words, ideas and personal relationships.
Not every series has to highlight carved-up corpses, gun-toting crazies and performers whose claim to TV fame is hunky bodies and visible bosoms.
Need a word to describe this Emmy-winning series?
How about integrity?
The finale, written by Denver's John Wells, the executive producer during its entire run, was in keeping with the show's tone.
The hour concentrated on the peaceful transition from Bartlet's administration to the new one under President-elect Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits).
There were no phony histrionics or unrealistic plot devices.
Wells' intelligent, well-coordinated script centered on the human element involving the emotional changing of the guard.
The reflective Bartlet camp was clearing out of the White House as the enthusiastic Santos people were moving in.
In a marvelous bit of production juxtaposition, scenes showed workers removing Bartlet's belongings from the Oval Office, while the Santos inauguration ceremonies were under way.
The sidebar story line, built up through the final season, dealt with the future of Toby Ziegler (Richard Schiff), Bartlet's presidential adviser who had leaked classified information during a conscience-stricken move.
Zielger - fired, tried and indicted - was facing a prison sentence.
President Bartlet, following agonizing moments of deliberation, signed a presidential pardon.
Of course such a decision was inevitable. This was fictional, happy-ending television.
But of equal importance, the story line was in keeping with Bartlet's character.
And the successful key was how the pardon was handled.
The script did not contain pandering scenes of Ziegler's reaction, or, heaven forbid, an unrealistic meeting between Bartlet and Ziegler.
There will never be another network series like The West Wing.
Such an assessment is based on the pragmatic world of network television and the show's onscreen quality.
Throughout network history, political dramas have been an anathema for network programmers for all the obvious reasons.
The West Wing entered the TV scene when the current extreme political polarization was building.
The fact a liberal-oriented series thrived and survived in the audience ratings in a hostile political climate indicated that some "passionate conservatives" respected the quality of a series that depicted White House life from more than just a political viewpoint.
Most characters had personalities and relationships that transcended politics.
Through the years the series introduced political villains - Democrats and Republicans.
Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda), the liberal Republican senator from California, originally was scheduled to win the election. But the death of John Spencer, who portrayed Leo McGarry, Bartlet's former chief of staff and Santos' running mate, changed the script.
The decision by Santos to name Vinick as secretary of state was anything but an outlandish political reach.
Network television will always feature "presidents" in their espionage series as either heroes or villains (think 24) as secondary characters.
Some have pointed to ABC's Commander in Chief, which faces cancellation, as a successor to The West Wing as a thoughtful presidential drama.
But even during its brief glory days last fall, the Geena Davis drama never displayed the depth of The West Wing.
Some critics feel The West Wing lost part of its power when co-producer Aaron Sorkin left in 2002.
While there was a brief decline in script quality, mainly in dialogue, The West Wing never lost its overall focus.
MSNBC's Chris Matthews put The West Wing in perspective, noting the series provided a vision of what many Americans of various political stripes hope could happen in the White House.
That was the power of The West Wing.
Posted by Jo at May 17, 2006 08:56 AM