Rating: MMMMM

Review of the first season of hit US television show ‘The West Wing’, article first published in October 2008 issue of Spark*, the newspaper of Reading University Students’ Union.

If you thought ‘political drama’ was the veiled attempt at a Labour party leadership bid, or the exhaustive BBC coverage of the Labour party conference, think again. Despite it being almost straight-jacketed into the aforementioned genre label, The West Wing is far removed from those dull notions. Poignant, thought provoking, thoroughly engaging and often hilarious, this is drama at its best. It just happens to be political.

The show’s pilot episode, ‘Premiere’ sets the tone, atmosphere and verbal pace for the rest of the series – and it is this, the verbal exchange that is the jewel in the crown of The West Wing. Aaron Sorkin’s whipcrack dialogue and clever verbal sparring fires from the mouths of his exceptional characters, making for witty repartee rarely seen on primetime television: “the President, while riding a bicycle on vacation in Jacksonhall came to a sudden arboreal stop” – how White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry (the superb late John Spencer, who in fact sadly died during filming of season 7) describes how the President rode his bike into a tree. Although at times the lines are hard to keep pace with and the policy acronyms too copious (‘POTUS’, ‘DEA’, ‘DNC’, ‘ATWA’ etc), these are minor drawbacks in the face of such compelling viewing.

The primary reason for the show being so compelling (razor sharp dialogue aside)?  The characters. Each one, from aide Charlie Young (Dulé Hill), through to Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford) is exceedingly well cast, bringing humour, pathos and genuine humanity to the screen. Richard Schiff as Communications Director Toby Ziegler shines particularly in the episode ‘In Excelsis Deo’ where a winter coat he gave to charity leads him to organising a funeral for a homeless Korean War veteran. Even the supporting roles (Mrs Landingham, Admiral Fitzwallace) are played to perfection. And with the ‘Leader of the Free World’ himself, President Josiah Bartlet being so well portrayed, US citizens could indeed be forgiven for exclaiming “don’t blame me, I voted for Martin Sheen!”

Unafraid to tackle controversial issues (and matters which still hold sway in Presidential election campaigns), The West Wing pulls no punches. Early in the series, members of the religious right meet with staffers in an attempt to procure an apology for an on-air insult (“Lady, the God you pray to is too busy getting indicted for tax fraud”), and consequently enter into a bargain exchange for a crackdown on pornography, condoms in schools (they say it like it’s a bad thing!) and the implementation of school prayer. Unluckily for the representatives of ‘The Lambs of God’, they don’t get too far:

Reverend: “If children can buy pornography on any street corner for $5, isn’t that too high a price to pay for free speech?”

President Bartlet: “No. On the other hand, I do think that $5 is too high a price to pay for pornography”.

Pure genius. Accused by some for being too liberal (causing the show to be dubbed “The Left Wing”) and criticised for glorifying all things American, you can see how the tone might grate after a while. But with drama this good, you’re too engaged to care!

Rating: MMMMM