Up, Down and All Around

Wanted: More West Wing

It took me a lot less time than I expected to finish Season 5 of The West Wing on DVD.

It was simply too much fun to pop in disc after disc once I started watching it. At one point, I was literally watching 8 episodes each night -- this despite the fact that I would first watch Bituing Walang Ningning and update the Carla Fanblog before starting my DVD marathon for the evening.

My favorite episode for this season has got to be The Supremes, which focused on how the Bartlet Administration handled the unexpected death of a Supreme Court Justice. Such rollicking good fun!

A very close second is the episode entitled Shutdown, where the Speaker of the House gets caught completely off-guard when President Bartlet decides to make an unexpected visit. Haha! That one still makes me snicker.

Can't think of a single episode that I didn't like, come to think of it. Maybe that's why I'm raring to buy copies of the other 6 seasons, starting with Season One.

Since I know so little about American politics (I still don't understand the platform differences of a Democrat and a Republican... and what's great is I don't need to understand it to enjoy the show), the issues that they have to grapple with are somewhat eye-opening. But that's what makes The West Wing just the type of entertainment that I really like -- it's great fun and educational to boot.

It's no wonder one critic was quoted as saying that this show "continues to be one of the most literate dramas on network tv." -- Roger Catlin, The Hartford Courant (2/4/2004)

I think I also understand better why presidents seem to literally age overnight once they're in office. The constant barrage of challenges, the unceasing criticism earned by bad judgment calls, the way people blithely ignore important achievements, and the layer upon layer of bureaucratic red tape that you have to cut through to get the simplest things done...! Why, it's amazing that the government even manages to function.

Guess it's time to hit the video stores and check whether the other seasons are available.

Tags: TV

Posted by CF at 10:35 PM