Well, we saw the debut of the first Aaron Sorkin-less “West Wing” last night.
Although the show no longer feels like a rat-a-tat-tat dialogue 1930’s-esque film, it’s still a good drama. The continuation of the search for the President’s daughter, the growing strain on the President’s family (including the arrival of one of his never-before-seen elder daughters), and the grudging acknowledgment amongst the staff that fill-in president Walken came across in his first news conference as “presidential” (and the devastating observation that Sheen’s Bartlett seemed “so small”) made for compelling viewing.
I’ve never understood, though, the criticism over the show being “too liberal.” The series was obviously Sorkin’s idealized Democratic White House. Yes, it didn’t bear resemblance to reality. So what? “Marcus Welby” and many other medical series portrayed idealized versions of doctors that bore no resemblance to typical overworked doctors normally encountered in our day to day lives. John McClane of the “Die Hard” films is a super-cop. Rambo is a super-soldier. But, what? We draw the line at presenting a “super-Democrat commander-in-chief”–tough minded, literate, knowledgable, confident, eloquent. That’s just too over the top for people to accept, and Sorkin is lambasted for it? Sorry. Just not seeing it.
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